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“Totally Depraved” or Made in the Image of God?

By Anita Mathias

What is Man: “Totally Depraved” or Made in the Image of God?



Romans 1:29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil;   they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 

I first looked at this passage closely in a Bible study with my pastor, Bob Hopper in 1995. I was horrified, and burst out, “But how can one live in the world if this is your view of people?” Everyone looked at me, a bit amused at this naive outburst.

But perhaps they were not reading carefully. Wouldn’t it be hard to go out into the world, if you knew for sure that you were going out among people ” filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.   Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice….Gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil;   they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.”  One shudders.
Luckily, every scriptural moon has its bright side as well as its dark side.  Though sometimes, we experience an individual behaving like this, or a group of people when the mob behaviour takes over (we can sometimes even experience all this in a toxic church) in general, I am relieved to say that this is not my experience of people. Neither, I daresay, is it yours. 
* * *
I have been travelling a good deal for the last quarter century, since I was an undergraduate–as much as I could afford. In the beginning, my wanderlust was greater than my spare cash. Travel used to eat into our cash reserves. (Now, though it may seem self-indulgent,  I have set a little nest egg aside for our family hobby of travel,  which I find valuable for rest, relaxation, refreshment, family time, couple time, learning, newness, the revitalizing of a change—and try not to spend more than the growth on the capital on each trip.) 

When we were younger, and travel ate into savings, we were sometimes anxious : Is the taxi driver fudging the meter, taking us the most direct way ? Can we trust the waiters’ recommendations, or will he suggest the most expensive dish? Are they pulling those hotel room rates out of thin air? Were we being overcharged? Ripped off? Should we bargain harder?

I suddenly realized that I was avoiding countries in which there is really no fixed price for anything—in which you are charged what they think you can pay.  So looking rich is a disadvantage; however, if you don’t look rich enough, those in the tourist trade may be less interested in offering a sensible price, for lodging for instance.  A sucker may come around the next minute.

This was fear—I was sticking to Europe, and avoiding some second and third world countries for fear of being ripped off. I repented of what was after all fear; and went on to visit countries like Costa Rica (a fabulous country) Mexico and Israel. (Though we still like Europe best—the combination of history, art, architecture I love, food, nature: it’s all hard to beat as far as I am concerned.)
                                                                 * * *
Over time, I discovered that I had relaxed. I didn’t hugely mind if I were overcharged (though it really, really infuriates my younger daughter!) The way I look at it, God’s financial blessings are a river; they have flowed to me through his goodness. I am cool if they flow from me to other people, deliberately or inadvertently, because God is a waterfall, and he will replenish my stores (or develop my character if he chooses not to do that immediately!!)

