TV pastor preached about the “basically good person

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A TV priest tried to explain to viewers in a prominent slot on public television that people are fundamentally good. This requires either complete ignorance of the Gospel or complete denial of it.

Human beings are basically good

A classic reversal of gospel statements based on complete ignorance of its content. The Protestant pastor Wolfgang Beck gave his “best” to understand the Word of God in the TV broadcast “The Word for Sunday” on the public broadcaster ARD. He told the audience that man was basically good. To support this thesis, the Protestant pastor tried the creation account. “God saw that it was good!” said Beck about the statement God made several times in Genesis.

Then the following (suggestive?) question as to whether God is naive. Because the world is littered with terror, violence and war. Full of hatred, arguments, selfishness, intrigue and competitiveness. Therefore it seems astonishing and inexplicable that God looks at man and finds him good. There are two groups of people. Some believed that people only think about their own benefit, are selfish and therefore inherently bad, downright evil, and others were of the opinion that the vast majority of people would show solidarity in an emergency.

A book author stands above the Bible

For the final view, the priest used the views of the Dutch historian and author Rutger Bregman. The priest used the example of the people of Great Britain when they were attacked by the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Instead of people panicking and becoming demoralized, as had been calculated, they came together, helped each other and showed solidarity. The greater the need, the greater the willingness to help, said the priest.

This example is fascinating for the TV preacher. It takes up the “ancient biblical creation myths”. “God saw that it was good.” Anyone who describes people as fundamentally evil would find enough examples and situations that “apparently confirm” this, says Beck.

“Human beings are basically good,” said the TV priest, and he repeats this several times in the following. We always have to remember that people are basically good. This particularly applies to the current debates on migration policy, or when anger becomes excessive. The priest wished his audience that they could experience it once and concluded with the words: “Human beings are… basically good!”

Gospel just a vehicle

You first have to impressively prove with such little sermon how far the so-called Protestant church is from the gospel. One almost gets the impression that this “sermon” was simply about wrapping the narrative of “guilt culture, migration and solidarity” thematically in some way. As a pastor depicted, the topic of the Bible is ideal.

The TV pastor Beck doesn’t believe what’s in the gospel. It is just a tool, a vehicle for the constructed raison d’être as a representative of an institution that calls itself Christian.

The Gospel, beyond the creation account, has some statements about what human nature actually is after the Fall. Individually and overall, it was the exact opposite of what the TV priest was trying to tell people.

What the Gospel says

An excerpt from biblical statements about man and his fallen nature (more info).
Genesis 8:21:
“And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.“

Psalm 58:4:
“Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;“

Romans 3:10-18:
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.“

Jeremiah 17:9:
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?“

Bible verses from King James Version (1611)