The Waging War of a Split Nature

    “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17 ESV). The constant tussle between sin and perfection signifies the war that man has fought since the beginning of the world as he knows it. Man is made in the image of God, with a perfect nature after God’s heart. However, this nature was torn apart when sin entered the world. Demonstrating the difference between instinctual and perfect nature, Blaise Pascal and Rene Descartes reveal through their texts Pensées and A Discourse on the Method that men become less like the image of God and more animalistic when they resort to their sinful nature, resulting in the spiritual destruction of themselves.  

    Man wants to be defined by his sinful nature rather than God’s instilled perfect nature. However, it is a perpetual battle whether man will let God define him or sin. God made man’s nature to be a certain way but allows His creation to decide whether he will follow this set pathway or not. For instance, God instituted a perfect law for his creation to follow: “I have also come to see certain laws which God has established in such a way in nature, and of which He has imprinted notions of such a kind in our souls, that after sufficient reflection on them, we cannot doubt that they are strictly observed in everything that exists or occurs in the world” (Descartes 35). The laws God revealed through His Word are strictly put into effect for a specific purpose. This purpose keeps people from destroying themselves because of their natural instincts. When man does not follow the law of God, he follows the law of instinct. Man lost his perfect nature when he fell, resorting to a sinful state which split his unified nature into two aspects- perfect vs. animalistic. Pascal reveals, “True nature having been lost, everything becomes natural. In the same way, the true good having been lost, everything becomes their true good” (7). Instinctively, man’s idea of good is vastly different from God’s good. Although man may achieve the highest good of his sinful nature; the achievement of perfect spiritual goodness can only be achieved through God. Some men try to achieve virtues on their own, but they cannot not aspire to a higher elevation without God. Instead of submitting to God, man behaves as an animal by always choosing himself and trying to work for his own sort of good.  

    Leaving no room for God, man naturally seeks to glorify himself while also establishing an idolization of a soulless animal over the value of a human being. Animals are classified lower on the evolutionary chart than people because an animal’s functions are not considered as evolved, but there are still significant differences that set animals and humans apart. Additionally, as living beings, animals still classify as higher than machines. God gave animals life while man can only make machines functional despite his every effort to create something as beautiful as life. In the beginning of creation, God set man as the keeper of animals which means that people should value animals over machines, but not over other humans. The main difference between men and animals is that the former is made in God’s image complete with a soul, and the latter is not. The more man equates himself to the level of animals or below, the more he starts to behave like one. Descartes reveals, “[T]here is none which causes weak mind to stray more readily from the narrow path of virtue than that of imagining that the souls of animals are of the same nature as our own” (48). Men stray from their perfect nature when they drop themselves to the level of a common animal. Every time man makes a natural choice rather than a righteous decision, he regresses more into his sinful state. Furthermore, many people do not know whether to place themselves above God or below animals. Pascal references this struggle by disclosing, “Man does not know on what level to put himself. He is obviously lost and has fallen from his true place without being able to find it again” (8). For instance, one way man tries to play God when he makes decisions is by taking life completely into his own hands without consulting godly instruction or direction. In the complete opposite way, he simultaneously believes animals have souls and equates these base beings to his level. This picture illustrates how man fights the perfect nature of God and, sometimes, even goes as far as to worship the beasts below him, highlighting the deterioration of his soul.  

    Man is made in God’s image, but he no longer fully realizes everything the perfect nature encompasses because of his fallen nature. Therefore, man’s understanding of God’s nature is very limited, meaning that man in his current state can never entirely comprehend the essence of His holy nature. Pascal says, “But we know neither the existence nor the nature of God, because he has neither extent nor limits” (153). Man, with a weak limited mind, cannot grasp the concept of a sentient being who is limitless by himself. However, even though a sinful person cannot understand the nature of God on his own, he can attain a minimal understanding by placing his faith in God. According to Pascal, men will understand God’s nature in a perfect way after death: “But we know of his existence through faith. In glory we will know his nature” (153). Man resorting to his sinful nature, places himself on a more animalistic level when he does not take the steps to accomplish a rudimentary understanding of God’s holiness. The only action man has to take is to accept the grace of God and lean on the enlightenment of God rather than his own spiritual discernment. This process brings man closer to original image of God he is supposed to represent and elevates him above his sinful instincts.  

    In a world full of different kinds of inventions and beings, it can be difficult for a person to realize where he belongs. Man has always struggled with the way he treats both his relationships with animals and a being that is higher than him. In today’s world, men now also find themselves struggling with their relationship to new manmade inventions such as artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, man will only be able to find his role in contrast to the world around him when he places his faith in God instead of the ideas in his mind. A faith in himself or anything else only leads to the destruction of his spirit and brings him down to a level he was never intended to fall.