So I am pretty relaxed when we travel, and just enjoy the people I meet. Yeah, sure, negotiating the world like a smiling, happy child must mean that I occasionally get ripped off and overcharged, surely, but by expecting to be treated more or less fairly, I can enjoy the taxi drivers, and waiters, and street vendors and hotel receptionists, and the people whose second homes I rent for the week, and engage them in conversation and learn their stories. And this attitude of observing people, trusting them within reason, and expecting them to be lovely, in fact elicits surprising goodness from all sorts of people in all sorts of ways. The girls are often surprised when people throw in things for free, like simcards and drinks and barbeques when we rent motor homes, upgrade us in hotels, give us things on the house in restaurants, put themselves out to help us when we rent their homes, though that wasn’t what we were after; we were just interested in people from another culture.
That is surely the way to deal with people with joy. Expecting them to be made in the image of God, expecting them to be lovely, rather than being suspicious and cautious and expecting them to be “totally depraved. ”
Believing in total depravity is believing in a theological truth against the evidence of one’s senses and experience. That could count as a working definition of insanity.
(Though sometimes, I do believe in what Jesus says, despite the evidence of what my eyes see, and my experience teaches me. Such as that the meek inherit the earth. I totally believe they do because Jesus says so. But how?  I don’t know. Perhaps being meek is a blessing in itself. Being aggressive and scheming is exhausting. Perhaps being meek leaves room for the power of God to act. 
                                                    * * *
    Our friends the Sassenbergs, German missionaries from Word Made Flesh, an incarnational mission in Sierra Leone house-sat for us when we visited Sweden  last week. They said one of the hardest things about working in Sierra Leone was the daily and nightly beatings,  of children especially. The shrieks, the crying , children blinded, deafened, scarred, burnt, as a result of violence from parents, stepparents, grandparents, uncles, teachers. Swollen faces, pummelled bodies.
And then we visited Sweden, which partly due to the pioneering work of Astrid Lindgren (creator of Pippi Longstocking)  was the first county to outlaw the spanking of children. Outlaw it!! Wow.  Proverbs has a verse which says, “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it out.” So how did one deal with children when the rod of discipline was banned?
     Well, with declining birth-rates in Scandinavia, children are exceedingly precious.  The little Swedish children we saw frequently had two parents, or a parent and 2 grandparents, or a grandmother, mom and grand-aunt in tow. 3 adults fussing over a child! It was democratic, I observed. I saw a little toddler with a shaggy white hair of a polar bear object to being put in his stroller till he turned red in the face with his crying. No problem. His mum picked him out of the stroller, allowed him to toddle around, pull out a few plant tags in the botanical garden, play with a rose or two, and then, with quiet resignation, he got back into his stroller.  Negotiation and compromise!
If man was indeed totally depraved, I said to Roy, Scandinavian children, who generally seem as well-brought up as their elders would be as savagely beaten as those in Sierra Leone; it would not be possible for man to refrain from violence. 
                                                                        * * *

eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar on the premise that man is basically good. He created a rudimentary website, which later became eBay, on which people could advertise their surplus, purchasers would send sellers a cheque, and the sellers would then send Pierre a small cheque for his cut of the transaction.  (Eventually, so many cheques piled up that Omidyar stopped cashing them).  Omidyar proceeded on the premise that since people were basically good, it was not risky to send a total stranger a cheque believing that you would get your stuff, and Omidyar his cut.  (eBay, interestingly, has moved on from this model of total trust, though it is still a lot more trusting than Amazon. It’s a nightmare to get a refund from an eBay seller who doesn’t want to give one.)
I recently read of an pay what you can experiment by Panera Bread,   which offered restaurant quality food to everyone regardless of their ability to pay (to provide a dignified way to help those bitten by the recession).  Of course, if man was totally depraved as John Calvin maintained, then it would not work, but it did. Just 20 % of people did not pay the suggested price, which was balanced by the 20% who paid extra. I’ve often wondered how these pay what you can afford schemes work. Now I know.  
    Of course, more interesting than the question of whether total depravity is a fact (which it cannot be!!) or a theological dogma with little basis in fact, is the question of how we should proceed. Should we deal with people as if they were made in the image of God, or as if they were totally depraved?
* * *
                In my mind, it all comes down to Jesus. How did he treat people? With openness or suspicion? I would say with openness, but circumspection.

He healed everyone who came to him for healing. However, even when it came to believers, John tells us that  « Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person. » John 2:25.

                He did, however, entrust himself to a chosen few, one of whom betrayed him, one  of whom denied all knowledge of him,  three of whom fell asleep in his hour of need, and eleven of whom were nowhere to be seen as he bled to death asphyxiated and in excruciating pain.

And yet, his last instructions were that we learn to love each other. 
* * *
     So perhaps that is the balance one needs to learn rather than putting one’s faith in extreme theological statements; that is the best way to go out into the world, to treat people, to deal with people. With kindness, expecting the best. Not being over-hasty to trust, being aware that people’s capacity for betrayal lurks just below the surface, but that people also have a surprising capacity for kindness and self-sacrifice.   

            Exercise caution in your business affairs for the world is full of trickery, as the Desiderata   put it. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.  Never underestimate the kindness of strangers or willingness of people to commit random acts of kindness and of love.

