Doctrine of Humanity
1.
Genesis 1 and 2: Implications and applications of being created beings[1]
a.
Humans have no independent existence
i. Created
by the will and design of God
ii. We
are creation of God: Not an outflow of him
1.
Creator/creature distinction à metaphysically
distinct
2.
We never cease to be creatures of God
b.
Humans are part of creation: share a kinship with
the rest of creation
o Francis
Schaeffer Pollution and the Death of Man:
As a Christian I say, “Who am I?”
Am I only the hydrogen atom, the energy particle extended? No, I am made
in the image of God. I know who I am. Yet, on the other hand, when
I turn around and face nature, I face something that is like myself. I,
too, am created, just as the animal and the plant and the atom are created.
(p. 30)
Therefore, intellectually and
psychologically, I look at these animals, plants, and machines, and as I face
them I understand something of the attitude I should have toward them. I
begin to think differently about life. Nature begins to look different.
I am separated from it, yet related to it.
Notice the phrase “intellectually and
psychologically.” This is a very important distinction. I can say,
“Yes, the tree is a creature like myself.” But that is not all that is
involved. There ought to be a psychological insight, too.
Psychologically I ought to “feel” a relationship to the tree as my
fellow-creature. It is not simply that we ought to feel a relationship
intellectually to the tree, and then turn this into just another argument for apologetics,
but that we should realize, and train people in our churches to realize, that
on the side of creation and on the side of God’s infinity and our finiteness we
really are one with the tree! (p. 31)
Christians, of all
people, should not be the destroyers. We should treat nature with an
overwhelming respect. We may cut down a tree to build a house, or to make
a fire to keep the family warm. But we should not cut down the tree just
to cut down the tree. We may, if necessary, bark the cork tree in order
to have the use of the bark. But what we should not do is to bark the
tree simply for the sake of doing so, and let it dry and stand there a dead
skeleton in the wind. To do so is not to treat the tree with
integrity. We have the right to rid our houses of ants; but what we have
not the right to do is to forget to honor the ant as God made it, in its
rightful place in nature. When we meet the ant on the sidewalk, we step
over him. He is a creature, like ourselves; not made in the image of God,
but equal with man as far as creation is concerned. The ant and the man
are both creatures. (p. 43) (The Complete Works
of Francis Schaeffer--vol. 5 [Crossway, 1982])
c.
Humans are unique in creation à “more to humanity than
just creature-hood”
i. Matthew
6.26; 10.31-- more valuable than birds
ii. Francis
Schaeffer’s diagram
d.
There is kinship among humans-- we should care for
humanity as a whole and for those we do not personally know
e.
Humanity is not the highest object in the
universe
“His
[God’s] glory, not our pleasure and comfort, is the ultimate value. We must never elevate our respect for
humans to the point of virtually worshipping them.”[2]
f.
There are definite limitations upon humanity
i. Humility
due to our finitude
1.
Experience at U of AZ library-- welling up; not able
to master one philosopher (Kant) much less all of them
ii. Only
God is inherently eternal à
all else dies
g.
Limitation is not inherently bad-- not something to
“grow/evolve beyond”
h.
Should accept our own finitude to properly live
life
“The
fact of our finiteness is clear.
We may, however, be unwilling to accept that fact and to accept our
place in the scheme of things as creatures of God who are dependent upon him. Adam and Eve’s fall consisted at least
in part of an aspiration to become like God (Gen. 3:4-6), to know what God
knows. A similar aspiration
underlay the fall of the evil angels (Jude 6). We ought to be willing to let God be God, not seeking to
tell him what is right and true, but rather submitting to him and his plan for
us. To pass judgment on God’s
deeds would require an infinite knowledge, something that we simply do not
have.”[3]
§
Consider God’s speech to Job (ch. 38-41)-- reminds Job of his
finitude
i.
Humanity is something wonderful-- “image of God”-- dignity!
i. It will probably amaze us to realize that
when the Creator of the universe wanted to create something “in his image,”
something more like himself than all the rest of creation, he made us…We
are the culmination of God’s infinitely wise and skillful work of creation.[4]
ii. Psalm
8-- “a little less than
God” (Hebrew = elohim)
2.
Image of God: crucial concept!
a.
Actual phrase “image of God” used infrequently:
Gen 1.26-27; 9.6; 1 Corinthians 11.7; James 3.9 (see Gen 5.1 for “likeness”
language)
b.
What is the “image of God?” Was it lost in the Fall? Do all people share in the “image of
God” now—believers and unbelievers?
c.
