Program / Course 18: World Religions / Lesson 6.3
What you will learn
- Compare how the traditions describe what a human being is.
- Compare their diagnoses of what has gone wrong: sin, forgetfulness, the evil inclination, ignorance and craving.
- Explain the Christian doctrine of the image of God and of original sin, with the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant differences.
- Recognize that a tradition’s remedy follows from its diagnosis.
The big idea
Every religion offers a view of what a human being is and what is wrong with the human condition, and the remedy it proposes follows from its diagnosis. Christianity teaches that humans are made in God’s image and are fallen, in need of rescue from sin and death. Judaism speaks of two inclinations and of human responsibility to repair the world. Islam speaks of human forgetfulness and a nature made for God. Hindu and Buddhist traditions name ignorance and craving. Seeing the diagnoses together clarifies why the cures differ.
Key terms
- Image of God (imago Dei)
- The teaching, from Genesis 1:27, that human beings are made in God’s likeness, which gives them dignity and a vocation.
- Original sin
- In Western Christian teaching, the condition of fallen humanity, inherited from Adam, in which people are born with a damaged nature and a tendency to sin.
- Ancestral sin
- The Orthodox preference for describing the inheritance from Adam chiefly as mortality and corruption, with personal guilt arising from one’s own sins.
- Yetzer hara and yetzer hatov
- In rabbinic Judaism, the evil inclination and the good inclination, both present in every person, with the task of directing the first to good ends.
- Fitra
- In Islam, the natural disposition of every person toward recognizing and worshiping God.
- Avidya and tanha
- Ignorance of the true nature of reality, and thirst or craving. Hindu and Buddhist terms for the root of suffering.
- Haumai
- In Sikhism, ego or self-centeredness, which separates the person from God.
Background
To ask what a human being is invites other questions: whether a person is a body, a soul or both, whether the self continues after death, whether human beings are good, broken or neutral by nature, and whether the problem lies within or outside. A tradition’s answers on these shape its ethics, its worship and its idea of salvation.
The traditions share some perceptions. All see that people do wrong, suffer and die, and that something in human life is not as it should be. They differ on the cause and the cure. This lesson sets out the diagnoses, using the tradition’s own terms, and examines the Christian doctrine more closely, since it is easy to misstate.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: The Christian account
Christians hold that God created humans in his image (Genesis 1:27), as body and soul, to know and love him and to care for the world. They hold that the first humans turned away from God, and that this brought disorder, guilt and death into the human family (Romans 5:12). Individuals add their own sins. The remedy is God’s act in Christ (Romans 5:18-19).
The churches differ on details. Catholic teaching says that original sin is inherited as a deprivation of grace and a wound to human nature, which baptism heals in its guilt while leaving a tendency to sin. The Orthodox emphasize the inheritance of mortality and corruption and are cautious about inherited guilt. Protestants of the Reformed and Lutheran traditions stress total depravity, meaning that sin affects every part of the person and that no one can save himself. Arminian and Wesleyan Protestants teach that grace given to all restores the ability to respond. All teach that human nature is good in origin, damaged by sin and restored in Christ.
Step 2: The Jewish account
Judaism teaches that human beings are made in the image of God, with a good and an evil inclination. The task is to direct the inclinations by Torah. Most Jewish thought does not teach inherited guilt from Adam. Sin is a failure of responsibility that can be repaired by repentance (teshuvah), prayer and charity. Humans are partners with God in repairing the world.
Christian and Jewish readings of the story of Eden differ. Jews read it as a story of disobedience with consequences, not of a fall that has damaged all human nature beyond self-help. Jews therefore do not see the need for a savior from original sin, and this shapes their response to Christian claims.
Step 3: The Muslim account
Islam teaches that human beings are created good and with a natural disposition (fitra) to recognize God. Adam and Eve disobeyed and repented, and God forgave them, so there is no inherited guilt. Humans are weak, forgetful and prone to heedlessness, and God sends prophets to remind them. The great sin is shirk, and the great failing is pride.