From Dreaming Beneath the Spires

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Recent Posts

  • “Rosaries at the Grotto” A Chapter from my newly-published memoir, “Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India.”
  • An Infallible Secret of Joy
  • Thoughts on Writing my Just-published Memoir, & the Prologue to “Rosaries, Reading, Secrets”
  • Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India. My new memoir
  •  On Not Wasting a Desert Experience
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anita.mathias

If you'll forgive me for adding to the noise of th If you'll forgive me for adding to the noise of the world on Black Friday, my memoir ,Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India, is on sale on Kindle all over the world for a few days. 
Carolyn Weber (who has written "Surprised by Oxford," an amazing memoir about coming to faith in Oxford https://amzn.to/3XyIftO )  has written a lovely endorsement of my memoir:
"Joining intelligent winsomeness with an engaging style, Anita Mathias writes with keen observation, lively insight and hard earned wisdom about navigating the life of thoughtful faith in a world of cultural complexities. Her story bears witness to how God wastes nothing and redeems all. Her words sing of a spirit strong in courage, compassion and a pervasive dedication to the adventure of life. As a reader, I have been challenged and changed by her beautifully told and powerful story - so will you."
The memoir is available on sale on Amazon.co.uk at https://amzn.to/3u0Ib8o and on Amazon.com at https://amzn.to/3u0IBvu and is reduced on the other Amazon sites too.
Thank you, and please let me know if you read and enjoy it!! #memoir #indianchildhood #india
Second birthday party. Determinedly escaping! So i Second birthday party. Determinedly escaping!
So it’s a beautiful November here in Oxford, and the trees are blazing. We will soon be celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary…and are hoping for at least 33 more!! 
And here’s a chapter from my memoir of growing up Catholic in India… rosaries at the grotto, potlucks, the Catholic Family Movement, American missionary Jesuits, Mangaloreans, Goans, and food, food food…
https://anitamathias.com/2022/11/07/rosaries-at-the-grotto-a-chapter-from-my-newly-published-memoir-rosaries-reading-steel-a-catholic-childhood-in-india/
Available on Amazon.co.uk https://amzn.to/3Apjt5r and on Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3gcVboa and wherever Amazon sells books, as well as at most online retailers.
#birthdayparty #memoir #jamshedpur #India #rosariesreadingsecrets
Friends, it’s been a while since I blogged, but Friends, it’s been a while since I blogged, but it’s time to resume, and so I have. Here’s a blog on an absolutely infallible secret of joy, https://anitamathias.com/2022/10/28/an-infallible-secret-of-joy/
Jenny Lewis, whose Gilgamesh Retold https://amzn.to/3zsYfCX is an amazing new translation of the epic, has kindly endorsed my memoir. She writes, “With Rosaries, Reading and Secrets, Anita Mathias invites us into a totally absorbing world of past and present marvels. She is a natural and gifted storyteller who weaves history and biography together in a magical mix. Erudite and literary, generously laced with poetic and literary references and Dickensian levels of observation and detail, Rosaries is alive with glowing, vivid details, bringing to life an era and culture that is unforgettable. A beautifully written, important and addictive book.”
I would, of course, be delighted if you read it. Amazon.co.uk https://amzn.to/3gThsr4 and Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3WdCBwk #joy #amwriting #amblogging #icecreamjoy
Wandering around Oxford with my camera, photograph Wandering around Oxford with my camera, photographing ancient colleges! Enjoy.
And just a note that Amazon is offering a temporary discount on my memoir, Rosaries, Reading, Steel https://amzn.to/3UQN28z . It’s £7.41.
Here’s an endorsement from my friend, Francesca Kay, author of the beautiful novel, “An Equal Stillness.” This is a beautifully written account of a childhood, so evocative, so vivid. The textures, colours and, above all, the tastes of a particular world are lyrically but also precisely evoked and there was much in it that brought back very clear memories of my own. Northern India in the 60s, as well as Bandra of course – dust and mercurochrome, Marie biscuits, the chatter of adult voices, the prayers, the fruit trees, dogs…. But, although you rightly celebrate the richness of that world, you weave through this magical remembrance of things past a skein of sadness that makes it haunting too. It’s lovely!” #oxford #beauty
