Engaging God's World Chapter 3

Plantinga starts this chapter by talking about human decay.  There is poverty, sickness, hunger, injustice, and violence all over the world.  We can see human decay all around us.  Many have said that human depravity is the one part of Christian doctrine that can be proved.  Philosophers have pondered the human  condition for centuries and diagnosed this depravity as many different things.  "Human life is not the way it's supposed to be."  Secular thinkers diagnose the problem as many different things and prescribe many different things such as education, justice, and freedom.  Christians believe that these diagnosis and prescriptions are only getting part of the picture.

The Scriptures reveal what is really wrong with humanity.  The human race rebelled against God and allowed sin to enter into the world.  Now we have to realize the fact that we have a sinful nature.  We are "conceived and born in sin."  "Evil is what is wrong with the world."  This includes the entire created world, not just human nature.  Evil is any spoiling of the shalom that God intends.

Plantinga then moves on to talk about corruption.  Corruption happens when one takes their gifts from God and uses them for purposes other than what they were intended for.  It can also happen by putting foreign elements into relationships that don't belong in them.  Friendships can be polluted by ambition and sports can be polluted by taunting.  This is especially true with idolatry, an object becomes an idol when it is placed into a relationship that it does not belong.  By sinning we also wreck our integrity.  Our sin corrupts us so much that we are blinded by it and cannot see the difference between good and evil anymore.  Our sin also corrupts others as well as ourselves.  Abusive people break down the dignity of others.  What is perhaps worse is that the cycle repeats itself as victims become abusers.

I really enjoyed reading this chapter because it gives deep insight into the issues of the fall, sin, and evil.  These issues are all to close to home for every human being and it is very helpful to read them discussed at this deep of a level.  Reality as we see it is so complex because it is both the result of a creation that was declared "very good" by God and the fall which brought sin and evil into every aspect of the creation.  I liked how Plantinga explained how sin is now part of every area of the creation, not just human nature.  This is an interesting idea that does not get talked about very much because we often focus on personal morality.

The section on corruption was very insightful and practical.  I liked how he started with talking about how we used our gifts in ways that God did not intend.  The things we often do with our gifts seem so arrogant and ungrateful when looked at through this lens.  I also thought that the part about integrity was very good.  Sin corrupts our integrity and serves as a smoke screen that does not allow us to see the truth.   I have seen this in my own life with people I know who are deeply involve in sin.  They are blinded by their sin and they refuse to see reason.  This just reenforces the importance of dealing with sin by repenting of it so that our eyes do not become blinded by it.