Ecclesiastes 7:29 – "Truly, this only have I found: that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes."
Sounds to me like Solomon is saying "man is born good, but he finds ways to screw it up."
Which is entirely in contrast to virtually everything you’ll learn in church. Church tells people that they’re born sinners, they’ll die sinners, and in between anything good they do is a result of God having mercy on them.
I think I prefer Solomon’s "innocent until proven guilty" statement. Much more optimistic. Hey, if God made me inherently good then using my free will to choose good should be easier than ever, huh?