Two Philosophies

Freud wrote: ‘In all that follows I take up the standpoint that the ten-dency to aggression is an innate, independent, instinctual disposition in man. The natural instinct of aggression in man - the hostility of each against all and all against the one - opposes the programme of civilisation.’ In other words, this philosophy is bankrupt; it begs the question, "is there real hope for man?"

In his work, "The Doctor Himself", David Martyn-Lloyd Jones wrote, "Turning to the future, when you come to consider the question of hope, what hope is there for man? It is here, it seems to me, that is seen the unique message of the Christian faith. It is not merely good advice, it is not mere morality or ethics, nor is it simply a higher view of life. It is a doctrine that gives due place to the real nature and state of mankind. To use biblical terminology, it declares that a man can be ‘born again’, that there can be a radical change in a man’s soul. He can become a new man. It is amazing, but it is true. History has its endless examples of it – its striking examples. It is not confined to an élite class – it happens amongst the common people. Here is hope for the drug addict, the alcoholic, or any kind of individual who has become an utter slave to some particular kind of sin. It has its dynamic – it is ‘the power of God unto salvation’.

What turned a raging Saul into the Apostle Paul, the greatest missionary ever to have walked th earth, delivering 2/3rds of the New Testament? The power of the Gospel! What transformed my father who was a slurring drunk and a striker into a weeping prayer for his family? It was Romans 1:16, "...the dunomos, or power of the gospel". Second Corinthians 5:17 delacres "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature....! I prefer that kind of Hope, how about you?