What?!
Surely this must rank up there as the daftest statements you've ever made Rollo, brimming over with wrongability and verging on veritable blasphemy.
Ahah I say! Maybe one needs a better understanding of what Cynicism is.
The OED defines Cynicism as the attitude of a cynic, which itself is not terribly helpful as it then leads us to find out what a Cynic is. A Cynic is a person with a pessimistic view of human nature and little faith in human sincerity or goodness. Taken in its truest definition, there are plenty of references throughout scripture to back this up:
Romans 3:10-12 - There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Galatians 6:3 - If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Philipians 3:3 - We put no confidence in human effort. Instead We boast about what Jesus Christ has done for us.
Christ himself displayed a pessimistic view of human nature on several occasions. Perhaps the most famous example was when an aduteress was brought before him (interestingly there is no mention of her partner), Jesus simply said: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." Why would he do that? He obviously knew the score, and quite cynically knew that everyone present bar him, had enough against them to thoroughly prove themselves guiltworthy.
And they who heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the eldest even unto the last, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing in the midst.
Properly placed pessimism is one of the most useful things there is. A pessimistic view of human nature and little faith in human sincerity or goodness (especially our own), is surely one of things that convinces people that they could very well be in need of a saviour.
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