The remedy is remembrance, submission and right action, with God’s mercy. Muslims hold that no person bears another’s sin (Qur’an 6:164), which is one reason they find the Christian doctrine of atonement through Christ’s death foreign. Christians reply that the human problem is deeper than forgetfulness, and that Scripture speaks of a heart that needs renewal (Jeremiah 17:9, Ezekiel 36:26).
Step 4: The Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh accounts
Hindu schools identify avidya, ignorance of one’s true nature, as the root of bondage, along with attachment and the consequences of karma. In Advaita, the remedy is knowledge, in bhakti schools it is loving devotion, and in all it is liberation from rebirth. Buddhism names craving and ignorance as the cause of suffering, with no permanent self. Sikhism names haumai, ego, as the barrier to union with God, and calls for remembrance of the Name and grace.
These diagnoses are not mainly about guilt before a lawgiver. They speak of bondage, illusion and suffering. Christians also speak of bondage, and of ignorance (Ephesians 4:18), but add that sin is an offense against a personal God and a broken relationship that God himself must heal.
Step 5: Secular accounts, and what the comparison shows
Secular views offer other diagnoses: the human problem is poverty, injustice, ignorance or a legacy of evolution, to be addressed by education, politics and science. Many hold that human beings are mainly good and improvable. The twentieth century gave reasons for both hope and doubt. Christians affirm human goodness in creation and also hold that no program removes the problem of the heart.
A comparison shows that remedies follow diagnoses. If the problem is ignorance, the remedy is knowledge. If it is forgetfulness, the remedy is a reminder. If it is craving, the remedy is discipline. If it is sin and death, the remedy is forgiveness and new life from God. Debate between traditions is therefore also debate about the diagnosis, and a Christian should say why the diagnosis of sin seems accurate.
- What does it mean to be made in the image of God, and what follows for how humans are treated?
- Is the human problem mainly ignorance, weakness, guilt or something else?
- Why does a tradition’s remedy follow from its diagnosis?
- How do Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant teachings on original sin differ, and where do they agree?
- Why might a Muslim or a Jewish person find the idea of inherited sin unconvincing?
- What evidence in ordinary life supports or challenges the Christian diagnosis?
Examples
Three doctors
A patient has a serious illness. One doctor says the problem is a lack of knowledge and recommends study. Another says the problem is weakness and recommends rest and reminders. A third says the problem is an infection that must be treated from outside. The pictures are an image of how traditions diagnose the human condition differently, and the remedies follow.
Teshuvah and confession
On the Day of Atonement a Jew confesses sins in a communal prayer and resolves to repair wrongs done to others. A Christian at the Eucharist confesses sin and receives forgiveness based on Christ’s death. Both take wrongdoing seriously and describe different ways in which it is healed.
Paul’s words
Paul writes, “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Romans 7:19). Christian readers have found in this a description of a divided will. Many people, in any tradition, recognize the experience, and each tradition explains it in its own way.
Different perspectives
Catholic
The Catholic Church teaches that humans are created in God’s image, wounded by original sin and restored by grace. The Council of Trent taught that baptism removes original sin, though concupiscence, the inclination to sin, remains. The Church holds that human nature is not totally corrupt and that free will remains (Catechism 396-421).
Orthodox
Orthodox theology speaks of the fall as bringing death and corruption, with each person bearing personal responsibility for their own sins. It emphasizes the image of God as a calling to likeness and union. Orthodox writers often say that the Western doctrine of inherited guilt is not the Eastern teaching.
Protestant
Reformed and Lutheran confessions teach that sin pervades the whole person and that salvation is by grace alone. Wesleyan and Arminian traditions teach that grace restores the ability to respond. Protestants differ on how free the will is, a debate carried on since Luther and Erasmus.
