There is a widely accepted viewpoint among secularists (and some “Christians” too) that in my opinion has its roots in Pelagianism. It is related to the sociopath, psychopath, and other interesting trail theories. The idea basically says that man’s sin is a result of his environment, or the bad influence of society. In other words, you’re not responsible for you’re actions; it was your bad childhood, etc.
Pelagius was a 4th century heretic who said that sin is not inherited from Adam, as traditional Christianity taught, but that it is a result of the bad influence of people around you. Augustine was one of the major opponents of Pelagius, and succeeded in showing the church the error of that viewpoint from the Bible. The Bible clearly teaches inheritance of sin and total depravity. (See 1 Cor. 15:22, Gen. 6:5, and many more)
This viewpoint has influenced many things, including the public school system. The mentality behind the institution of public schools was that by forcibly putting a child into a “good” setting, they could change the child and create a perfect world without sin. Change the environment, and you’ll change the kid. It obviously didn’t turn out that way. (Ever heard of Columbine?)
This idea plainly contradicts the doctrine of total depravity that is proven by the second. Which one of us can truly say honestly without his conscience being killed that he does not sin? Even when you isolate a child with no outside, “corrupting” influence, he will still be a sinner when you look at him the next time. Toddlers disobey their parents when they don’t even understand what that means. The idea of a utopian society is completely faulty.
Many of the frivolous lawsuits, murderer defenses, and criminal excuses today come from this mentality of, “I’m not responsible,” and, “It was the neighborhood I grew up in.” Hence, criminals are pardoned, murderers declared insane, and bad people excused. Those pleas are just convenient excuses invented by modern man in rebellion against God.
Sin comes at birth from Adam as a characteristic of being human. If you’re not sinful, you’re not human; that’s the sad truth for man since the fall. There’s only one way out of the judgment of God for sin, and that’s through Christ.
September 29th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
[…] On a completely unrelated note, there is a shocking quote in WORLD Magazine this week that really says something about the moral values of this country and the influence of Pelagianism. Here it is: […]
January 27th, 2007 at 5:48 am
Pelagius, I had not heard of him, thanks! My kind of guy.
I will say that our public school system sucks, I can’t blame the Columbine incident on the public school system, which if I read it right you seem to imply. I think those kids would have done that if they had gone to a private school - providing they had their same environment out side of school. Pelagianism…yes!
February 3rd, 2007 at 1:24 pm
You’re welcome, Chocomel. I always enjoy letting people know where they’re coming from when they don’t know it. Most of what people think is so radical and new today has been thought up before in some form or another. It is so true that there is “nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
I didn’t blame the Columbine incident on the public school system; (though I could with good reason, using facts from their curriculla and teachers, but that’s beside the point) I said that public schools have failed to make good children by putting them in a good environment. The killers at Columbine had good parents, good teachers, good textbooks, and essentially a good environment, but they murdered their classmates regardless.
Week after week, on shows like 20/20, Dateline, 60 Minutes, etc., you here stories of murderers whom everyone thought were wonderful people who were always happy and joyful, had a wonderful life, etc. And yet, they murdered their wives, friends, or whomever. Sin comes from the heart, not the environment.
I think those kids would have done that if they had gone to a private school - providing they had their same environment out side of school.
It depends on the private school. If the school teaches Christian values, then hearts can be changed, and the possibility of attacks like Columbine decreased; but there still will be that possibility because man is inherently sinful.
The environment outside school is off the point, because I was talking about the reasoning behind public schools, not society in general. That point is also mute because, as I said, little children who haven’t been exposed to violent video games, etc. and are in wonderful schools still sin a lot. If you doubt me, try having kids.