The Total Depravity of Man, Part 2

(Read part 1 here)

Secondly, real-life experience provides ample evidence of the depravity of humankind. Continuing with the subject of children, people will try to call them “little innocents,” mainly due to the fact that they have not committed many obviously sinful actions and are relatively harmless. However, no one has to teach a one-year-old how to throw a temper tantrum. Toddlers do not need any help engaging in what mothers call the “terrible twos.” Children whine, fight over toys while yelling, “Mine!,” and talk back at adults. In general, children naturally get into trouble and need to be taught how to behave; good manners do not come naturally. Pink expresses this idea extremely well:

If there were any innate goodness in man, it would surely show itself during the days of his infancy, before virtuous principles were corrupted, and evil habits formed by his contact with the world. But do we find infants inclined to all that is pure and excellent, and disinclined to whatever be wrong? Are they meek, tractable, yielding readily to authority? Are they unselfish, magnanimous when another child seizes their toy? Far from it. The unvarying result of growth in human beings is that as soon as they be old enough to exhibit any moral qualities in human action they display evil ones. Long before they are old enough to understand their own wicked tempers, they manifest self-will, greediness, deceitfulness, anger, spite and revenge. They cry and fret for what is not good for them, and are indignant with their elders on being refused, often attempting to strike them. Those born and brought up in the midst of honesty are guilty of petty pilfering before ever they witness and act of theft. . . . Human nature is seen to be tainted from the beginning of its existence. (185-186)

Regarding people in general, almost anyone will readily acknowledge that everyone has faults. Still, some will argue that there are “good people” in the world. But even friendly, responsible citizens are not necessarily “good.” They have their prejudices, grudges, and selfish and dishonest moments. People may have selfish motives for seemingly harmless or even generous actions, such as helping someone in order to get the other person in their debt. They may also have evil or unkind thoughts and attitudes that never materialize into actions. Sin can be a thought or motivation and not merely an action (Pink 164). Furthermore, many so-called “good” people do not believe in the God of the Bible. Even those who seem spiritually inclined prefer their own ideas about God or the divine and reject God's own revelation of Himself in Scripture. Within Christendom alone, there are many doctrinal positions that are so contradictory that they cannot all be true. Among these are differing views on the character and nature of God, such that even some who would claim to be “Christian” do not believe in the true God. Going back to the original definition of total depravity, sin does not have to be large or blatantly obvious in order to stain the whole person. For example, a glass of clean water that contains a single grain of arsenic is entirely poisoned. One cannot safely drink any part of the water because it is all contaminated, even though it is mostly water. If one were to add more arsenic, the amount of water affected would not change, but the intensity of the poison would increase (Cole). So it is with depravity. Some people have a higher or lower concentration, as it were, of sin, but all are entirely poisoned with it; the clean water is no longer clean. Thus, even those who appear to be good on the outside are wholly tainted on the inside. To say that the lack of obvious sin makes a person good or less depraved is like saying that the lack of stench and decay in a fresh corpse makes it “less dead” than an old, rotting, stinking one (Pink 142).

Another evidence of human depravity is the marketing system. Advertising, while seemingly harmless, is almost entirely based on the sins of covetousness and, often, idolatry. Businesses sell their products by enticing people to want what they do not have. Advertisements are designed to arouse discontentment to cause people to buy the product being advertised. They also appeal to people's idols, promising buyers fulfillment in one form or another. On the darker side, one need only tune in to the news channel or read the paper to see the crimes that are committed every day, some of which are made worse by unjust court verdicts that leave the victims wanting. Throughout history, corrupt governments have sat in power, abusing their people. Families engage in feuds, and tribes and nations wage war. The injustice in this world is undeniable. Finally, death itself is evidence of the universal sin problem. Scripture declares that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23a), and indeed, all people eventually die. Despite modern medical advances, no one is able to escape death.

In conclusion, it is clear, both from the Scriptures and the real world, that the doctrine of total depravity is true. Numerous Biblical passages attest to the sinfulness of humans and their separation from God, in active life and even before birth. Naughty children, opposition to Christianity, violence in the world, and death all demonstrate the corruption that stains the human heart. The doctrine of total depravity, though an unpleasant topic, is a important one, and deserves attention from Christians in all walks of life.

Works Cited

Cole, C. D. “Depravity – Total, Universal, Inherent.” Central Baptist Church.org. Central Baptist Church, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Wheaton: Crossway, 2007. Print.
Pink, A. W. The Doctrine of Human Depravity. Pensacola: Mt. Zion, n. d. Print.
Sproul, R. C. Chosen by God. Carol Stream: Tyndale House, 1986. Print.