152 lines
7.6 KiB
Plaintext
152 lines
7.6 KiB
Plaintext
Inborn Goodness And Conscience
|
|
World Scripture
|
|
|
|
INBORN GOODNESS AND CONSCIENCE
|
|
|
|
We continue the theme of the original human nature with passages on the
|
|
essential goodness of human beings. Confucianism, for example, regards the
|
|
original heart of man as inherently good and characterized by benevolence
|
|
(jen); this is illustrated by the well-known passage from Mencius about
|
|
people's spontaneous reactions to a child falling into a well. Islam likewise
|
|
regards human nature as inherently upright, and St. Paul wrote of the human
|
|
conscience, which allows even those unacquainted with religion or moral
|
|
teachings to distinguish right from wrong. We begin, however, with a group of
|
|
passages on the ideal of the little child, whose innocence and purity allows
|
|
him or her to easily and naturally grasp the truth. On the converse, the
|
|
innate sinfulness of man, see Ill, pp. 379-85.
|
|
|
|
Every child is born of the nature of purity and submission to God.
|
|
|
|
1. Islam. Hadith of Bukhari
|
|
|
|
God needs no pointing out to a child.
|
|
|
|
2. African Traditional Religions. Akan Proverb (Ghana)
|
|
|
|
Mencius said, "The great man is he who does not lose his child's heart."
|
|
|
|
3. Confucianism. Mencius IV.B.12
|
|
|
|
Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man
|
|
from the fall, man became again, in their infant state, innocent before God.
|
|
|
|
4. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Doctrine and Covenants 93.38
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
Mencius IV.B.12: Cf. Tao Te Ching 55, p. 231; 20, p. 608. Doctrine and
|
|
Covenants 93.38: This is an argument against the need for infant baptism.
|
|
Christ has already redeemed mankind from the original sin, and hence all people
|
|
start out innocent at birth.
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
|
|
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the
|
|
kingdom of heaven?" And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of
|
|
them, and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
|
|
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
|
|
|
|
5. Christianity. Bible, Matthew 18.1-3
|
|
|
|
Gentleness and goodness are the roots of humanity.
|
|
|
|
6. Confucianism. Book of Ritual 38.18
|
|
|
|
Religion is basically virtue, which is grounded ultimately in the spiritual
|
|
nature of man.
|
|
|
|
7. Jainism. Kundakunda, Pravacanasara 7
|
|
|
|
So set your purpose for religion as a man by nature upright--the nature
|
|
[framed] of God, in which He has created man. There is no altering the laws of
|
|
God's creation. That is the right religion.
|
|
|
|
8. Islam. Qur'an 30.30
|
|
|
|
You may not see yourself growing up, but you definitely know it when you are
|
|
sinning.
|
|
|
|
9. African Traditional Religions. Akan Proverb (Ghana)
|
|
|
|
Wabisah ibn Ma`bad said, "I went to see the Messenger of God and he said to me,
|
|
'You want to question me on the subject of virtue?' 'Yes,' I replied, and he
|
|
went on, 'Question your heart. Virtue is that by which the soul enjoys repose
|
|
and the heart tranquillity. Sin is what introduces trouble into the soul and
|
|
tumult into man's bosom--and this despite the religious advice which men may
|
|
give you.'"
|
|
|
|
10. Islam. 40 Hadith of an-Nawawi 27
|
|
|
|
When Gentiles who have not the Law do by nature what the Law requires, they are
|
|
a law to themselves, even though they do not have the Law. They show that what
|
|
the Law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears
|
|
witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that
|
|
day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
|
|
|
|
11. Christianity. Bible, Romans 2.14-16
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
Matthew 18.1-3: Christians do not take this text to mean that the original
|
|
nature of man is innocent. Rather, the child exemplifies an attitude of
|
|
simplicity and innocence by which one can easily accept the gospel; cf. Luke
|
|
18.16-17, p. 912. Book of Ritual 38.18: But the initial goodness is ordinarily
|
|
corrupted; see Book of Songs, Ode 255, p. 385. Pravacanasara 7: Cf.
|
|
Gottamasara, p. 453. Qur'an 30.30: See also Qur'an 12.53, p. 383. Romans
|
|
2.14-16: The conscience is that universal attribute of man that allows everyone
|
|
to recognize the truth. Yet at the same time, everyone is afflicted by sin;
|
|
see Romans 3.9-12, p. 383; 1 John 1.8, p. 383.
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
|
|
We are the pitiful prisoners of sin, totally ignorant of the most precious and
|
|
intimate being and master whom we would never trade for everything in heaven
|
|
and earth. That master is one's own conscience. How often has this conscience
|
|
given us advice, and while we were immersed in sinful thinking day and night it
|
|
tirelessly helped us to cross the river to safety.
|
|
|
|
12. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 3-30-90
|
|
|
|
Mencius said, "All men have this heart that, when they see another man suffer,
|
|
they suffer, too. The ancient kings had this heart: when they saw men suffer,
|
|
they suffered, too. Therefore the former kings ran a government that, when it
|
|
saw men suffer, it suffered, too. With a heart such as that... they could rule
|
|
the empire as if it were something they turned in the palm of their hand.
|
|
|
|
"What do I mean, 'All men have this heart, that when they see another man
|
|
suffer, they suffer too?' Well, take an example: a man looks out; a child is
|
|
about to fall into a well. No matter who the man is, his heart will flip,
|
|
flop, and he will feel the child's predicament; and not because he expects to
|
|
get something out of it from the child's parents, or because he wants praise
|
|
from his neighbors, associates, or friends, or because he is afraid of a bad
|
|
name, or anything like that.
|
|
|
|
"From this we can see that it is not human not to have a heart that sympathizes
|
|
with pain. Likewise not to have a heart that is repelled by vice: that is not
|
|
human, either. Not to have a heart that is willing to defer: that's not human.
|
|
And not to have a heart that discriminates between true and false is not human,
|
|
either.
|
|
|
|
"What is the foundation of natural human feeling for others (jen)? The heart
|
|
that sympathizes with pain. What is the foundation of a commitment to the
|
|
common good (i)? The heart that is repelled by vice. What is the foundation of
|
|
respect for social and religious forms (li)? The heart that is willing to
|
|
defer. And what is the foundation for a liberal education (chih)? The heart
|
|
that can tell true from false.
|
|
|
|
"People have these four foundations like they have four limbs. A man who says
|
|
he cannot practice them is calling himself a criminal. A man who says the
|
|
ruler cannot practice that is calling the ruler a criminal.
|
|
|
|
"Everybody has these four foundations in himself. If these four foundations
|
|
can be filled in on a broad scale, it will be like a fire starting up, it will
|
|
be like a spring bursting through. If they can be filled in, it will be enough
|
|
to create and preserve the world order. Leave them unfilled, it will be
|
|
impossible for a man to take care of his father and mother."
|
|
|
|
13. Confucianism. Mencius II.A.6
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
Sun Myung Moon, 3-30-90: Cf. Romans 7.15-24, p. 391; Chandogya Upanishad
|
|
8.12.1, p. 387. Mencius II.A.6: Mencius lists the four Confucian virtues:
|
|
benevolence (jen), dutifulness or concern for the public good (i), observance
|
|
of proper social and religious forms (li), and education (chih). They are all
|
|
founded upon germs which lie in the heart of every person.
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|