My wife is a better person than I am, thatâs objectively true.
Pretty sure prison statistics would say yesâŚ
If you want to use US prison statistics gauge morality, then what do you have to say about a US prison population that is over 99% Christian and less than 1% Atheist?
I would say that there are a lot of people, I mean many many many, that claim to be Christian and are clearly not. Most of them just want to feel good about the fact that they think they will be saved, because grace is free to everyone, but Jesus teaches that you have to walk in that grace, otherwise He wonât know who you are and you will be cast out. The bible is clear, that if you continue to sin, the Holy Spirit is not in you, and you should repent. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to preach.
Jesus speaking (Sermon on the Mount) Matthew 7:7-23:
Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking
7 âAsk, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
The Narrow Way
13 âEnter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 [c]Because narrow is the gate and [d]difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
15 âBeware of false prophets, who come to you in sheepâs clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
I Never Knew You
21 âNot everyone who says to Me, âLord, Lord,â shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, âLord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?â 23 And then I will declare to them, âI never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!â
The implications of this line of reasoning would appear to be rather hazardous. There are many, many other factors other than âmoralityâ that influences who is and is not sent to prison.
I would also say itâs a bad idea to use prison statistics to gauge morality, as it results in a lot of racist thinking as well. Women are not more moral, we are just prone to different, maybe sometimes less obvious sins.
Pay attention everyone. @thoughtful is entirely correct here.
OK, we strayed pretty rapidly from the topic there!
Itâs certainly a complex topic, and for a start weâd need to define what it is to be moral as a human being - and thatâs an endlessly complex argument.
Then weâd need to think about what is nature and what is nurture: what is innate and genetic and what is socialised by society?
âŚand now Iâll go and read the article in the OP. 
Study is also self-report⌠that is, participants rated their own morality.
Iâm always pretty heavily skeptical of âevolutionary psychologyâ, which does rear its ugly head in the article (but may well not in the original paper). It seems to me like 21st century phrenologyâŚ
Even broken clocks are right twice a day. We canât have anyone besides @r_speir thinking ogres are kind or thinking persons or right sometimes, or the world will be turned upside down and chaos ensue. 
I would also say itâs a bad idea to use prison statistics to gauge morality, as it results in a lot of racist thinking as well. Women are not more moral, we are just prone to different, maybe sometimes less obvious sins.
Even though I disagree with your usage of âsinsâ, I get your point and agree with it.
I hope you know there are no âfruitsâ or criteria to distinguish true Christians from false Christians?
Jesus disagreesâŚI suppose it depends on what you think a Christian is. I think itâs someone who follows Christ, and He says that people will be known by their fruit. He is the judge, not me.
I am Roman Catholic, and evangelical Christians tell me all the time that my denomination is satanic and will be destroyed at the second-coming. They say this despite the fact that RCs and ECs both acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God and his resurrection. So that criteria doesnât help at all to distinguish between true and false Christians.
Pray tell what these fruits are?
Then there is a problem. In Revelations, the people of God are advised to get out of âBabylon the Greatâ, the host of all false doctrines, why? To escape the punishment that awaits her. This indicates that false worship should has identifiable characteristics, but what exactly are they? This is important because if we donât drop false teachings, we are at risk of sharing in the punishment of those who hold on to it.
@Michael_Okoko, if you are truly interested in following Jesus and understanding the Word, I would be happy to discuss it with you. Perhaps on a different thread. I donât have all the answers, but I know a great deal about the bible and I know that the Word is true.
I have given my life fully to Christ, I have abandoned a successful career and layed down my life to serve Jesus. I am currently living in a bible college and study 24/7, searching for truth. I donât take this lightly and there is no one liner that I can write that will illuminate the truth that is in Jesus. It is through repentance and revelation that I understand, and I have found that fully believing that Jesus is Lord and savior and that God the Father raised Him from the dead that brings understanding. There is nothing that you can do on earth to earn salvation other than believing those things to be true in the deepest part of your heart. The fruit is what comes after you believe, not what you can do to prove it.
I am not a fan of many organized religions. I see that man perverts the truth to gain advantage over his brothers. Catholicism has a long history of this. The prosperity gospel and faith healers also take advantage of people seeking truth to make profit. However, I donât think being part of any denomination really matters, the church is the body of believers that follow Christ. It is what the individual believes and does that matters. So, there is good and bad in all organized religion.
I can reference lots of scripture that backs up that Jesus is the only judge you need to worry about. It is not enough to know Him, He needs to know you (Matthew 7) and you immediately get His attention by doing good and loving Him and others. Anyway, I would be happy to respectfully discuss in depth with you, but only if youâre are seeking truth and not seeking to discredit my faith or the bible. Let me know if you want to start a study.
Anything that goes against the Word of God, and the teaching of Jesus. It is part of my responsibility as a believer to know what is false. It requires knowing the truth in depth and there is no shortcutâŚ(hint, John 14:6).
Matthew 3,7,12 & 21, Luke 6, John 15, Galatians 5, Romans 6 & 7, Ephesians 5, James 1,3 & 5, 2 Peter 1 & 2, Jude
Short answer: John 15:1-17, Galatians 5:16-26
I disagree on some things in your reply, but we have gone off-topic. Thanks for engaging though.