Worse Than Brute Beasts

“And instead of letting nature do its work of leading us to God, so that we know him and behold him, we are worse than the brute beasts. For although beasts cannot distinguish between right and wrong, they remain within their bounds and limitations. Although they obey their natural instincts, they at least rest once their needs are satisfied; and when they have rested they go back to work. When hungry they eat their food, or else they look for it. Yet how pitiful is man, who tries to hide his instincts and always plays false! We are reckless and impatient in our wants. Not content with rest and comfort, we are happy only when we sow confusion and mingle heaven and earth. In short, because we are entangled in the hear and now and because we never think about the kingdom of heaven, we could not be more depraved…

The brute beasts have a much better life. They fear only for the present; they are immune to worry, are not led by ambition and can foresee no mischief that might befall them. Unlike men they are not jealous of each other; they feel no concern for what might happen a hundred years after their death; they make do with the food that is before them. Men, on the other hand, continually fret, and if God should desert us, where would we be? The world holds us fast; it owns us; we are bound to it—entombed, even, in it! Senseless, we think only of this transitory life. Consequently we see that, in order to draw near to God, we must escape the nature which we inherited from Adam. Above all, we must become new creatures.”

—John Calvin, trans. Robert White, Sermons on Titus (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2015), 204-205. Calvin said this while preaching on Titus 2:11-14.