Mans Desire: Autonomy

The basic issue...has not changed since Eden. The temptation of man is “To be as God,” knowing, that is, determining for himself what shall be good and what shall be evil. Man establishes his own law and decrees his own righteousness and is not bound to a point of reference beyond himself. This is the original sin of man, the lust to be as God, and this is the constant drive of his being from which even the redeemed are not free. Man sees himself not as creature but as a god, not as dependent but as an independent and autonomous being. Not even the most devout are free in this life from traces of this rebellion. — Rushdoony, By What Standard?, pg. 5