Condensed Theology, Lecture 20: Anthropology, Man in God's Image; Man as Body & Soul

8/14/2019 Condensed Theology, Lecture 20: Anthropology, Man in God's Image; Man as Body & Soul

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/condensed-theology-lecture-20-anthropology-man-in-gods-image-man-as 1/51

Condensed Theology

A Primer in Systematic Theology



Anthropology:

The Doctrine of Man

What does the Bible teach about

humanity?



Why God Made Man



Why God Made Man: God’s Glory

• God did not create humanity becausethere was something lacking in himself; he

is self-sufficient – Acts 17:25: …nor is He served by humanhands, as though He needed anything, sinceHe Himself gives to all people life and breath

and all things.




• He created man according to his mere pleasure

– Ps 115:3: But our God is in the heavens; He doeswhatever He pleases.

– Eph 1:10-11: …with a view to an administrationsuitable to the fullness of the times, that is, thesumming up of all things in Christ, things in theheavens and things on the earth. In Him also we haveobtained an inheritance, having been predestined

according to His purpose who works all things afterthe counsel of His will.




• He created man to manifest and magnifyhis own glory

– Ps 8:1: O LORD, our Lord, How majestic isYour name in all the earth, Who havedisplayed Your splendor above the heavens!

– Rom 11:36: For from Him and through Him

and to Him are all things. To Him be the gloryforever. Amen.




• He created man to manifest and magnify hisown glory

– Col 1:16: For by Him all things were created, both in

the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible,whether thrones or dominions or rulers orauthorities—all things have been created through Himand for Him.

– Rev 4:11: Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, toreceive glory and honor and power; for You createdall things, and because of Your will they existed, andwere created.




• Thus man’s purpose is found in explicitlybringing glory God, to magnifying the fame

of his name. – Isa 26:8: Yes, LORD, walking in the way ofyour laws, we wait for you; your name andrenown are the desire of our hearts (NIV).

– 1 Cor 10:31: Whether, then, you eat or drinkor whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.




• And since it is in bringing glory to God thatwe find our true joy and satisfaction, we

can also say that we have been created toenjoy him forever

– Ps 16:11: You will make known to me thepath of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasuresforever.



The Creation of Man



The Creation of Man:

The Imago Dei • Man was directly and immediately created

by God in his image – Gen 1:26: Then God said, “Let Us make man

in Our image, according to Our likeness; andlet them rule over the fish of the sea and overthe birds of the sky and over the cattle andover all the earth, and over every creeping

thing that creeps on the earth.” God createdman in His own image, in the image of GodHe created him; male and female He createdthem.




The Imago Dei • Man was directly and immediately created

by God in his image

– Gen 9:6: Whoever sheds man’s blood, Byman his blood shall be shed, For in the imageof God He made man.

– Jas 3:9: With it we bless our Lord and Father,

and with it we curse men, who have beenmade in the likeness of God.




The Imago Dei • What is the image and likeness of God?

– An image is something which resembles andrepresents something else

– A likeness is that which resembles somethingelse

– To the original audience, “Let us make man in

our image, according to our likeness” wouldhave meant, “Let us make man to be like usand to represent us.”





– We can gain more insight into what it meansto have been made in the image andaccording to the likeness of God from thefollowing passage:

– Gen 5:3: When Adam had lived one hundredand thirty years, he became the father of ason in his own likeness, according to hisimage, and named him Seth.





– At the very least we can say that humanity isGod’s image and likeness in the same waythat a son is his father’s image and likeness;

– That is, there is resemblance…

– And there is representation (esp. in the

ancient world).





– In addition, it is important to note thatalthough there is a slight difference inmeaning between the terms,

– It is not substantive, which explains why theyare often used interchangeably.





– Sometimes, just the term “image” appears:

– Gen 1:27: God created man in His ownimage, in the image of God He created him;male and female He created them.

– This is especially significant since it follows

immediately upon God’s declarationconcerning the creation of mankind (see Gen1:26).





