Are humans naturally evil or good?

We are born into sin; hence, naturally evil; however, when accept Jesus as our Saviour, as I have done and countless others have done as well, then our sins become cleansed.

This doesn't give us license to live anyway that we see fit, but id does guarantee that we will see God and Jesus in Heaven and spend eternity with them when we pass away provided that one accpets Jesus as his or her Saviour.

I hope this helps to ansewr your question!

I don't know about humans, but this cat certainly isn't putting his species in a good light:

I believe that this question can be debated upon forever but the fact remains that as older humans we assume to know what is right and what is wrong therefore determining what we consider evil or good. But if we take what we know to be evil and good as older humans and apply it to say a young child or toddler where their only focus is on the self and getting what is wanted, does this selfish attidude and lack of thought for others make a human that has been unable to tell good from bad yet naturally evil? In this sense it appears that humans have naturally evil traits and the way that a human is raised determines if they will gain good traits later in life and do good things. Due to this I believe that humans may start out with what is considered bad or evil.All humans have the power to change it is just a matter of growing out of the traits that have been considered bad by normal standards and develope into better humans in a sense that they have good morals and judgement to apply through out life. Please remark on my thoughts as i would like to see what other people think about this.

Neither. The definition of both evil and good varies depending on what the person using those terms wants them to mean. Evil and good are relative.

The old Locke and Hobbes question. You see unfortunately this question is unable to be answered. Since humans have been influenced by nonnatural leisure items suchs as Alcohol, T.V., etc... People cannot be in their primative state because they know better. In my personal opinion I believe strongly that humans are naturally good but with all the modern influences they have become selfish and greedy.

I believe that there are people who are naturally good or evil but very few. I think for most people it is a combination of environment, genetics, divine intervention and personal choice. I say that there is some personal choice and divine intervention because there are people who come from horrible backgrounds and family histories but they still turn out well.

good and evil are just illusions created by man to justify favored actions...such as saying that that person is evil so they must be stopped or punished...and in the process the "good" person just happens to acquire something. such as material possessions or intangible ones like pleasure. but if you go ahead and go with the illusions people are naturally evil...no matter how "good" a person you find they will always be evil...whether it is easily visible or not. people tend hide that which won't be readily acceptable in fear of the consequences... but inside they are all living a lie...constantly showing a facade to the world. or you can look at it this way. Humans have risen to be dominate species on the planet because they are evil ( look at history with clear eyes). Human technologies were greatly increased by constant war. the Human race is like an rolling wave of destruction taking out everything in its path, other animal species, the environment, even other humans (it could end in the ridiculously stupid human race killing itself of through a lack of foresight :p oh the sweet irony considering they are "Gods" chosen and are not limited animals such gifts as "intelligence, reasoning, and can't forget the soul" :P rofl). They even created religions so they can have further reasons to kill each other over differences(take a good look at the history of your favored religion...but you'll probably refuse to see the obvious). except for the rare few who don't care. But as someone who regularly fantasizes about causing maximum suffering upon the whole human race which ends in the death of the species (or something worse) I have a bit of a unique look into the issue. My life overall hasn't been that bad so i don't really have any thing that "made" me this way..so no excuses as for nuture. as for your "naturally" good emotions and tendencies...I don't have those either so out goes that theory of why humans are good :P. And sorry not a vicious idiot but instead very intelligent and malicious. Gotta like Jez_1990's answer apparently there are some humans a bit more evolved than the monkeys that the rest are made of. But screw it you probably don't actually want the answer. Just go with whatever lets you sleep at night. screw proper punctuation its unnecessary effort.

Humans are not naturally anything in general as we are all different. Depending on what happens since birth, ie our family, environment, what happens in our lives, all of this determines how we behave. There are more evil people in the world now because there is more greed, more focus is placed on material things and power. At one time everyone was equal and happy to share with anyone nowadays we are all at each other's throats just to be the best, to achieve more. Often people who are generally good will find themselves doing wrong just because it doesn't seem so wrong anymore. Like keeping the money you saw someone drop or lying to make yourself appear better than you are to impress. Humans have the choice to be evil or good but to answer the question properly I would have to say we are neither one nor the other, most of us are somewhere in between. I still like to think there is more good than bad but with newspapers full of the most appalling crimes on a daily basis, it is difficult to really believe that.

