Are we born basically good, or basically wicked?

Question

Neutral?
What is the measuring stick for good, wicked, etc?
I do believe there is an age of accountability.

Answer 1

Adam’s sin has resulted in not only us having a sin nature, but also has caused us to incur guilt before God for which we are deserving punishment. Being conceived with original sin upon us (Psalm 51:5) results in us inheriting a sin nature so wicked that Jeremiah 17:9 describes the human heart as “deceitful above all else, desperately wicked, and beyond cure.” And not only was Adam found guilty because he sinned, but his guilt and his punishment (death) belongs to us as well (Romans 5:12,19).

Answer 2

We are all creatures of God. We are indeed born sinners, but we are basically good, too. Sometimes, we make a wrong turn in life, and leave Father's path and do wicked things. We all get angry and at times think of committing a wrongful act. Some of us pay the price by spending many years in prison, or death. When I become angry and have this thoughts, I just call on Father to help me and by the end of that day, I no longer have those wicked thoughts

Answer 3

I think we are born pretty neutral, although that is a rather broad range. Our personality effects a lot of our decisions, some get angry easier than others due to genes, and many other characteristic traits. I say neutral because I think that we all have the ability to be shaped, and what pulls us towards either side of neutral is largely our upbringing and the experiences we face.

Take the columbine kids. Do I think they were evil? No. What they did sure was, but those guys were most likely given hell every day of their lives. I do not believe in evil people. We are all victims of circumstance, which again, makes the concept of heaven and hell all the more twisted.

Answer 4

I was born naked and more than a little bit stinky.

The main difference now is that I usually wear clothes.

For me, the measuring stick of 'good' would be acting deliberately to increase the health, well-being or happiness of another living being.

The measure for 'wickedness' would be deliberately causing harm or injury to another living being.

Babies are generally incapable of doing either of these things, and so I suppose for these purposes, it would be considered neutral

Answer 5

Good and bad are societal constructs. In the state of nature this is an irrelevant question - people act how people act. However, once we move out of the state of nature into society, thus introducing a collective notion of morality, it becomes a complicated and very relative issue. One can compare good and bad relative to each other, but it's very dependent on context and personal interpretation. There's no clear answer, and even murky answers vary wildly from society to society as a result of differences in emphasized moral values.

Answer 6

We are all born basically wicked when we are born we are born with a sin nature God calls us all sinners and we all come short of the glory of God all men a liar God the truth , the measuring stick of God is that we all are falling short of his glory and yes there is a age of accountability it all starts with our consciousness of sin .

Answer 7

Hi!

Good Question.

I'd say Neutral, Then it builds up in a person good & bad. depending on how there life is... I think that people can get hurt & stuff & effects others different... or gready & want more money & thats when people can turn Evil/wicked.. when others will work harder! Or how they've been brought up has alot to do with it..
I'll have to give this one a star & get to see others opinions..
I did come across this tho which is pretty interesting.

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/8449/original.html
& this...
http://www.traviscarden.com/resources/verse-lists/total-depravity/

Answer 8

We're born basically helpless. As we age, we develop into basically selfish, and most people never leave that stage.

I don't believe people are basically good or evil, but they do look out for themselves first, and those with a narrow idea of self do it without care for others.

The subtle social contracts that being a part of a culture requires make most of us realise that we can't always scratch our own backs. Some of us grow to see people as tools that can be used to scratch our back, others understand quid pro quo and still others scratch others backs without expecting anything in return.

This is not good or evil, just serving the self in different ways.

Google "Kohlberg's stages" for a more scholarly way of saying it.

Answer 9

We are born of a sinful nature.....the 10 commandments were given to remind man just how wicked we are.....and I too believe there is an age of accountability....

Answer 10

I think we are born neither. We are born with free will.

Since babies can't do wrong though and wouldn't know if they were, then they'd go to heaven if they die.

Adults and those who know right and wrong are held accountable to God even if they think what's wrong is right. They are able to know the truth (excluding those with teh mental ability of a small child).