Summary of Chapter 2
The 2nd 'lie' Young addresses is 'God is good. I am not.' Of course, Young does not dispute God's goodness, but he does question our lack of goodness. He believes that there is good in us. In fact, he believes that we are essentially good (since we are made by God in the divine image). Young acknowledges that something has gone wrong with God's good creation, but sees it in terms of sickness and blindness rather than actual depravity. Rather than simply being wicked, we are deceived about our truest nature.
Reaction
The overall point does not seem to be altogether different from that of chapter 1. Again, Young is emphasizing the truth of Genesis 1 over and against the truth of Genesis 3. We've believed lies and forgotten truths. Young is far from endorsing a view that humans are inherently good in and of themselves. He is careful to link our goodness to the fact that we are God's creation. But it does seem that Young runs the risk of underestimating human depravity. It seems to me that our problem is not simply that we're surrounded by deceptive darkness. In some cases we actually love the darkness. Jesus met some people who didn't think of themselves as image-bearers, but he also met some people who struggled not with shame, but with pride. My continued caution, here, is that Young's view of our sin might not be thoroughgoing enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment