#human corruption

[rusalkaondine]

Meloncholia

[davidmitra44-blog]

[reformedontheweb]

Most certainly we cannot attribute man’s natural inordinancy and defectiveness unto his Creator. To do so would be the rankest blasphemy, as well as giving the lie to His Word, which declares that “God hath made man upright” (Eccl. 7:29). Even on a much lower ground, such a conclusion is self-evidently false: it is impossible that darkness should issue from the Father of light, or that sin should come from the ineffably Holy One. It is infinitely better to confess our ignorance than to be guilty of grossest impiety-to say nothing of manifest absurdity-by placing the onus upon God. But there is no excuse for anyone to be ignorant thereon: the Holy Scriptures supply a definite solution to this mystery, and show that the entire blame for his present wretchedness lies at man’s own door. And therefore, to say that man is a sinful creature, or even to allow that he is totally depraved, is but to acknowledge half of the truth, and the least humbling half at that. Man is a fallen creature. He has departed from his original state and primitive purity. So far from man’s having ascended from something inferior to an ape, he has descended from the elevated and honourable position in which God first placed him; and it is all-important to contend for this, since it alone satisfactorily explains why man is now depraved.

Arthur W. Pink- Human Depravity, Pt 1- Its Origin

[reformedontheweb]

The picture of us human beings is quite the reverse. After the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise we lapsed from grace to wrath, from the truth to lies, from righteousness into sin, from life to death. We fell into God's disfavor; now only sin, wrath, disfavor, and deception are to be found in us. Our entire activity, our wisdom, all our thoughts and desires in matters pertaining to God are not sincere and true but sheer falsehood, deception, and sham. In Ps. 116:11 we read: "All men are liars." Thus all, none excepted, be they who they will, bear God's disfavor and wrath; all are sinners worthy of eternal death. Even if we do the best of which we are capable by our natural powers, still it all remains nothing but semblance and sham, hypocrisy, and deception. For the sin in which we have been ensnared prevents us from doing and working any good thing.

Martin Luther- Luther's Works, Vol. 22, p. 124-125.

[naftalibenporat-blog]

Polarity in Self-Knowledge

Rabbi Wolbe on Self-knowledge

I always thought that knowing myself meant that I more or less know my strengths and weaknesses, various tendencies, inclinations, and attitudes. Rabbi Wolbe, in his acclaimed Aley Shur, asserts that self-knowledge means…

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