Charles W. Colson:

.... Civilisation will eradicate evil.

This notion first gained popularity two hundred years ago during the Enlightenment. Rousseau and other thinkers argued that through education people could eradicate sin and eventually build a perfect society.

This became one of the the prevailing myths of our time. The sentiment permeated the Humanist Manifesto II: "By using technology wisely, we can control our environment, conquer poverty,... modify behavior, alter the course of human evolution and cultural development, ... and provide humankind with unparalleled opportunity for achieving an abundant and meaningful life.

This is the humanist doctrine of sanctification by progress. Its seduction lies in its appeal to our pride: The obstacles are not in ourselves but in our stars - or in unemployment, racism, poverty or mental illness. Alexander Solzhenitsyn called this myth "the benevolent concept according to which man - the master of the world - does not bear any evils within himself, and all the defects of life are caused by misguided social systems."

The record of gore and inhumanity of the twentieth century, from the ovens of the Holocaust to the killing fields of Cambodia to the nightly slaughter on America's streets, ought to jar us into sober reality. The truth is, the human race hasn't outgrown sin, nor can we. It lives within us. Jesus put it succinctly: "From within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, secual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit .... All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you and make you acceptable to God" (Mark 7:21-23, NLT).

That message may seem out of date in light of all the high-tech wizadry and enlightened sophistry of this generation. But real progress, the kind that goes beyond satellites and fiber optics, comes from only one source: from the One who can cleanse evil within us by creating clean hearts within us. He is our only real hope for progress, in this time or in any other.