In attempt to integrate an individual’s goodness as a Christian versus Erikson’s view of goodness in people, I will begin with how God says there are none good besides Himself. This is because of our fallen state as humans and because we are sinful, there is always going to be a ratio of good to bad within us. The bad will always outweigh the good because we are sinful, prideful, and fallen. However, this is not to say that we cannot have goodness in us or be “good” Christians. It just means that we have to recognize that we cannot be innately good - only God can. This correlates to Erikson’s view of basic strengths and weaknesses because he argued that they exist in people as ratios (Evans, 1967). For example, you cannot achieve industry
In Martin Luther’s Freedom of a Christian Man, Luther describes what he believes should be the relationship between faith and good works in the life of Christian people. His beliefs became integral to the Protestant and Lutheran ideologies. The basis of Luther’s pamphlet was “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” (31) This central thought provides readers dialogue on what is truly a selfless, act and if these acts do in fact have an effect on one’s
There are two ways that this quotation might be interpreted, one way focuses on a person's goodness, or lack of, and the other concerns benign or malicious intentions.
It appears that the problem of evil is a substantial one. While arguments exist that can challenge assumptions of the problem, it sometimes requires some definition contorting and does not answer all the challenges evil presents. The greater good defense presents some key insights into how we must perceive God’s actions but does not completely defend against the presented problems of evil. Therefore, a more plausible defense is needed to eliminate the problems evil creates with the Judeo-Christian concept of God.
Absolute goodness is perfection, which mankind could strive for without every achieving so. Depriving goodness beyond existence would be considered evil characteristics because it’s lacking fullness
An individuals sense of self-importance or self-esteem can go a long distance in determining their perspective of themselves and their world around them. Erik Erikson, a developmental psychologist, highlights the importance of how the role of society and culture can affect an individual's ego. Erikson’s theory on the development of human beings discusses how a person’s level of confidence influences their ability to solve problems in society. Erikson believed that a persons potential in trusting others, or how a person views themselves personally is affected by how their confidence levels developed throughout certain stages of their life (McLeod, Saul). In order to expand on Erikson's ideas of the development of the human ego, he created a model that represents eight stages of development that occurs in a person's lifespan. In this model, the first five stages take place up to adulthood and the other three stages take place into and after adulthood. The progression and development of these stages is dependent on the previous stage (Davis & Clifton, 1995).
Over time, this concept that morality cannot be separate from God has encountered perpetual doubt from several atheists. The Bible tells us in Luke 18:19 that, “No one is good – except God alone” (Bible). From this, a believer might argue that we are incapable of being good, but by God’s grace and mercy we can be better. Atheists who speak in terms of good and evil have manipulated religious dialogue in their favor; they ha...
A Good man is Hard to Find" focuses on Christianity being filled with sin and punishment, good and evil, belief and unbelief.
All in all, the problem of evil has been debated for thousands of years. Some believe that evil is caused by Satan and not humanity, such as the Manichaeanists and Bogomilists, and some believe that humans are the cause of evil, rather than God, such as Augustine, Peter Kreefe, and myself. While God is aware that a lack of goodness could occur, he is not the cause of it. He is omniscient, omnipotent, and all-loving and creates human beings with absolute goodness; however, with that that absolute goodness comes free will. With free will, humans have the ability to choose wrongly and therefore experience evil or a lack of goodness. God has given us that right because it is the only way to become happy. God cannot make one happy. The individual is the cause for their own happiness.
As children, we hear many stories about the interactions between good and evil. Since each story or fable have different characters, the description of evil and good are different from one another. The good character will have different characteristic compared to evil one.
What makes a good person good? According to WikiHow, "We should learn to define our own morals ourselves. One of the simplest ways to do so is to love others, and treat them as you would like to be treated. Try to think of others before yourself. Even doing small things daily will greatly enrich and improve your life, and the lives of others around you." This quote shows us what we need to do in order to be what society thinks as, “good". In order to be a good person, you have to do good and moral things in your society consistently. However people might think that by doing one good thing once in a while will automatically make you a “good person”, but in reality it doesn’t.
Theorists have expanded our knowledge of psychology, influenced one another to broaden, and built upon each other’s theories to develop their own. One theorist who has built upon previous theorists was Erik Erikson. Erikson developed an eight-stage theory of identity and psychosocial development, which has countless strengths and weaknesses.
Freud’s psychosexual theory and Erikson’s psychosocial theory are two very renowned developmental concepts. Erikson was persuaded by Freud’s ideas but he elaborated on the theory differently.
People raised either in a good home or a lousy home. Depending on which home you are raised in makes your view on “good” and “evil” will be different than that of other people. Example of this is if Phil was raised in an abusive house while growing up he might think that it’s ok to hit people or he might be a very violent person without thinking about it, While bob who was
The one thing in the world that is unambiguously good is good will. Good is good. Even when character qualities like intelligence and courage or qualities like wealth, status, good health can be corrupted and used for either good or bad, a good will is intrinsically good, ...
What makes a person good? Immanuel Kant possession was, the only thing that is good without qualification, and this is a “good will". The right motive is to do the right things, to duty and respect moral law. For Kant, a good will is not good because of what it brings about or helps to bring about, but because it is good in itself.