Richard Coleman Secularism

Richard Coleman writes an excellent article called, Saving Original Sin from the Secularists. In this article, he emphasizes the aim of secularists to downplay the depravity of humanity and instead elevate the possibility of humans being able to change themselves into better people; thereby, avoiding all evil. Of course, the premise is false and Coleman points out that theologians have always held to sin being “something fundamental about the human condition.”1 Furthermore, Coleman points to the Great Tradition of the church by stating three essential beliefs about sin, “the universality of sin, the inexorableness of sin, and the necessary link between sin and grace. In other words, all humans, without exception, are sinful, and this is our inescapable nature.2 However much secularists try and remove sin from the essence of humanity, they have no way to explain why evil still persists today. Therefore, Coleman rightly highlights the major beliefs of secularist and their fallacy and emphasizes the

What is the main error of human secularists? Coleman points to their belief that we can “rise above our instinctual self and master our own eveloution.”4 This fallacy is based on humans becoming more empathic and carrying more about others. Coleman reveals, “Even if we were to concede the proposition that the world is improving by some measure and that we are becoming more empathic, we must be careful not to confuse evolving standards of decency with hearts truly free of prejudice.”5 In other words, people may show actions that display empathy, yet there is still prejudice in every human heart, which is the result of original sin. Furthermore, Coleman highlights a few contemporary secularists such as Singer, Pinker, Rifkin and Ridley. He sums up their sentiments and errors by