Warped Wood & Crooked Timber

The recognition of humanity's flawed nature is not exclusive to Christianity. Aristotle, in his work Ethics, compares human nature to a warped piece of wood. To rectify this warp, a skilled woodworker applies gentle pressure in the opposite direction, gradually straightening it. 

Centuries later, the German philosopher Immanuel Kant expressed skepticism, saying, "Out of the crooked timber of humanity, nothing can be made straight."…