MAN
This page deals with the doctrine of man theologically known as Anthropology. The concern here is with the Biblical Anthropology, not that of human philosophy. This anthropology is that which is revealed by God in His holy Word, the Bible. This writer has always contended that both the Bible and science are true. Where conflict arises, however, the Bible must take precedence over science, for the Bible changes not whereas science is constantly changing. Therefore, where scientific anthropology agrees with the Bible it is true; where it disagrees, one must take the Biblical evidence. The former can not touch on the origin of man, his original situation, his fall, and the cause of death. "The early church was soon dragged down with Platonic philosophy and Aristotle's doctrine of the soul." (Chafer, Systematic Theology, II:129) The need is to get back to the Biblical perspective on anthropology as in other areas.
1. The origin of man. There are two basic ideas of the
origin of man, evolution and revelation.
a. Evolution. This idea has been touched
on to some extent. As to the origin of man, it hold that man
has evolved from a combination of chemicals through a increasing complexity
of cellular organization. It is not generally held that man was
descended from apes, but rather both have evolved from some lower form.
This notion is constantly seeking for missing links that strangely
remain missing.
There is a naturalistic form that
is basically atheistic; then there is what is sometimes called "theistic
evolution" which endeavors to make God the cause and evolution the method.
Unfortunately, when one begins to study the various sciences, they
find that evolution is accepted and asserted as fact without proof; then
the attempt is made to try to show that evidence in a particular field can
only be explained on an evolutionary basis.
As to the time of origin,
evolution requires eons upon eons of time to develop mankind.
Yet they have not given solid proof of that development or the
various links to past animals. Nor have they solved adequately
the development of male and female separately. Philology also
require many, many years for the development of language. Yet,
they have not successfully solve the problem of common elements
in language. History, too, demands eons for the development of
civilization. Yet, the facts of history are at most 10,000 to12,000
years old (or might be conceivably stretched to 25,000 years).
The major problem with this is twofold;
first, the idea is assumed as true without proof; second, any attempt to
prove by facts that evolution can not be sustained is immediately scoffed
and ridiculed. No scientific journal will accept scientific studies
that even hint at creationism. The scientific world as a whole (though
not true of all scientists) is determined to crush Biblical truth without
any real evidence that the Bible is false. (So much for academic freedom).
No other book on the face of the earth (religious or non-religious)
is fought against like the Bible. Strange is it not that this is the
case.
b. Revelation. The Bible on the other hand
clearly states that man was created by God in His likeness and image.
Furthermore, the material part of man
was formed out of the dust of the ground, not evolved. The
two narratives in Genesis on the creation of man are NOT contradictory,
but complementary. It might be said the first account is general statement
of man's creation; the second is a specific account. This writer
is not concerned with a comparison of these two accounts, but merely
assert that both are correct and complementary.
As to the time of origin, the Bible
is clear. Ussher's dates are not inspired; he based in on the
assumption that the genealogies were complete. There is abundant evidence
that this is not the case; the discussion of that matter is beyond
the scope of this web page.
2. The nature of man. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, the nature
of man is set forth as a trinity--spirit, soul, and body. This
writer has tried to show in Biblical Philosophy
that mankind is more of a trinity like unto the Triune God. The
former trinity will here be considered.
a. Man's physical nature. Man's physical
nature is described in Genesis 2:7, "And the Lord God formed man out of the
dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life [literally, lives]; and man became a living soul." Interestingly,
it is a scientific fact that man consists of 16 elements found in the
ground including calcium, carbon, chlorine, fluorine, hydrogen, iodine, iron,
manganese, magnesium, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, potassium, silicon, sodium,
and sulphur. Of course, there may be a few others (commonly called
"trace elements) in a very small quantity, but these are the main ones.
1) Not just a physical nature.
Some try to teach that the physical nature is all there is and try
to make the mind (note: the mind and the brain are not the same) a purely
physical thing. Such logically state that death ends all; but what
a sad philosophy that is. It often leads to a "drink and be merry"
life "because tomorrow we die." However, death does not end all.
Death is NOT the cessation of life. It is only the separation
of the body--the physical part from man--from the soul and spirit (the
immaterial aspect). 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 (particularly verses 6-8) bear
this out.
