Darwin, Nieztsche & Freud
If there is no God, there is no love.
The world has seen it’s fair share of evil, and continues its observance on a daily basis. It is no stranger to this world, it’s vast, and relentless efforts in bringing about pain, and heartache all the while dealing its crushing blow on humanity makes itself known. Men have for centuries been caught in it’s grip to do it’s bidding.
When did it come about?
Why is it here?
These are questions many have sought to answer, even gone as far as to deny its existence. However, in order to deny the existence of evil, evil would have to be redefined. This has been the effort of some throughout history, namely Darwin, Nietzsche, and Freud, all of which have taken the notion of evil, and stripped away it’s ugliness, only to coat it with an illusory image of naturalism. The teachings of these men, if embraced, destroy any perception of love for God, and certainly love for others.
Who’s right?
Jesus in his great wisdom said to a lawyer 2,000 years ago the two greatest commandments for mankind is to love God, and love people (Matt 22:37-40).
He did not simply arrive at this idea about life; rather he echoed what had already been said. Ecclesiastes 12:13 is a reminder to men of their duty as mankind to fear God, and keep his commandments, and if one goes further back to the time of Moses, one would see that God set into place a divine Law, revealing it to man (Ex 20:1-17).
However, it is not that The Ten Commandments were brought about to administer rule so much as it was to reveal God’s righteousness, and mankind’s sinfulness (1 Tim 1:8-11). God did not decide one day, that he would set a few rules in place, but revealed through his servant Moses his goodness, and his holiness. In turn this ought to bring about an understanding of sin before a good, and holy God revealing mankind’s need for a savior.
In reality, Jesus’s words to the lawyer were pointing to something deeper, a heart inside mankind that has been corrupt. Truly, man has not been able to uphold the two commands to the fullest, rather have indeed broken them both. This ultimately shows that mankind has broken the entire law of God, incapable of carrying out neither love for God nor others.
Jesus took things to a different level; he revealed a heart problem within man by teaching that at the very core of mankind, actions such as murder or adultery do not have to take place, because in the heart they already have (Matt 5:21-22; 27-28). Man has sinned; men are the ones that have not been able to love their neighbors as themselves, and this is the result of The Fall of Man outlined in Genesis 3. This must be the case, in fact either man has sinned against God or Darwin, Nietzsche, and Freud are right.
Mankind has either been corrupted by sin or there is no such thing as evil, rather all of man’s actions can be blamed on nature. The things men do to others, the hatred that is shown; the wrong that is committed is none other than natural behavior according to the naturalist. It should not be confronted nor condemned, rather should be pleasant to look upon or hear of, after all its normal.
The reality is even the strong-minded atheistic philiosopher could not live this way, and if he could he would have to drown out the evils of this world never to come face to face with it lest he be wrong, convicted by his own conscious. He must lock himself away into his studies, and philosophies of his mind, traveling the roads to nowhere while the world continues in despair—hopelessness—while evil prevails crushing its prey.
In any case, there are some who seem to have embraced this teaching, having a mind that is seared, plunged into the depths of what any person can see is evil; like ravenous beasts indulged in passions, and desires of the self, truly embracing the idea that evil does not exist. Therefore, all things are truly permissible in that individual’s mind. The reality is, if one takes a good, and holy God out of the picture, there no longer is a need to love a neighbor as one’s self. Freud himself seen that:
The element of truth behind all this, which people are so ready to disavow, is that men are not gentle creatures who want to be loved, and who at the most can defend themsleves if they are attacked; they are, on the contrary, creatures among whose instinctual endowments is to be reckoned a powerful share of agressivness. As a result, their neighbour is for them not only a potential helper or sexual object, but also someone who tempts them to satisfy their aggressivness on him, to exploit his capacity for work without compensation, to use him sexually without his consent, to seize his possessions, to humiliate him, to cause him pain, to torture and kill him [emphasis added]. [1]
The destruction of love flows from the grip of evil, and its devastating blow prevails against any thought of doing what it is good, and right. No longer is there a need for righteousness, except to advance one’s selfish motives to gain what the self desires. Every man for himself, becomes the duty of mankind, not love for God, and others.
If the world were to fully embrace the teaching that evil is non-existent, fully understanding the freedom in which it gives man to live as he sees fit, the world would be utter chaos, darker than ever before. The purpose and meaning to life would be ripped right out of the hearts of mankind only to leave cold heartless people who have no reason to show any love to another.
Is this what people truly want in life or is it simply the outcry of a few men in history who could not stand for there to be a God, because that would mean submission; it would mean purpose, rules, standards. Could it be the thought that rebellious is what they did not want to be, but in order to avoid such, God would have to be dead, as Nieztsche so desired.
The fact of the matter is either Darwin, Nietzsche, and Freud are right, men are just bags of molecules without purpose free to ravage every selfish desire or mankind has truly sinned against God resulting in corruption, and the need of a savior. Whatever the case be, at the heart, men desire what Jesus taught, they just don’t want to submit to receive it. This is the heartbeat of atheism, its not that an athiest doesn’t believe in God, its that an atheist doesn’t want there to be a God. Therefore, an Atheist who seeks to love will always live inconsistently with his or her understanding of life.
Conclusion
Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago, offered the best philosophy and approach to life. He said to a lawyer, concerning the duty of mankind, to love God, and others is what life is all about. However, because of sin man has separated himself from God resulting in corruption, and need of a savior. Jesus Christ is that savior, and in him alone one is able to love the way man was meant to love. It is in Christ that true love is found, and lived out.
[1] Freud, Sigmund and James Strachey. Civilization and Its Discontents. (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010), 95.
