Of all the knowing faculties that mankind possess, feelings are difficult to aptly identify and expound upon without a proper framework. Feelings and emotions are important to mankind as they are the operative force behind any action. They are the incentive in which energizes people to exertion. While intellect is like a compass used to accurately navigate the waters, feelings are what would propel the ship forward lest it remain in port. There can be no motive and therefore no action without feeling.
Feelings are complex, riddled with multiplicity, but are as perpetual and necessary as thinking. God created man as an active, living creature. To act is to enjoy, and feelings are the cause for the use and abuse of our abilities. Man was made to be happy, to delight in Him, and to enjoy life. The fact that we often do not is evidence to our present state as being somehow altered from our original design.
Man, who is body and spirit, is subject to animal sensibilities as well as spiritual. Animal instincts, shared by men and animals alike, are feelings acted upon for intelligible ends, unprompted by intellect and not learned or observed but rather carried out by design. Such instincts include a beaver building a dam, a human baby nursing on his mother, or the attraction of a mate for procreation. All impulses are for the purpose of the preservation and welfare of the creature. Fear of death in humans, for example, is one of the most powerful of our instincts. These instincts are not the result of any intelligence of the being, but innate to the design exerted by an intelligent Creator.
So I’ve stated that what drives a person to act is both instincts and feelings. I have also established that instincts are self-serving, but what about feelings? I believe that without restraint or moral guidance, individuals put themselves first. This is not necessarily a bad thing but from a Biblical perspective of anthropology, man’s nature is entirely self-centered. In fact the tendency to selfishness and aversion to do good are innate to man’s fallen condition.
This innate tendency is evident in children, behavior that is not suggested or imitated because even newborn babies act this way. The development of bad behavior is much more the result of inward selfish desire (nature) than of bad parenting (nurture). Studies have shown that children left to their own devices, with no moral restraint, are far worse off than the average child reared under faulty parenting. A newborn is at its most selfish, vengeful, and indifferent state in it’s pursuit of self gratification but luckily lacks the mental and physical ability to do any real harm. As they grow up under the restraint and moral guidance of caring parents, their behavior is tempered and in some cases (with aid of the Holy Spirit) are able to suppress their selfish nature.
Like the parent tempers the child, so too does the State restrain her citizens. Understanding the condition of men and the tendency to do wrong, the State must create laws and punishments to temper such behavior. The State, constituting of the same sort of people, must also be restrained by means of checks and balances. The State, being responsible for the preservation and welfare of her citizens, must also deal appropriately with its neighboring States.
A government and it’s people who willfully ignore the condition of men and believe man is evolving towards perfection, are doomed to failure. Read More.
Thoughts 