Position on Human DepravityIn the ongoing search to understand humanity, one of the central issues concerns our very nature. Knowledge of our true nature would provide insight into many unanswered questions in our world. Whether we are good or bad deep down determines the situation we find ourselves in and has implications for what we can do about it. Two famous figures in Christian history have taken opposing views on this subject. Augustine believed that humans have been fundamentally corrupted since the fall of man in Genesis, while Pelagius believed that humans have complete freedom to choose good or evil, and that human depravity is only a direct result of choosing evil. Augustine held the belief that man is naturally good, since man was created by God, and that our nature has not been completely altered by "original sin", but that our nature has simply been distorted or perverted compared to its original “good” state. He would say that because of our corrupt nature, we do things selfishly, or we do things for our own good rather than for the good of God and our neighbors. We tend to be unable to choose good over evil in every situation. We are incapable of doing what is right, while at the same time we are fully responsible for what we do. This does not mean, however, that we never do what is right, nor that we are pure evil, for evil is simply a corruption of good. Instead, it means that our every action, when analyzed at the root, has bad motivations and that we ultimately serve ourselves. To say that human nature is not based on something good would imply that God created evil. Everything good is created by God, and there is nothing else. This ties in with Augustine's belief that evil itself is not a thing, but simply an absence of good. Augustine would also say that without the divine intervention of God's grace, we would not be able to take even the first step towards Him, which is supported by verses like John 6:44a: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. » This means that until we are saved, or under the influence of this divine grace, we are unable to choose to follow Him. A contrasting view is given by Pelagius, who would argue that it is not necessary for God to allow us to follow him. with divine grace to follow him.