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Brush Up On Your Theology; 5. Anthropology

by Dr. Henderson Ward  
8/19/2015 / Bible Studies

Anthropology when looked at theologically, is a concept that has to do with the doctrine of man or humanity, and may include the study of human beings' similarity to and divergence from other animals, the study of the nature and essence of humankind, and the true science of humans and their works. In spite of what some people may think, the anthropological affirmations of Scripture do not contradict, but fully agree with, the findings of real science.

In theology we are dealing with this not from the purely scientific perspective, which has led many into grievous errors, but rather from the Biblical/Christian's viewpoint which reflects a God-centric, holistic view of man. After all, you cannot examine a man's soul under the microscope.

It is crucial that we have a right concept of man, because who we are impacts our relationship with each other, and with God; it determines our view of our role in this world and it affects our final, everlasting destination after we depart this material world.

Man was created, not evolved from some primordial soup dreamed up by scientist, by a loving God, by a direct act of will as stated in Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

God, for reasons known only to himself, created Adam first, "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2: 7) And then later he created Eve, "And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man." (Genesis 2: 21-22).

Adam and Eve were fully formed adults, with full understanding, with whom God could communicate and have social relationship, "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1: 28).

God left Adam and Eve in no doubt as to the scope of their responsibilities and the nature of their foodstuff (Notice that their diet was to be vegetarian):

"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so" (Genesis 1: 29-30).

When God created man in his own image this is in reference not to man's physical stature, composing flesh and blood, (for God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth says John 4: 24), but to his spiritual and immaterial side, the side that reflects man's mental, moral and social makeup. For example, humans, just like God, have personality, intellect, will, emotion, self consciousness, a moral nature and to a limited extent the divine attributes of wisdom, power, holiness, goodness, love, justice and truth; unlike any of God's other creations.

Humans were made to have fellowship with God, love him, glorify and worship him forever, and it is hard to imagine man's present estate had man complied with God's intentions. However Adam and Eve, using their freewill, sinned in disobeying God:

"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." (Genesis 3:6)

Because Adam and Eve were the original ancestors of humans, so their original sin corrupted all of humanity, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Romans 5: 12)

We must not forget that Adam, as the head of the human race, passed on his sinful nature to us all, " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:22).

Humanity, therefore, is currently in a fallen state, having corrupted its nature by sin, compounded by willful acts of sinning and transgression against God.

Jesus Christ came into the world to redeem us, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19: 10), and having died on the cross, in accordance with the scriptures, he ascended to heaven, following his burial and resurrection.

Jesus has taken his place to be man's mediator with God, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5). Redeemed mankind eventual destination is in heaven with God as affirmed nere:

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14: 1-3)

Man is composed of three components, namely body, soul and spirit although some strongly argue that man has two components only, namely body and soul/spirit. The right position is always to be guided by scripture, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5: 23)

I am aware that 1 Thessalonians 5: 23 has several interpretations, but the position taken here is that man's spirit is life itself, the body we all agree on, animals and people both have spirit, "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?" (Ecclesiastes 3:21), but animals have no soul.

The soul of man is the element that survives death and is the seat of emotions, intellect and will. Jesus Christ refer to his soul as being exceedingly sorrowful, "Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me." (Matthew 26:38).

What are we to make of the origin of the different races?

The starting point, surely, would be the Tower of Babel as recorded in Genesis Chapter 11 where God confused and scattered the earth's population.

I hold to the view that God, knowing he would make the world a racially diverse place, endowed Adam and Eve with all the genetic material to ensure his will was done.

God took the opportunity afforded in Genesis Chapter 11 to start the process of colonizing the whole earth, and since humans carried the full range of genetics with them, then, wherever they went, the gene pool produced variations.

The same parents have been known to produce very contrasting offspring. In time humans adapted to suit developing skin tones, and features, germane to particular regions. Over time this became more so, although it is necessary to remember that we all came from Adam and is therefore all members of one race; the human race:

"And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation." (Acts 17: 26)

Enough said.

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Dr. Henderson Ward received his Doctor of Divinity in theology, with distinction, from Masters International School of Divinity, USA, where he is currently a post-doctoral fellow. Dr. Ward's career involved pastoring, evangelism, and teaching. Copyright 2017

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