2) The body at death. This
fact raises the question as to what happens to the body. There is abundant
Scripture to indicate that the body that dies and is put into a grave will
one day arise from the dead. Probably the oldest reference to this
fact is Job 19:26, "And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet
in my flesh shall I see God." Job apparently believed that he would
PHYSICALLY see God, not just in a spiritual sense. That visible sense
will be of the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate. Jesus spoke
of the bodily resurrection of all humans (Cf. John 5:26-29).
This writer can think of several other passages that speaks of this.
Immediately comes to mind Romans 8:23 which speaks of the bodily
resurrection of believers. 1 Corinthians 15 suggests it, and
verses 51-53 states it plainly. Likewise, Philippians 3:20, 21 speaks of
this fact.
You might say that
this must all be figurative because the physical body of many have
already decayed in graves; others have perished in fire; and still others
dissolved in the sea (or eaten by various sea creatures). However,
there is no hint in any of these and other passages that figurative
language is the case. That the resurrected bodies will be different
in some respects is doubtlessly true, for both 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 and
Philippians 3:20, 21 state this fact. Nevertheless, there will be a
physical body. Paul deals with this matter to some extent in 1 Corinthians
15:35-50. Even in the present physical state, people's bodies change
completely every seven years. That being the case, God can and will
change the mortal bodies into immortal ones; He who created the body can
form it again incorruptible whether decayed in the grave, dissolved in the
sea, burned up in flame, or is presently alive. One exception to this
resurrection has already been hinted. This is the change of those who
are physically alive when Christ returns for His bride, the Church.
Both 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 show this
to be the case.
3) The word "Body". The word
body is used in various ways.
First is the phrase,
body of sin, which phrase is found in Romans 6:6. This
does not refer to any ancient philosophy that body is the seat of sin
and thus sinful in itself. Rather it refers to the old nature or that
nature that tends to sin.
The next phrase is
found in Romans 7:24, the body of this death. This phrase
is akin to Romans 6:6. In the context he described the struggle of
that nature with the new wrought in the flesh. So he compares
it to the Roman practice of attaching the dead body of the victim
of a murderer to him to carry around with him.
Paul also used the
term, our vile body in Philippians 3:21. The word "vile"
refers to the weakness and humiliation of the present body, and it
is contrast to the "glorious body" that is to be at the resurrection. This
writer's eyesight is going, his hearing not as good as when he was young,
and his body is constantly subject to disease and weaknesses of all
kinds. When he gets his "glorious body", he will have 20/20 vision,
his hearing will be top notch, his hair will no longer be white, and his
body shall be no longer subject to weaknesses.
The final phase that
needs to consider is the body of Christ. This phrase can
have reference to His physical body (although this writer can't think of
any reference directly--see Hebrews10:5), most often it refers to the
Church in a figure. Ephesians 5:21-33 combines both the figures of
the body and the bride in one passage.
Though bodies consist of the elements of the
ground and at death go back to those elements, they are also subject to
resurrection or translation where the "mortal must put on immortality."
b. Man's soulish nature. The
soul of man is set forth in Genesis 2:7, "And the Lord God form man
of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living soul."
1) General considerations. In this
brief presentation, all the references to the soul in the Scriptures can
not be cited; however, Genesis1:26, 27 states that "God said, 'Let us
make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth.' So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God created He him; male and female created He them." There
is no intention to discuss this image in detail except to say that was the
case of the original creation of man. That image has since been
marred by sin, although that image is still evident to some extent and shows
that man is far above being a mere animal. There is a spiritual application
of this in the new creation (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17). The crux
of the matter is that man is a reflection of God, and not God
of man.
2) The formation of the soul.
The next matter regarding the soul is its formation. The presentation
of its formation generally falls into one of three ideas.
The first is the
Pre-Existence viewpoint. Most often this idea is the result
of philosophical reasoning apart from Biblical revelation. It
hold that the soul eternally existed or at least was formed prior to physical
existence. It is the basis of reincarnation and transmigration of
souls from one physical life to another. There are three objections
to this theory. First, it ignores completely the Word of God
(except when allegorizing passages). Second, it disregards or discredits
the doctrine of original sin. Lastly, there is no real proof
for the idea.