I think that it depends on the person in question.

I think naturally indifferent is a good compromise.

Well half of us are definitely evil, as shown by one of my favourite 'maths proofs'-

Women are the product of time and money so-

Women = Time x money,

But we all know that time is money, so time=money, so-

Women = money x money
Women = (money)^2

But money is the root of all evil, so money= root(evil), so-

Women = (root(evil))^2
Women = evil

No offense anyone, just think it's funny!

But seriously, I don't think that people are born evil, they are predisposed to being nicer/nastier than others, but it is not predetermined. I do believe that all people are born selfish, and that even the kind acts we see people do are driven by selfish urges, although most are instinctive. This is because of the nature of evolution, put forward brilliantly in 'The Selfish Gene' by Richard Dawkins over 30 years ago1

I myself am neutral. I like the dark and I like the light. I like the bad in some and I like the good in others. I think the desicions you make in your life, reflect upon your nature, whether your good or evil, you choose your path....remeber that......

We all say we want peace, but we don't believe in it or even practice it. Because everyone has conflicting ideals as to what the definition of peace actually is. Peace is only a temporary delusional fantasy, its just a momentary lapse of reason in a universe of chaos. It is mans quest to follow their beliefs and religions, these excuses, to write off human iniquity, to seek out his own end no matter the costs, oh, and with total disregard or compassion for the value of human life and human rights and liberty.

In short humans are very territorial and very much an instictive warlike people with very little resolve, but they do possess a raging malice and discontent for their own species. This persona of the human species nature, is powered by fear, and a loss of control over that power, this is all psychologicaly subliminal, smoldering deep in the subconcious, but it's there. Thus humanbeings have placed Gods, Political Leaders, and Personalities to assist us in leading and manipulating our own lives. Yet we have granted them this power of control only subliminally, because it is our nature to worship something greater than ourselves.

This subliminal, subconcious beleif, totally displaces what many would call true Anarchy, (but only temporarily) where government is obliterated and the people are under self rule, and seek out justice "tooth for a tooth, eye for an eye", many believe this to be the ultimate end, and only then will a true vision of peace reign. A pure warlike society, the perfect peace.

I would think naturally evil, hink of how some nasty people are "acting like children". If we were naturally good, wouldn't acting like an innocent non world jaded child child be a good thing. It's our interractions with eachother that make us strive to be good, because we'd rather have help, safety, and/or security in a group (society). But if we all had to fend for ourselves, I doubt we'd have any reason to be good to others.

Human are born with an Empty Mind with no knowledge of Good nor evil, therfor Good and Evil are Learned

We're prone to being good.
It's basic human nature to be sociable
with one another and have good intentions.
The evil people out there are the rare exceptions.

I believe people are born with good intentions.

I believe the Lord made them that way, in the beginning. the devil was introduced for temptation.

Now comes showtime.

The earth is the stage and each human must make decisions.....right or wrong. thus the devil.

Its the final outcom that matters.

Choose wisely.................

everyone has written such thought provoking answers and i enjoyed reading them all...very good question but maybe the answer is as simple as "both" ?
what kind of person you become depends on which "shoulder you listen to"....just a thought :)

When a Human is being born, The Brain is empty, with no knowledge of Good nor evil.

Our surroundings fills that mind.

So if the babys surrounding is Evil, that baby may grow up Evil

Good, we 're trying!

Naturally evil. Blaming modern society is merely blaming the symptom for the disease. The story of Cain and Abel is emblematic of the human condition. Jealousy, anger, and self-centeredness are not learned. Even babies display these characteristics long before they understand language.

i believe that humans are naturally evil because we have to be taught manners, politeness, and what is right from wrong. we are not instilled with the instinct to share, but we are not instilled with the instinct to steal, we ARE instilled with the instinct to fend for ourselves, which inturn makes us selfish. and to be selfish isn't that to be evil?

