Human Nature in the Bible
Have you ever thought about why human beings were created in the “image of God” (Genesis 1:27), yet we still have conflicts within us between good and evil? These conflicts depict our “human nature.” The beginnings of human nature can be interpreted through scripture in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. The basis of which human nature was derived from the Bible, starts with the “First Sin and It‘s Punishment” (Genesis 3), and was further developed by our ancestors like Abraham and his descendents, all the way through Paul’s account of “law of the Spirit of life” (Romans 8:2) in the New Testament. These interpretations of human nature help shape our faith in God, as he distends himself from a “hands-on approach“ to having establishing laws that we must follow within ourselves.
Human nature can first be seen in the early verses in the book of Genesis. Adam and Eve commit the first act of human nature, a “sin” that occurs because of disobedience, selfishness, and irresponsibility which is judged by God. The story begins with a serpent stirring Eve’s curiosity, which leads to disobedient behavior. One could argue that the serpent deceives Eve, who takes the forbidden fruit from the tree. To argue that it was Eve’s own human nature in play, Eve tells the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you will die.” (Genesis 3: 2-3) This is an example of irresponsibility. Also, the scripture reads that, “and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6), so it was Eve‘s selfishness that made her want to be “like God.” Adam and Eve also show a sign of human nature by feeling “guilt”, by “and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3: 8) God punishes disobedience, selfishness, and irresponsibility...