The second notion
is the Creation viewpoint. This is doubtlessly a thoroughly
Biblical viewpoint which has been held by many. This idea teaches that
God creates a soul (and its accompanying spirit) for each body at birth with
only the physical body being generated by the parents. This writer
will not go into the reasons for this viewpoint. Dr. Charles Hodge
in his Theology, II, 70-72, deals with this viewpoint very well.
He, of course cites certain Scripture (which may or may not really
apply), argues from the nature of the soul, and then tries to use the
person of Christ.
The last idea is the
Traducian viewpoint. It can also be called the "generation
viewpoint." This is also a thoroughly Biblical viewpoint held by many
Bible believers. The idea states that body, soul, and spirit are formed as
the result of the procreation by man and woman. Here again This
writer will not go into the reasons of this viewpoint. Dr. William
Shedd covers the salient points in his Dogmatic Theology, II, 7-19.
In this connection Hebrews 7:9, 10 are most apt in this regard.
Romans 5:12 appears to show that sin (a nonmaterial factor) has passed
down through the human father. This answers the question about the person
of Christ Who was generated by the Holy Spirit and not a human father.
This writer holds to this viewpoint as the better of the two,
but he fully realizes that the other idea has its merits.
3) The soul and spirit not the
same. The next question that arises is whether the spirit and soul
are the same, making man a twofold being, material and immaterial; or whether
the spirit and soul are distinct making man a threefold being: body,
soul, and spirit. That this writer holds to the latter position has
already been expressed.
That there are some
similarities between soul and spirit is evident; but it the differences that
distinguish them. The primary text for this distinction is 1 Thessalonians
5:23, "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." Also, one needs to note carefully
Hebrew 4:12. 1 Corinthians 15:44 has also been cited as establishing
this distinction. The word rendered "natural" in that verse is "of
the soul."
There are five basic
terms that refer to the immaterial part of man. Four of those
concern the soul. The fifth is the word "spirit" and will be considered
in the next section. The four terms are soul, heart, flesh and mind.
The word "soul" is
the translation primarily of the word nephesh in the Old
Testament and psuche in the New. There is not room to study every
verse involving this words. Based on Genesis 2:7, one can say that
man IS a soul. A person's very inner being is a soul. On the
other hand, it may be said that man HAS a spirit. This may well explain
the difference between soul and spirit in man. The spirit of man
is the energizer of the soul. Again Genesis 2:7 bears this out.
This writer has now developed A Biblical
Psychology as he has a Biblical philosophy.
The soul is the seat
of the emotions, intellect and will. This can be seen in the
use of the word "heart" (kardia) and is closely associated
with the word "reins". What is in view here in NOT the physical
organ which pumps the blood through our bodies, but it is closely associated
with the psychological heart, for the Scripture teaches that "the life of
the flesh is in the blood." (Leviticus 17:11) The term "reins"
general refers to the emotional aspect that is apparent in other physical
organs.
The mind (a term also
occurring in the Bible) is a part of the soul, but it is closely associated
with the physical organ, the brain. It is this close association
of the soul with the body that makes its difficult to separate the
two in this discussion. What one thinks and feel affects the physical body.
Emotional upset results in definite physical upset. The reverse
is also true; if one's physical body is not well, it affects the
soul.
The third term used
in respect to the soul also has its physical counterpart. It is the
word "flesh" which is the rendering of the Greek sarks in the
New Testament. Sometimes the word is used to refer to the physical
flesh without any reference to the soul. Peter in his sermon on Pentecost
refers to David in this way. The second use of the word is nearly
equivalent to the word "mankind." This usage is seen in 1 Peter
1:24, 25 and would include both the physical aspect and nonphysical aspect
of man. The third meaning is the one associated with the soul
exclusively. It has reference to the moral nature of man as expressed
through the physical flesh--hence its usage in this regard. There are
numerous passages that show this aspect of the flesh which are not
related to the physical body as such, although they are inevitably expressed
through the body. Thus, this term has its ethical significance as well
as physical.
The difficulty in
explaining this matter is seen in the fact that the souls are so closely
linked to and associated with physical bodies. From this develops the
word "carnal." (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:1-4) It is used of a believer
who life is dominated by the flesh and not the Spirit of God. A
Spirit-filled believer must eat, sleep, wash, etc. as much as does an unbeliever.