Neither, good and evil are human ideas used to describe how pleasant or objectionable we find something, until we are able to understand the concept of good and bad, we are simply working on instinct, since neither idea exists in nature.
Also, there's indifferent behaviour, neither harmful nor beneficial and many degrees of all three ideas.
It simply isn't an 'either or' question.

There is no real "good" or "evil." Humans only see what they have been raised to see. Such as the God worshippers believe in sin, and etc. The human mind works like this:

Let's say you were raised to believe that murder was "good." You would kill, believing you were a good person.
Another person, let's say, your best friend, believes murder is "evil." They would fight against murderers believing they were a good person. It all depends on how people were raised to think. Humans are born withthe ability to learn and thus do. We are neither good nor evil. We're mortal.

all are good comments, but then explain how little kids learn to lie. parents don't teach kids to lie (normally), but they know how to and do it anyways. they don't understand that plenty of the things their parents say are lies, and learn, instead they actually believe everything parents say (normally). going with LarryH54, jealousy and anger are expressed by babies, who definitely don't get taught these things. maybe we're not born as evil as the devil, but we are definitely not born good in many ways.

(i didn't think my last response posted)


we are born evil. evil doesn't have to mean the terrible term that everyone expects it to mean. it is the absence (or partial absence) of good. how do children learn to lie? parents don't teach them to (normally) but we still notice children lying, and even stealing. evil doesn't have to mean that someone is out to kill everything or is against everyone and everything, just that there is an absence of good. we were born with sin, and it is shown by our lying and stealing at young ages without being taught, along with many other "evil" things

I'd say humans are naturally bland, but leaning towards evil. From what I've seen most humans seem naturally inclined to attack and/or destroy anything that isn't like them, simply because it isn't like them. That's evil, as far as I'm concerned.

That being said, there are a few humans that seem naturally tollerant, even of those who are naturally intollerant. So not *all* humans are naturally evil.

No.

In my experience, the weak are prone to evil and the strong prone to good. Weak people feel threatened by other people and when we feel threatened we are capable of anything. Morals don't come into play when you're fighting for your own survival. On the other hand, strong people are less likely to feel threatened - they are not operating in 'survival mode' which is basically 'looking after number one'/ 'kill or be killed'. Not feeling threatened/ insecure, they feel more willing to spare a thought for the welfare of other people.

I think that we're both, it's a balance that makes up the individual. Some people have a little too much evil and their lies the problems.

I dont think we have a natural inclination either way, we develope a 'good' or 'evil' inclination through our experiences growing up.

Neither. Good and evil are socially constructed concepts, as is their application to a given person or situation. Humans are animals that have an internal drive to survive and procreate. As such they are neither good nor evil; we just are.

Oh my God, Answers 101 is seriously misguided, I expect they believe the earth is 12,000 years old and dinsosaur fossils were put here to test our faith. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baeT3g7udho&feature=related
If you opened your mind and left the boundaries of christianity (as if your religion is the one and only correct religion and anyone else who doesn't believe (no matter how good a person they are) will go to hell. Watch Ring of Power and you will see why those in control keep their power and control through religion such as christianity. Jesus was real, his name was melchizidek, but he wasn't the son of a supposedly perfect but yet jealous and wrathful man in the sky who loves you but also condemns people, because this is real compassion, isn't it?!?
Believe in your ignorance all you want but don't impose it on others, because most people out of your isolated country don't fall for the blind faiths which you do, they actually question beliefs. If you consider yourself truly open minded, watch ring of power then debate religion, until then, don't inflict yoour gullibility onto others.
and the answer to your question. It is a bit of nature, a bit of nurture, we are a product of our upbringing and our mindset from birth which is determined in my opinion by your previous lives and your overall age in the grand cosmos rather than on our isolated speck of rock, here in the milky way. It is arrogant to think we are alone here and are so significant that God made the earth and that is all. Religion cannot fill in the gaps any longer, we now have somthing called science to disprove christianity as well as more profound belief systems.

