Depravity of Man

The depravity of man is the biblical teaching that the fall of Adam and Eve corrupted human nature such that every dimension of human existence — mind, will, affections, and conscience — is affected by sin. God's assessment before the Flood: "every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5). After the Flood the same verdict stands: "the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Gen. 8:21). The prophets reinforce this: the heart is "deceitful above all things, and desperately sick" (Jer. 17:9).

Paul's comprehensive indictment of all humanity in Romans 1–3 culminates in the catena of OT citations: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God... there is no fear of God before their eyes" (Rom. 3:10–18). Reformed theology has codified this as "total depravity" — not that humans are as wicked as possible, but that sin has affected all parts of the person. The consistent biblical remedy is God's regenerating grace: the new birth by the Spirit (John 3:3–7) and the new heart promised by the new covenant (Ezek. 36:26–27).