– Sometimes, just the term “image” appears:

– Gen 9:6: Whoever sheds man’s blood, Byman his blood shall be shed, For in the imageof God He made man.

– Col 3:10: …and have put on the new self who

is being renewed to a true knowledgeaccording to the image of the One whocreated him.





– At other times, only “likeness” appears

– Gen 5:1: This is the book of the generationsof Adam. In the day when God created man,He made him in the likeness of God.

– Jas 3:9: With it we bless our Lord and Father,

and with it we curse men, who have beenmade in the likeness of God.





– The passages that teach that man has beenmade in the image and likeness of God are

meant to affirm a basic truth; – Namely, that man is like God and exists to

represent God on earth.

– Attempts to reduce the image and likeness

solely to man’s dominion, righteousness,agency, etc. unduly limits the meaning of theterminology.





– This is not to say that there are not somespecific characteristics that are more closelyrelated to the idea of being God’s image-bearers.

– For example, Scripture clearly connects theidea of exercising dominion with the bearingof God’s image.





– And this makes sense, as the exercise of

dominion over the created order is a way in

which we act as God’s representatives on earth.

– He has ultimate authority, but after making us inhis image and likeness, endows us with theprivilege of being his deputy rulers, to cultivate

and keep, to care for all that he has made.

– See esp. Ps 8





– Nevertheless, we may add to this anycharacteristic that we may find explicitly setforth in Scripture or that we may legitimatelyinfer from Scripture that teach us ofcharacteristics shared between God and man;

– For the expression refers to any and everyway man is like God.



Jesus and the Imago Dei




The Imago Dei • Jesus is the image of God par excellence ,

uniquely and absolutely

– 2 Cor 4:4: …in whose case the god of thisworld has blinded the minds of theunbelieving so that they might not see thelight of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who isthe image of God.

– Col 1:15: He is the image of the invisibleGod, the firstborn of all creation.




The Imago Dei • Jesus is the image of God par excellence ,

uniquely and absolutely

– Heb 1:3a: And He is the radiance of His glory and the

exact representation of His nature, and upholds allthings by the word of His power.

– John 14:9: Jesus said to him, “Have I been so longwith you, and yet you have not come to know Me,Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father;how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?



Man’s Natural Condition




• As the bearer of God’s image, man wascreated upright, without sin.

– Gen 1:31: God saw all that He had made,and behold, it was very good. And there wasevening and there was morning, the sixth day.

– Eccl 7:29: Behold, I have found only this, that

God made men upright, but they have soughtout many devices.





– The portrayal of the state of paradise inGenesis 1-2 demonstrates man’s natural andoriginal righteousness.





– Eph 4:23-24: …and that you be renewed in thespirit of your mind, and put on the new self, whichin the likeness of God has been created inrighteousness and holiness of the truth.

– Col 3:10: …and have put on the new self who is

being renewed to a true knowledge according tothe image of the One who created him.





– Since Christ is the image of God

– And since Christ is sinless, wholly upright

– It follows that man was made originallyrighteous





– This should not be understood as a “childlikeinnocence”;

– Instead, it means that man was endowed witha positive righteousness, inherent in his

nature. – Man and woman were created positively

good, not morally indifferent.




• Man was capable of dying, but did nothave to die so long as he continued inobedience.

– Gen 2:16-17: The LORD God commandedthe man, saying, “From any tree of the gardenyou may eat freely; but from the tree of theknowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,for in the day that you eat from it you willsurely die.”




• Man was capable of dying, but did not have todie so long as he continued in obedience.

– Gen 3:22-23: Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the

man has become like one of Us, knowing good andevil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and takealso from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—therefore the LORD God sent him out from the gardenof Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was

taken.”



The Constituent Parts of Man

Trichotomy vs. Dichotomy



Trichotomy or Dichotomy

• Is man made up of three parts, body, soul,and spirit?

• Or is he two parts, immaterial andmaterial, body and soul/spirit?



