Position on Human Depravity In humanity's constant search for understanding, one of the fundamental questions concerns our own nature. Knowledge of our true nature would provide insight into many of the questions that remain unanswered in our world. Whether deep down we are good or bad determines the situation we find ourselves in and has implications for what we can do about it. Two famous figures in Christian history had opposing opinions on this topic. Augustine believed that humans had been corrupted to the core since the fall of man in Genesis, while Pelagius believed that humans had complete freedom to choose good or evil, and that human depravity was only the direct result of choice of evil. Augustine was convinced that man is naturally good, since man was created by God, and that our nature was not completely altered by "original sin", but that our nature was simply distorted or perverted from to its original "good" state. He would say that because of our corrupt nature, we do things selfishly or do things to benefit ourselves rather than God and our neighbors. We tend not to be able to choose good over evil in every situation. We are incapable of doing what is right, but at the same time we are completely responsible for what we do. This does not mean, however, that we never do what is right, or that we are pure evil, because evil is simply a corruption of good. It means instead that every action of ours, if analyzed at its root, has a wrong motive, and in the end we serve ourselves. To say that human nature is not based on at least something good would imply that God created evil. Everything good is created by God and there is nothing beyond that. This ties back to Augustine's belief that evil itself is not a thing, but is simply an absence of good. Augustine would also say that without the divine intervention of God's grace we could not take even the first step towards Him, which is supported by verses such as John 6:44a: "No man can come to me except the Father who hath drawn me." mandate". This means that until we are saved, or under the influence of this divine grace, we are unable to even choose to follow Him. A contrasting view is provided by Pelagius, who argues that it is not necessary for God to enable us with divine grace to follow him.