Are all humans capable of committing evil?

are all humans capable of committing evil?

Genesis 8:21 When the Lord smelled the pleasing odor [a scent of satisfaction to His heart], the Lord said to Himself, I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination (the strong desire) of man's heart is evil and wicked from his youth; neither will I ever again smite and destroy every living thing, as I have done.

Why do you think we come out kicking and screaming? We are born sinners and we die sinners.

What does being born have anything to do with anything? First of all, not everyone comes out kicking and screaming, and second, what would that have to do with anything?

It also depends on what you consider to be 'evil' ...an 'evil-act' to one person, could be viewed as a 'virtuous-act' to another...

haha- evil little babies- yea, right!
Maybe some scream because they have ignorant parents or midwives who cause them pain - it certainly didn't happen at any of my four birthings.
I cant speak for everyone, but I for one am not capable of doing anything evil.

Reply to underwater,

ever seen a birth? unless stillbirth, an infant comes out fighting. Most people I've seen dying exit that way too., that's what it has to do with it.

reply to captain, look up evil in dictionary. Usually ok for you, but w/o standard there is a flaw. In Roman times slaves were treated well. had many rights. would you want to be a slave? Doubt it. What about the #1 slave of the king? tempting? not me. King might decide to make you a eunich to keep you from temptation with his girls. Thus his virtuous act is still your doom.

Lets play this out, you get an infection and die. #2 slave gets promted to #1. Do you think he see the act as virtuous or evil? how about #3 or 4 or 5 etc? Sorry, gotta have rules. I like the Bible.

Yes!!!

iamsam, your logic makes no sense at all. In fact, it is absent. First of all, no, not all babies come out screaming, and no, not all people go out screaming. Even if they did, what does that have to do with evil?

A person has free choice to commit good or evil - God is very real (it is His desire the none should perish) - Satan is real (his will is to do everything ih his power to destroy your life) - the Bible makes this very clear - if man recieves salvation through Jesus Christ he gains Heaven - if he rejects, he does not - every person must make this choice for him/her self - so yes, man is very capable of committing evil - his individual choice...Hope this helps !!

iamsam... DO TRY to make sense...

Psalm 51:5 Even in sin did my mother conceive me.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart of man is desperately wicked.
Romans 3:20 For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Many other places throughout scripture state that the human condition is marred by an evil heart. It is within all humans to do evil acts. Even a thought can be evil, an unspoken word, can be construed as evil. No human is totally righteous, except one, the godman Christ Jesus. We humans could not avoid doing evil because our own nature is to do those things that please ourselves in an unhealthy way. People have the ability to be very depraved indeed, if they let themselves go. All throughout history there are countless men and women who have proven just how evil a human can get. We think of evil as being a murderous, worst of the worst kind of criminal. In reality if you want to see evil or if someone is acting in an evil way, look no further than your own mirror. That applies to me too.

well said gasman. That is the Standard i spoke of. Sorry to offend Captain Underwater.

yes, everyone sins

*sigh*

Now someone should make a distinction between 'sin' and 'evil'

SIn: The act of doing wrong

Evil: The motive of the heart.

Although there are many similar attributes between the two words they are both dealing with a choice that a person makes. A person is not, say, born evil. We, as humans, choose to sin in order to satisfy an evil desire.

For example: You need money. You see some guy take loads of it from an ATM. You think,I'll wait 'til he's alone then get the money from him. (this is the evil desire). Then the guy goes into an alley to tie his shoe and there you go and rob him. Now you have sinned. The bible does however make more clear statements on this and that even the thoughts of man are sinful and evil at the same time but let's not get confused.

i cnt quote anything from the bible but it doesnt matter who u r or what religion u follow or where ur from we are all the same.. we all got the same mind but we all choose to live an think in a different way.. i dont care what any1 says none of us r perfect everyone on this earth has done sumthin wrong.. its up 2 u an only u 2 change it

Absolutely, we are all capable of committing evil... I think where the arguement come in, is the different categories of evil. The bible calls unbelief ... evil...
God judges us according to his standard of perfection, and our thoughts are included as well as our actions, in making this judgement, so that is why the bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It is beyond our ability to understand the purity of God, or his holiness...he says that all of our righteousness is as filthy rags, compared to his righteousness... that is why we must have a savior, if we are to enter heaven. And about the babies, they are born into sin, but, they are not considered sinful.. they are innocent, until they come to the age of accountability, when they understand right and wrong, and can make decisions, then they need a savior, if they die before this time, they are safe, and only God knows exactly when that is.

Do you remember WHERE it says that?

And what makes this particular sin MORE sinful than any other sin you yourself have committed? And since ...A sin is a sin, is a sin. We are all sinners. then WHY does this particular sin warrant more scrutiny?

We all sin!!! I'd like to think we don't...but we do

yes.
and they all will

We're all imperfect aren't we? the answer is yes, we all can and we all have