Concept Of Man (1963)

[Music] today we will examine which is the true concept of man the Communist concept or the Christian concept will the CHR stand will you tell the truth as you understand it yes a communist will understand will you tell the truth as you understand it of course be seated will the interrogator come forward yes sh you may address the jury ladies and gentlemen of the jury this is not a trial in the usual sense for these men are not to be judged as individuals but we are concerned with are their ideas and ideals all of you representing the world must decide where the truth is in Christianity or in communism what is the truth about man there will be no strict courtroom procedure here both Christian and Comm communist will feel free to speak out at any time as I too may speak I will not take sides nor should you until you have heard what both men say now gentlemen how would you describe man man is a spiritual being created in the image of God well there there is no God how can man be made in the image of him as such he is precious in God's sight of infinite worth man is matter nothing more man is matter you say would you explain nothing more man has a heart yes of course you can hear it beat man has fingers and they can touch man has eyes that can see man has a tongue that can taste man has a nose that can smell all these things for man is a physical creature but no Spirit who has seen a spirit or felt or touched it no evidence of a spirit has ever been found by any scientist have you ever felt sorrow of course well why did you feel bad did your eyes hurt or your ears did your finger hurt to your tongue or your nose why did you feel bad you are distorting my meaning Man Has Feelings apart from physical sensation these feelings are spiritual in nature emotions are the conditioned reflexes of environment no more scientists have dealt with emotions in laboratory experiments that prove the physical nature of man what experiments well the earliest were by pavlof when he discovered the physical basis of hunger of fear of hate in dogs he learned how to alter the personality through physical means do you think man is merely an animal a higher animal and you feel he can be changed his personality altered by artificial means it's a question of applying known laws a child can be taken from his parents and reared by the state he can be placed in state schools at an early age he can be taught to rever any truths over and over and over again the same truths can be repeated books can say certain things lessons can be taught in certain ways and more than formal study games and Recreation can stress the same truths and from all this a person is created who believes certain things man can be shaped in the image of Communism but man is made in the image of God a social creature concerned for the welfare of others Only Fools believe that trying to mold and shape a child with perverted knowledge is a violation of his god-given personality it is to free the child to give him full knowledge that is undefiled by the selfish attitudes of a capitalist Society you bring up selfishness this of course is a bad trait man has shown many bad traits throughout history he has shown himself capable of evil why is this Christian or sin is the natural state of man as he is born alienated from God in this condition he lives for himself now he is free to choose his own destiny but apart from God man makes wrong choices choices which bring suffering to others dribble man has often tried to redeem himself from this natural state of sin but he cannot man can save himself why do you think evil exists communist due to private ownership of property well did not Carl Marx write original sin is at work everywhere he wrote that satirically oh man fell but not in a mythical Garden through the temptation of a serpent in the beginning men worked together from necessity whatever they own was owned in common there was no private property and no private labor with the invention of more complicated tools private ownership came into the world with private property came theft violence oppression the class struggle began and has dominated the centuries first in the form of slavery then of feudalism then of capitalism private property alienated man from the means of production from the fruits of production from his fellow man and from himself and you think private ownership of property is man's curse exactly and you Christian sin is man's curse I would like the jury to take note that there is a similarity between the two views to this extent both Christianity and communism hold that there was at one time a blameless state of man's existence both hold that man fell from this pure State into a condition of evil but one holds that man can save himself from this state and the other holds this to be impossible we will probe deeper tell me communist how do you think man can save himself salvation lies in the workers uniting bringing about the Revolution and ushering in communism the total abolition of all private property the revolution will forever free the whole of society from exploitation oppression and class struggles salvation cannot come to man through external circumstances sin has roots that are internal and salvation must take place with in a man's heart how does this salvation take place God has sent his son Jesus Christ to redeem men from their sins and give them eternal life now God makes this gift of redemption in Jesus Christ and man accepts salvation then depends upon a mutual bond