The Human Condition After the Fall
After Eden, Scripture portrays a downward spiral. Cain murders Abel (Genesis 4), violence fills the earth (Genesis 6), and nations pursue power without God (Genesis 11). Each story reveals the same pattern: knowledge without obedience, freedom without holiness. Paul echoes this truth: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
The Fall explains why moral education, wealth, or progress cannot perfect society. Humanity’s deepest problem is not ignorance but independence — the desire to define good and evil without God.
📘 WORD BOX: DEPRAVITY
Meaning: The corruption of human nature following the Fall, inclining people toward sin.
Use: Not absolute evil, but a universal moral weakness that only divine grace can heal (Ephesians 2:1–5).
Understanding Pluralism
Pluralism is the belief that multiple worldviews or religions can coexist as equally valid paths to truth or salvation. It sounds tolerant — and socially, it can promote peace — but spiritually it blurs moral and theological boundaries. In the ancient world, pluralism meant worshiping many gods: the Egyptians honored Ra, Isis, and Osiris; the Greeks served Zeus, Athena, and Dionysus; the Romans absorbed every god they encountered — a marketplace of faiths. Each culture believed its gods controlled portions of life: fertility, war, wisdom, harvest. Yet Israel’s prophets declared, “The LORD is God; there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:35). Biblical monotheism challenged ancient pluralism by proclaiming a single Creator with moral authority over all nations.
📘 WORD BOX: PLURALISM
Meaning: The worldview that accepts many religious or moral systems as equally true.
Modern Form: The idea that all beliefs lead to God, or that no belief has the right to claim truth.
Today’s gods are subtler but just as demanding. Success, self-expression, pleasure, and power have replaced Zeus and Aphrodite. The cults of ancient temples now appear in corporate towers, social feeds, and entertainment. C. S. Lewis called these “rival saviors” — promises of freedom that end in slavery (Romans 6:16).
