This section is about the human condition. The human condition is the state that man is inevitably in simply because he exists. This is also called man’s existential condition. Involved in this state is man’s fallen being, namely that we are not the near perfect creatures that God created us to be. We are beings not entirely good, and we are ignorant and alone in this world.

Something important to remember from this section is the idea of concupiscence. Concupiscence is the idea that people do things that they don’t want to do. Many addictions and vices are included among the things that people do even though they know that it is bad for them. What I think is important to remember about this is that many of the things that we do because of our concupiscent nature are things only of the present that do not give sustenance, and really only do harm in the long run, and even commonly in the short run too.

Something else that is important to remember is what the concept of Original Sin truly entails. It does not mean that we are born already condemned to hell, and that we need something to wipe away this sin. It is instead the idea that we live in a fundamentally corrupt world, and that that world is what makes us sinners, and that is what Baptism tries to undo; the corruption of the material world. This helps explain away a lot about the condition of evil in that we are not born already tending toward evil, but only in a world that has evil in it.

Finally, key to the idea of original sin, and human understands of why there is evil if God exists and is truly omnipotent and Omni benevolent. We need to remember that evil does not exist as a being, but is really a lack of good, a real thing. Evil is in truth more of a state of being, lacking goodness, then a real and measurable thing. It is also good to remember that evil is not in the world because God made it so, but because God gave us the ability to choose what is good, and what is not good.

From this section of study, I have run across the question of why do humans act concupiscent when it is obviously contradictory to what we want and desire. I think that the reason we do this is the same as one of the major reasons that we lie; it is much more convenient at the time. As I claimed earlier, concupiscent behavior is something that seems to be immediately beneficial, and therefore we opt for that rather then keep faith and remain patient with the good things in life that give great rewards later on down the road. This is not to say that things that pay out are bad.

Finally, to become a better person, I should be more conscientious of the world around me, and I should take a closer look at those decisions that I make everyday in which I find myself thinking that I made the wrong choice. When I think that, that is generally a good indication that I made the wrong choice, and that I should learn from that choice what is right, and not right, and try to minimize the harmful affects of my false judgment by making sure the truth or whatever falsies that my judgment may contain is righted.

Back to Faith Page 1