How to avoid the unavoidable

H. G. Wells was quite certain that "human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.” It appears from this that he understood man's basic problem to be intellectual. “If only we would learn to think correctly,” he would say, “then we could escape global disaster.” Simply put, think right and you will do right.
       What troubles me with this scenario is what happened in Germany leading up to the Third Reich. There are few if any nations that can boast a higher level of intellectual accomplishment. German universities were among the very best. Prizes in science, the arts and humanities were regularly rewarded to outstanding individuals and institutions. However, intellectual achievement did not prevent plans for the total eradication of some 11 million Jewish people. It would appear that the moral flaw in the human race can’t be healed by more education.
       The Judeo -Christian understanding of the nature of man provides a far better understanding of society's moral decline. It holds that man is created in the image of God, but has fallen. God created us in such a way that we could sustain a personal relationship with him, but that involved free choice. In our freedom to disobey we chose to separate ourselves from the Creator. Theology refers to that fateful decision as the fall of man. Our understanding, our will, and our emotions have become distorted by our willful separation from God. We do not think correctly, make the right choices, nor relate adequately to God.
       I certainly agree with Wells as to an approaching catastrophe, but disagree rather emphatically that something short of moral realignment can answer our problem. The problem is man's heart, not his mind. Once again, the Christian faith has the only adequate answer. Since we are unable to help ourselves, God sent his Son as a sacrifice for our sinful departure from that prior relationship. By faith we are enabled to accept the gift and become what he always intended us to be. As man turns to God, personal calamity is avoided. By a major turning to God by increasing numbers, the calamity envisioned by Wells could be avoided.