So, I am not going to become a book-bore, I promis So, I am not going to become a book-bore, I promise, but just to let you know that my memoir "Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India," is now available in India in paperback. https://www.amazon.in/s?k=rosaries+reading+secrets&crid=3TLDQASCY0WTH&sprefix=rosaries+r%2Caps%2C72&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_10My endorsements say it is evocative, well-written, magical, haunting, and funny, so I'd be thrilled if you bought a copy on any of the Amazon sites. 
Endorsements 
A beautifully written account. Woven through this magical remembrance of things past is a skein of sadness that makes it haunting. Francesca Kay, An Equal Stillness. 
A dazzling vibrant tale of childhood in post-colonial India. Mathias conjures 1960s India and her family in uproarious and heart-breaking detail. Erin Hart, Haunted Ground 
Mathias invites us into a wonderfully absorbing and thrilling world of past and present marvels… generously laced with poetic and literary references and Dickensian levels of observation and detail. A beautifully written, important, and addictive book. Jenny Lewis, Gilgamesh Retold 
Tormented, passionate and often sad, Mathias’s beautiful childhood memoir is immensely readable. Trevor Mostyn, Coming of Age in The Middle East.
A beautifully told and powerful story. Joining intelligent winsomeness with an engaging style, Mathias writes with keen observation, lively insight and hard-earned wisdom. Carolyn Weber, Surprised by Oxford 
A remarkable account. A treasure chest…full of food (always food), books (always books), a family with all its alliances and divisions. A feat of memory and remembrance. Philip Gooden, The Story of English
Anita’s pluck and charm shine through every page of this beautifully crafted, comprehensive and erudite memoir. 
Ray Foulk, Picasso’s Revenge
Mathias’s prose is lively and evocative. An enjoyable and accessible book. Sylvia Vetta, Sculpting the Elephant
Anita Mathias is an is an accomplished writer. Merryn Williams, Six Women Novelists
Writing a memoir awakens fierce memories of the pa Writing a memoir awakens fierce memories of the past. For the past is not dead; it’s not even past, as William Faulkner observed. So what does one do with this undead past? Forgive. Forgive, huh? Forgive. Let it go. Again and again.
Some thoughts on writing a memoir, and the prologue to my memoir
https://anitamathias.com/2022/09/08/thoughts-on-writing-a-memoir-the-prologue-to-rosaries-reading-secrets/ 
#memoir #amwriting #forgiveness https://amzn.to/3B82CDo
Six months ago, Roy and I decided that finishing t Six months ago, Roy and I decided that finishing the memoir was to be like “the treasure in the field,” that Jesus talks about in the Gospels, which you sacrifice everything to buy. (Though of course, he talks about an intimate relationship with God, not finishing a book!!) Anyway, I’ve stayed off social media for months… but I’ve always greatly enjoyed social media (in great moderation) and it’s lovely to be back with the book now done  https://amzn.to/3eoRMRN  So, our family news: Our daughter Zoe is training for ministry as a priest in the Church of England, at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. She is “an ordinand.” In her second year. However, she has recently been one of the 30 ordinands accepted to work on an M.Phil programme (fully funded by the Church of England.) She will be comparing churches which are involved in community organizing with churches which are not, and will trace the impact of community organizing on the faith of congregants.  She’ll be ordained in ’24, God willing.
Irene is in her final year of Medicine at Oxford University; she will be going to Toronto for her elective clinical work experience, and will graduate as a doctor in June ‘23, God willing.
And we had a wonderful family holiday in Ireland in July, though that already feels like a long time ago!
https://anitamathias.com/2022/09/01/rosaries-readi https://anitamathias.com/2022/09/01/rosaries-reading-secrets-a-catholic-childhood-in-india-my-new-memoir/
Friends, some stellar reviews from distinguished writers, and a detailed description here!!
https://amzn.to/3wMiSJ3 Friends, I’ve written a https://amzn.to/3wMiSJ3  Friends, I’ve written a memoir of my turbulent Catholic childhood in India. I would be grateful for your support!
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