Christian and Scientific Views - Thesis Example

Origin of Sin: A Comparison between Christian and Scientific Views Dr. Baldwin THESIS: This paper is going to look at the different views that surround the question of the origin of sin in the universe. The writer will compare and contrast two views; the scientific and Christian view on the origin of sin. OUTLINE I. Introduction II. Augustine/Christian Views on Origin of Evil III. Scientists' Views on Origin of Evil IV. Conclusion Introduction Origin is one issue that has preoccupied many people in the world. It is human nature to try and explain almost everything that surrounds him. One way of explaining the nature of something is to try and trace its origins. That is the reason why there are raging debates on the origin of the universe, the origin of the living organisms amongst others. It is not always that people come up with one agreed upon explanation on the origin of whatever they were trying to address. For again, it is human nature to disagree, and this explains why there are very many views that try to explain the origin of a single phenomenon. There are those who believe that the world was created, while others believe that it evolved. Every side of the debate is backed by what they believe to be irrefutable evidence to back their claims. The same applies to the debate that surrounds the origin of evil. It is a fact that evil exists in our society. To understand it, it is important to first discern its origins. Many views exist on the origin of evil. The most notable ones are the Christianity and scientific views. Christian or what is commonly referred to as Augustinian view contends that when God created the world, it was good and perfect, devoid of evil. But something happened down the line that polluted the serenity of the universe. This school of thought credits the devil as been the source of all evil in the world. The second school of thought believes that there is a gene that causes men to behave wickedly. It is what they refer to as the evil gene. This paper is going to compare and contrast these two views. Augustinian and Christian's View on the Origin of Sin Augustine, and in extension all those who subscribe to this view, base their explanation on the writings to be found in the bible. "To know the truth about origins, we have to consult the bible".1 This is to be found in the book of genesis, where the story of the creation is told. According to MacArthur, the first and second chapters of the book of genesis explain on the origin of the universe2. This means that these two chapters explain the story of the creation. But the chapter that is of interest when it comes to origin of evil is the third one. In genesis Chapter 1, we read "everything God has made was very good. He rested on the seventh day of creation"3 (verse 31). This goes to show that God had created an evil free universe. But that is not the case today. We live in a world where evil reigns. So what happened If God, the creator of all things, did not create evil, where did it come from The answer to this question is to be found in chapter three of the same book. We read here that Satan took the form of a serpent and convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. This was where the evil began, since the tree was banned for the duo's consumption by God. By eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve went against the will of God. This was the original sin, the cradle of all evil. From this reading, we can see that evil originated from Satan. The problem with the story of creation when it comes to explaining the origin of evil is that God is the creator of all things. This is well captured in the bible. The reasoning progresses through three premises. The first is that "God created all things"4. The second premise is that "evil is a thing"5. The third premise connects the previous two by stating that "God created evil"6. If the previous two premises hold, then it is only logical that the third premise is also true. " But this supposition, of God been creator of evil, flies in the face of the Christians belief that God is an inherently good been. If He can create evil, then he is not good. "If God is Good, then why is there evil Why does he allow good people to suffer"7 Augustine realized this, and was ingenious enough to come up with a view that, while acknowledging God as the creator of all things, exonerated him from been the creator of evil8. Augustine's reasoning was simple. He only needed to prove one of the two premises identified above as been wrong. If one premise is wrong, then it follows that the conclusion is equally wrong. Thus, he came up with a definition of evil as been a "non-thing"9. As such, evil did not need to be created. If then it was not created, where did it come from This is the next question that Augustine had to deal with. Christians, led by Augustine, tackle this issue from a very different angle. They are of the view that since God is good, He is incapable of creating something so evil. As such, it has to be sourced from other precincts. This can be explained by the premises and conclusions that Christians have come up with. The first syllogism has two premises and a conclusion drawn from them. The first premise is that everything that was created by God is good. Since "evil is not good", it then follows that "it was not created by God"10. The second syllogism also has two premises and a conclusion drawn from them. It opines that God "created everything", and since "God did not create evil", then "evil is not a thing"11. According to Christians, everything that "had being is good"12. And good is the opposite of evil. If this is true, then where did evil come from to inflict the good being To this, Christians answers "evil is devoid of positive nature. When good is absent, evil reigns"13. As such, evil originates from the vacuum that is left after good exits. Scientific View on the Origin of Evil Some scientists believe that evil is rooted in the DNA mapping of the individual. This is what explains the fact that some people in the society are evil, while others are good. This difference can be explained by the differences in the genetic makeup of the two individuals. The evil person has the evil gene, while the good person does not. In her book "evil Genes", Oakley tries to understand the phenomenon of people who have a very pleasant exterior, yet a very evil and dark interior. These are what she refers to as the "Machiavellis"14. These are people like Hitler who are manipulative and cruel yet are able to ascend to the highest echelons of human society. To explain this, scientists, psychologists included, believe that the evil person has a predisposition of taking other people as objects. As such, they can manipulate them. These people have no morals. It is not hard for them to lie and deceive others, without feeling guilty15. When such individuals undergo brain scans, the results are both amazing and confounding. They exhibit distinctive cellular arrangements of their brains. These patterns were believed to be genetically based. What this means is that unlike the Christians who believe that evil originate from Satan, these scientists think otherwise. They think evil is to be found within, not without, the individual. While Christians hold a view that evil is something that cannot be touched or seen, scientists believe that it can be seen from the patterns indicated from the scans. Scientists, and especially psychologists, believe that to men, "God is a projection.a picture imposed on a screen. He looks real to the observer, existing out there"16. That is the same that, from the perspective of the scientists, Christians regard evil; it is out there, where you can see and experience it but you cannot touch it. Scientists view evil as emanating from the human genetic pool. This theory is used to explain why some people are criminals while others are not. In some ways, this approach can be seen as attributing evil to creation. When the individual's DNA was been mapped at conception, something happened that made it possible for a gene of criminal nature to embed itself on the individuals gene pool. But in some ways, this view takes the blame of evil origination from God and his "imperfect" creation to the environment within which the individual is reared. Some environments tend to produce evil people while others produce good people. For instance, a person who is brought up in a society where violence and crime are condoned will tend to be a criminal also. A person, like Hitler, who is reared in an environment that is plagued by war, tends to be a warlord himself. But what the environment does, according to this school of thought, is simply activate a dormant, potential tendency that was inborn for crime. Hitler was born an evil person. His genetic make up, if somebody had the presence of mind of carrying it out, could reveal as much. However, the war environment within which he found himself in triggered this evil that was lying dormant within him. Perhaps this again explains the reason why despite many people having the evil genes within them, only a handful gets to actualize the evil nature. There was only one Hitler, one Stalin and a handful of other truly evil people. It is the environment within which they are reared and finds themselves in that brings out the evil nature in them. The others, who are not exposed to this kind of environment, though inherently evil, do not get the chance to actualize their evil potential. Conclusion The debate on the origin of evil continues to rage on. It pits the Christians on one hand with the scientists on the other. The Christians are of the view that everything that God created is inherently good. As such, evil was not created by God. In fact, God is a victim of evil just like we humans. His good creation was tainted by this phenomenon. On the other hand, scientists view evil as been a genetic trait of the individual. Which means that when he was created (if at all the individual was created according to the scientists), the person was evil. NOTES Read More