The difference is, however, a Spirit-filled person has his life yielded
to the Holy Spirit; the carnal believer does not and is often indistinguishable
from the natural man--the unsaved. The struggle in one's daily life
is right at this point: which will dominate, the Holy Spirit or the
flesh? Earlier the mind was mentioned. The mind is more
than brains. Paul speaks of "the mind of the Spirit" and
"the mind of the flesh." Romans 7:25 and Romans 8:7 speak of
these among others. This aspect of man is discussed in
more detail in A Biblical Psychology.
c. Man's Spiritual Nature. That man has
a spirit is clear from 1 Thessalonians 5:23. That the human spirit
involves the emotions is shown by various passages. It is the energizing
force of the soul.
The term is based on the Hebrew word
ru'ah and the Greek term pneuma both of which have the
meaning of "wind" or "breath." Thus, its use for the most immaterial
part of man is a natural derivation. The word is used for other
than the human spirit. It is used of angels, fallen and unfallen as
well as a ghost in the sense of an apparition. Its highest use
is in the name of the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.
As to man's spirit, it is the energizer of the soul and much
can be gleaned from the use of the word in this connection. The
difference between soul and spirit are not always easy to discern.
However, there is enough Scripture to show a difference does exist.
3. The psychological nature of man. In the previous part
what was discussed was what man is; here this writer wants to consider
what man does.
a. Intellect. This activity of man
has to do with understanding. The Bible has a great deal to say about
the mind. The mind of the unsaved is blinded to the gospel as
2 Corinthians 4:3, 4 shows. Believers, on the other hand, have a
supernatural source for their minds, the Holy Spirit, as Jesus taught in
John 16:7-11. Also, we read in 1 Corinthians 2:14-16, "But the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are
foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth [discerns] all things,
yet he himself is judged [discerned] of no man. For who hath
known the mind of the Lord, that he he may instruct him? But
we have the mind of Christ." (Bold type for emphasis) Other
passages also emphasis this spiritual understanding such as Ephesians 1:17,
18. Peter repeatedly uses the word know or equivalent
terms in his second epistle. God wants us to use our intellects.
Thus, "Intellect is the soul knowing." (Augustus H. Strong, Systematic
Theology, p. 257)
b. Sensibility. This aspect has to do with
the emotional action of man. The ultimate aspect is love.
Romans 5:5 states, "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." It is this love that constrains
us (2 Corinthians 5:14) to love sinners and try to win them to the Lord Jesus
Christ "who loved "us "and gave Himself for" us (Galatians 2:20).
Notice also that the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) begins
with love. This divine love which is given unto us is to be the force
which activates all our actions. Thus, "sensibility is the soul feeling
(desires, affections)." (Strong, Ibid.)
c. Will. That man has a will which he can
exercise is clear. It is what he uses when making a choice. Here
the concern is with the fact of the will, not whether it is
free or not. That aspect may be considered at another time. Generally,
the will is influenced by either the intellect or the emotions or both--most
often this aspect. The unsaved are influenced to act by Satan (Cf.
Ephesians 2:2), while the believer is influenced by the Holy Spirit to do
God's will (Cf. Philippians 2:13).
There are several passages that show that
man can exercise their wills. Romans 6:11-13 immediately comes to mind,
and you can probably think of many others. The will is, therefore,
the aspect of man that enables mankind to make choices, to make decisions.
Strong (Ibid.) put it, "will is the soul choosing (end or means)."
This writer has only touched on this aspect of man's soulish
nature.
d. Conscience. Conscience is that part of
man's soul that most fully reflects the nature of God.
This is the judgmental aspect of man. It is what responds to
moral worth.
The natural man's (the unsaved) conscience
is said in the Bible to be "defiled" (Titus 1:15), "evil" (Hebrews 10:22,
"convicted" (John 8:9), and "seared "(1 Timothy 4:2). On the other
hand, the believer's conscience may be convinced of sin in the life as the
Holy Spirit speaks to the heart. This is seen in David's experience
recorded in Psalm 32:3, 4.
Romans 9:1 shows the Holy Spirit working
through the believer's conscience. Also, a believer's conscience does
not need to plagued with past sins which are now under the blood of
Christ. (See Hebrews 10:1, 2) Although the believer is not to
be guided by his conscience, it nevertheless will be free of
self-condemnation as sins are confessed and one lives a life pleasing
to God. The Holy Spirit uses the conscience to make one aware of his
rightness or wrongness before God.
