Overview and Objectives

The Bible says that society’s real problems are problems of the heart. In an age of information and technology, failures of character have scandalized institutions of family, government, science, industry, religion, education, and the arts. In the most sophisticated society the world has ever known, our national reputation is marred by problems of racial prejudice, addiction, abuse, divorce, and sexually transmitted disease. Many want to believe that our problems are rooted in ignorance, diet, and government. But to our generation and all others, Jesus said, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man” (Matthew 15:19-20).

When you complete this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

As you proceed through this lesson have the following question in mind.
Political philosophies have come and gone. Often their idealistic views of human nature have been dashed by real-life experience. Whether it is the super race of the Nazis or the utopian world of Marxism, human beings have turned out to be a mixture of virtue and sinfulness. What is your view of human nature? Upon what evidence do you base your view?