On Humankind: Neither Corrupt Nor Good

"Bahá'u'lláh's image of man is a clear verdict on the pessimistic image associated with Christianity (especially with Protestant theology), as well as on the simplistic message of the Enlightenment that man is good. In contrast to Church dogma man is not born with a corrupt nature, in a state of sin. He is not a fallen being who lost his freedom in 'Adam's Fall' and has lived thereafter in corruption, his nature perverted and his reason completely clouded. On the other hand, man is not programmed for good either so that under the right social conditions happiness and peace follow inevitably. Even in 'the best of all possible worlds,' happiness and peace are not available if man fails to develop-- through his own efforts and through the grace of God--into that for which he was created."

Udo Schaefer, "The New Morality: An Outline"