Some have denied that post-Fall people are in
the image of God-- the image has been lost and is only renewed in coming to Christ Jesus
i. But
see: Genesis 9.6 and James 3.9-- post-Fall situations that do not restrict image to believers
d.
Structural and Functional (or, broader and
narrower) aspects of image
i. Structural:
“In sum, then, we may say that by the image of God in the broader or structural
sense we mean the entire endowment of gifts and capacities that enable man to
function as he should in his various relationships and callings.”[5]
1.
Intellectual powers
2.
Moral sensitivity
3.
Capacity for religious worship
4.
Responsibility
5.
Volitional power
6.
Aesthetic sense
7.
Gifts of speech and song
8.
Ability to feel; have emotions
ii. Functional:
“Thus the image of God in the narrower sense means man’s proper functioning in
harmony with God’s will for him.”[6]
iii. Consider
two sets of passages
1.
Gen 9.6; James 3.9
2.
Col 3.10; Eph 4.24
If we put these two types of passages together, we conclude that there
must be a sense in which fallen man still bears the image of God, but that
there must also be a sense in which he no longer bears that image. Hence the distinction between the
broader and narrower aspects of the image is necessary.[7]
iv. C. John Collins
outlines views on the image of God
1.
Resemblance: human beings
like God in some aspect(s) such as intellect, moral sense, will, rationality,
etc.
2.
Representative: humans commanded
by God to rule creation on God’s behalf
3.
Relational: humans as
male/female and in community as they manifest the “image of God”
· Scholars commonly speak as if these categories are
mutually exclusive. My view is
that the linguistic and exegetical details favor the idea that “in our image,
after our likeness” implies that humans were made with some kind of resemblance
to God, which was to enable them to represent God as benevolent rulers, and to
find their fulfillment in their relationships with each other and with God. That is, I have combined all three
views,…[8]
e.
Practical implications
i. How do we view
people?
1.
Example: 8th grade and seeing “Richard”
2.
Race, ethnicity, social standing (poor/rich),
disabled (physically/mentally)
a.
Proverbs 22.2 “The rich and the poor have a common
bond, the LORD is the maker of them all.”
3.
Created by God to live in relationship—four-fold
relationship
4.
Cultural Mandate: Four main tasks
a.
Filling
(Scope of the Culture-making enterprise)-- Genesis 1.28
b.
Ruling
(Goal)-- Genesis 1.28
c.
Cultivate or “tend”; “work” (Mode)-- Genesis 2.15
i. Hebrew-- abad
ii. Man is called to “work” the earth in order
to uncover the rich potentialities “hidden,” as it were, beneath the earth’s
surface. On the most basic, agricultural
level, man cuts into the earth and sows seed, which grows up into plants, which
when carefully tended yield fruit in their appointed seasons. Dig deeper and the earth will yield
still more riches: precious stones and gold (Gen. 2:11-12; Job 28); ore which
can be smelted to make metals; and basic chemical raw materials which can be
synthesized into pigments and dyes for art works, fertilizers to increase crop
yields, or rocket fuel to explore God’s vast universe. Other parts of the creation can be transformed
as well: wood can be fashioned into flutes for the praise of God or timbers for
building; stones can be dressed and fitted into walls, etc.[9]
d.
Keep (Mode)-- Genesis 2.15
i. Hebrew-- shamar
ii. We
are to take care of the created order; protection—not exploitation
iii. See
my essay “Habakkuk and God’s Concern for the Environment”[10]
5.
Humanity as God’s image-bearers to rule in the
world
“In the ancient East the setting up of the
king’s statue was the equivalent to the proclamation of his dominion over the
sphere in which the statue was erected (cf. Dan. 3.1, 5f.). When in the thirteenth century BC the
Pharaoh Ramesses II had his image hewn out of rock at the mouth of the nahr el-kelb, on the Mediterranean north
of Beirut, the image meant that he was the ruler of this area. Accordingly, man is set in the midst of
creation as God’s statue. He is
evidence that God is Lord of creation; but as God’s steward he also exerts his
rule, fulfilling his task not in arbitrary despotism but as a responsible
agent. His rule and his duty to
rule are not autonomous; they are copies.”[11]
[1] Primarily from Millard
Erickson Christian Theology (3rd
ed.), pp. 451-455.
[2] Millard Erickson Christian Theology, 453.
[10]
Available online: http://whiterosereview.blogspot.com/2011/11/habakkuk-and-gods-concern-for.html.