Good and evil are entirely human constructs.

We are born good; we choose to be evil.

evil, we kill most of the planets population to increase our greed, we say animals are happy and i KNOW they're not because we try to make us look like the best population so lie about the planet as much as the FCC censor, were a bullshit race AND NO ONE TAKES A STAND TO MAKE
LIFE A BETTER place Not just for us because we've Never taken the chance or cracked out a second of thinking it through, religion is a was we provoke violence and excuse to bash people and politicians say thinks they don't do, every country gets ridiculed and for unnecessary reasons, half the time were spending time on our ass not caring about the ecosystem and people blame things on everything else, they say they're will be global warming but here in the UK we had the coldest winter in 30 years, we can control our population if we do something lets say reduce obesity in America by rationing then sending the food to third world countries, enforce higher punishment in law E.G if you kill someone you will be executed which would stabilize the population whist making more of a safer world, what I'm saying is that basically were a population in denial.

We are created in God's image, and therefore as God is perfect and good, we also are perfect and good. The world that we are born into however, is a world governed by evil. I believe that both evil and good exist, and that both have the power to influence us in our decisions. When we allow evil to influence us and control our actions, we go against God, thus we 'sin.' For this reason Christ died on the cross, to take the punishment for our sins that we might be reconciled with God through his sacrifice. Because of this, when we die, those of us who follow Christ will go to a place where there is no evil. Heaven!!

i do not agreed evil is created if you live around it for example you could be born in the most greatest Surroundings and still commit evil. i believe that evil people are born evil and gd people are born gd its just something that you are born with some people think real evil Though and commit them well i think we all think evil thought but some of us have morales and dont commit the evil we think and some do by the way great answers i really enjoy reading them all. send me and email quriking@yahoo.com ill like some more discussions on how people view this world

Let me remind everyone that right and wrong are subjective. One culture may see the harming of any living thing to be a horrible crime, while another culture is centered around ceremonial hunts. Each culture will view the other as 'evil' because their practices conflict with each other, but that doesn't make either one right. Each culture may claim that they are definitively 'good' because they follow the teachings of a prophet, wiseman, or scripture, but a third culture will come along and claim their morality is true. So how can all of these cultures that develop separately be derived from a single natural human morality, and yet be completely different? The answer is that they cannot.

For this reason I subscribe to the tabula rasa theory of human nature, which means that all humans are born with a 'blank slate'. Essentially, all people have no sense of morality or culture until they are taught it. And as they have no morality, they cannot be good nor evil.

In short: humans can't be good or evil until their culture defines for them what good or evil is. Thus, they are naturally neither.

I'm as evil as they come.

i believe we all have a sin nature but we choose to be good or evil you can't do anything without thinking about it first i recently quit smoking cigs but if i sit around thinking about them i will smoke one so when i start thinking about wanting one i chew gum and think about something else

evil, we kill most of the planets population to increase our greed, we say animals are happy and i KNOW they're not because we try to make us look like the best population so lie about the planet as much as the FCC censor, were a bullshit race AND NO ONE TAKES A STAND TO MAKE
LIFE A BETTER place Not just for us because we've Never taken the chance or cracked out a second of thinking it through, religion is a was we provoke violence and excuse to bash people and politicians say thinks they don't do, every country gets ridiculed and for unnecessary reasons, half the time were spending time on our ass not caring about the ecosystem and people blame things on everything else, they say they're will be global warming but here in the UK we had the coldest winter in 30 years, we can control our population if we do something lets say reduce obesity in America by rationing then sending the food to third world countries, enforce higher punishment in law E.G if you kill someone you will be executed which would stabilize the population whist making more of a safer world, what I'm saying is that basically were a population in denial.