There is much more that can be said about the soul nature
of man (Cf. A Biblical Psychology for more
on this subject). This writer has here only hit the high points of what
the soul does.
4. The fall of man. Before discussing the fall of man
as such, one must look at his state of innocence.
a. Man's innocence. The innocence of man
must be first considered.
1) His environment. It can
be considered first as to his environment which is described in Genesis 2:8,
9, 15. It was clearly a beautiful garden, the size of it being
unknown.
2) His responsibility. The
responsibility that man had can be seen in verse 15. He was to dress
it, which suggests tending to the various trees and animals in it. He
was to keep it, the idea being guarding it. It is possible that the
guarding was from the tempter that was surely to come.
3) His moral qualities. The
moral nature of man was passive; that is, there was the absence
of evil and the innocence of wrong. This presentation in
Genesis together with the temptation of man by Satan, of course,
has given rise to three positions.
The first is that
it is a myth which finds those who hold that position with the problem of
what is the moral of it. You end up with as many viewpoints
as persons setting them forth.
The second is the
allegorical often blending that with reality. The problem is that where
do you stop alegorizing and begin reality. Here again, you end
up with many viewpoints depending on the extent of allegorization.
This writer was somewhat taken to task when he stated on the internet
that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a real tree
(not an apple tree). But if you allegorize it, you might
as well as allegorize the whole garden, the creation, the fall, and everything
up to the end of Genesis 11 which many do. However, why stop
there? Why not allegorize the rest of Genesis? Or even go further
and allegorize the entire Bible.
The third position
is that the records are to be taken literally. No matter what deeper
truths are here, the record given is historical and tell of actual
people and events.
b. Man's fall. The concern here is not with
the tempter as such which was covered under the study of
Satan. The temptation of man (and
in particular Eve) is set forth in Genesis 3:1-13. The tempter, Satan,
came in the guise of a serpent. He did not come in the form of a
human which would have startled Eve knowing only Adam; but he came in the
form of an animal with which she was familiar. The serpent was
doubtlessly created as a very beautiful animal, the hints of that beauty
still remaining to some extent in snakes today.
The question Satan asked was very subtle,
"Hath God said?" This is questioning God's statement. He then
suggested that God was not just in forbidding the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. Of course, he did not come right out
and say that, but Eve knew which tree of which he spoke. Not
only did he questioned God's goodness, he flatly contradicted God's clear
statement of the result, namely, death. Finally, he said
that if they follow his plan they would be as "gods"; this is the word
elohim, the primary name of God. So in effect he was saying,
"you will be as God." He was trying to get them to commit the same
sin he committed, to be "like the most High." (Isaiah 14:14)
The thing that made the particular tree,
which was real enough, "the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil" is the matter of obedience. God said do not eat of it
or you will die; Satan said to go ahead because you will not die. Eve
compounded the problem by adding "ye shall not touch it" (which God
did NOT say) and minimizing God's punishment by saying, "LEST ye die." (Caps
for emphasis). The penalty is deemed by many as being too severe for
such an innocent act. However, it was not the act per se but the attitude
behind it; they were disobeying Almighty God, their Creator.
As to the penalty of death, one
must understand that death is separation. It is evident from Genesis
3:8-10 that Adam met regularly with God. So, after the fall, there
was immediately spiritual death, the separation of man from God.
Psychologically, that is as to the soul, they started to die. They
realized their nakedness which was before no shame; they began to blame each
other for the fall; their sin ultimately led to murder on the part of
Cain. Finally, they died physically. Being separated spiritually
from God, man's soul and spirit became depraved. Several passages
indicate this fact such as Ephesians 2:1, 2; 2 Corinthians 4:3,4; Colossians
1:13; and 1 John 5:19. That this sin passed on to Adam's posterity--of
which all humans are a part--is also evident from many passages. These
include among others Job 14:4, 15:14; Psalm 51:5; Ecclesiastes 7:20, 29;
and Romans 5:12.
Finally, the physical death of
man--which is the separation of the soul and spirit from the
body--is equally clear from numerous passages including 1 Corinthians 15:26.
You have seen that man was created innocent. However, you saw that man fell after Eve was tempted by Satan in the guise of the serpent. The result was death, first spiritual, then soulish and finally physically.
A further discussion of man's sinfulness is discussed
on the Sin web page.