Jewish, Muslim and Eastern
Jewish teaching affirms human responsibility and the power of repentance. Muslim teaching affirms the natural goodness of humans and the possibility of return. Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh teachings locate the problem in ignorance, craving and ego. Each tradition says that Christianity overstates or misplaces the problem, and Christians reply from Scripture and from experience.
Scholarly and secular
Psychologists and anthropologists describe human nature in terms of evolved traits, social learning and moral capacities. Some find in human altruism a sign of natural goodness, and others find in cruelty a sign of deep flaw. The question of whether human nature is basically good remains open in secular thought.
Why it matters
How a person answers the question of human nature determines what he thinks help looks like. A Christian who sees why Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists diagnose the problem differently can also see why they find the Christian remedy unnecessary or foreign, and can explain the Christian view with clarity.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Christianity teaches that humans are worthless.
Correction: Christianity teaches that humans are made in God’s image and are of great worth. The doctrine of sin says that this goodness is damaged, and that Christ came to restore it.
Misunderstanding: All religions teach that humans are sinners in need of a savior.
Correction: Judaism and Islam hold no inherited guilt, and Hindu and Buddhist traditions speak of ignorance and craving. Many traditions speak of divine mercy or grace, but only Christianity teaches rescue from inherited sin and death through the death and resurrection of Christ.
Misunderstanding: Original sin means babies are guilty of Adam’s offense.
Correction: Catholic teaching says the inheritance is a fallen condition without personal fault in the infant. Orthodox teaching stresses mortality, and Protestants differ. The caricature of guilty babies is not what the churches say.
Misunderstanding: Buddhists and Hindus say there is no problem.
Correction: Both name suffering and bondage as the human problem and seek liberation. The cause is named differently from Christian sin.
Knowledge check
What does it mean to say humans are made in the image of God?
It means that humans reflect God in a unique way and have dignity, reason, moral capacity and a calling to know and love God, and to care for creation. Genesis 1:27 states it. Christians hold the image to be damaged by sin and restored in Christ, who is the perfect image of God.
How does the Jewish account of human nature differ from the Christian doctrine of original sin?
Jewish thought teaches that every person has a good and an evil inclination and is responsible to direct them by Torah, and repentance can repair wrongs. It generally does not teach inherited guilt from Adam. Christians teach that the fall damaged human nature, so rescue by God’s grace in Christ is needed.
What do Hindu and Buddhist traditions name as the root of the human problem?
Both name ignorance of the true nature of reality, and attachment or craving, as the root of suffering and rebirth. In Advaita Vedanta the ignorance is of the identity of the self with Brahman. In Buddhism it is of impermanence and no-self. The remedy is liberating knowledge and discipline.
Why does a tradition’s diagnosis shape its remedy?
The cure must fit the illness. If the problem is ignorance, the answer is knowledge. If it is forgetfulness, it is reminder and submission. If it is craving, it is discipline and detachment. If it is sin and death, it is forgiveness and new life from God. Debates about the cure are therefore debates about the diagnosis.
Think it through
- Which diagnosis of the human problem seems most true to your own experience, and why?
- How would you explain the doctrine of sin so that it does not sound like contempt for people?
- What might a Christian learn from the Jewish emphasis on repair and responsibility?
- Does an optimistic view of human nature fit the history of the last century?
Independent assignment
Diagnosis and remedy
In your notebook, make a table with a row for each of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, with columns for what a human being is, what has gone wrong, and what remedy follows. Fill it in the tradition’s own terms. Then write about 300 words defending, as a Christian, the claim that the diagnosis of sin is realistic, while stating fairly the strongest objection from one other tradition.
Further study
- Augustine of Hippo, The City of God Read selectively in the books on the fall and the two cities for a classic Western account of sin.
- Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation of the Word Read the early chapters for an Eastern account of corruption and the restoration of the image.
- Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church Read the paragraphs on the fall and original sin.
- John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion Read selectively in Book II on the corruption of human nature.
- Genesis 1:27 God created man in his own image.
- Romans 5:12 By one man sin entered into the world.
- Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity.
- Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you.