Trichotomy or Dichotomy

• Scripture’s emphasis is on the unity of man’smaterial and immaterial parts (whatever amountwe may think there are).

– Gen 2:7: Then the LORD God formed man of dustfrom the ground, and breathed into his nostrils thebreath of life; and man became a living being.

– 2 Cor 7:1: Therefore, having these promises,beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilementof flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear ofGod.



Trichotomy or Dichotomy:

Arguments for Dichotomy• Scripture uses “soul” and “spirit”

interchangeably

– Either the soul or the spirit departs at death

– Man is said to be either “body and soul” or“body and spirit.”

– Everything that the soul is said to do, the spirit

is said to do, and vice versa, including sin.



Trichotomy or Dichotomy:

Arguments against Trichotomy• The Trichotomist him- or herself will admit someamount of elasticity in the Bible’s use of therelevant terminology.

• The watershed texts supposedly assertinganthropological trichotomism are poorlyexegeted at worst or inconclusive at best.

• Trichotomism has been the base for theespousal of other, more serious errors.

• Dichotomy is the dominant teaching in thehistory of the church and in evangelicalscholarship.



The Origin of the Soul

Creationism or Traducianism?



The Origin of the Soul: Creationism

• Creationism teaches that at the moment ofconception, God immediately creates thesouls of every person.

– Gen 2:7: Then the LORD God formed man ofdust from the ground, and breathed into hisnostrils the breath of life; and man became aliving being.

– Eccl 12:7: …then the dust will return to theearth as it was, and the spirit will return toGod who gave it.




• Creationism teaches that at the moment ofconception, God immediately creates the soulsof every person.

– Isa 57:16: For I will not contend forever, Nor will Ialways be angry; For the spirit would grow faintbefore Me, And the breath of those whom I havemade.

– Zech 12:1: The burden of the word of the LORDconcerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD whostretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of theearth, and forms the spirit of man within him.




• Creationism teaches that at the moment ofconception, God immediately creates thesouls of every person.

– Heb 12:9: Furthermore, we had earthlyfathers to discipline us, and we respectedthem; shall we not much rather be subject tothe Father of spirits, and live?



The Origin of the Soul:

Traducianism• Traducianism teaches that our body and

soul are created together by the naturalgeneration of the sexual union.

– Gen 2:2: By the seventh day God completedHis work which He had done, and He restedon the seventh day from all His work whichHe had done.






– Gen 2:21: So the LORD God caused a deepsleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; thenHe took one of his ribs and closed up theflesh at that place.

– 1 Cor 11:8: For man does not originate fromwoman, but woman from man.




Traducianism• Traducianism teaches that our body and soul

are created together by the natural generation ofthe sexual union.

– Rom 5:12: Therefore, just as through one man sinentered into the world, and death through sin, and sodeath spread to all men, because all sinned.

– Heb 7:9: And, so to speak, through Abraham evenLevi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was stillin the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.






– The apparent benefit of traducianism is that itseems to exculpate the Lord from the chargethat he creates a sinful soul in mothers’wombs.




Creationism or Traducianism?• Though I can see the possibility of

traducianism, I find the exegeticalevidence less convincing that that which isset forth in defense of creationism.




Creationism or Traducianism?• In addition, I would argue that God still is not the

author of evil in the case of creating soulsimmediately in mothers’ wombs.

• Since God uses secondary causes, includingevil ones for the accomplishment of hispurposes, we would suggest that it is possibleand consistent with God’s providence for him to

give each child a soul that has tendencies to sinwhich are similar to that of the parents.




Creationism or Traducianism?• Nevertheless, since the evidence for both

positions is scanty and relatively unclear, itseems best to be tentative in ourconclusions.

• Even Augustine, after addressing thesubject several times in his writings,

ultimately concluded that he did not know.



Conclusion

• Next time…

• The Fall of Man

Documents

Condensed Theology, Lecture 20: Anthropology, Man in God's Image; Man as Body & Soul