Lesson 6 Doctrine of Man

Lesson 6
Doctrine of Man

Origin
Humanity’s origin is an interesting and important topic. Where we came from and how we came about is more than just a story or a question of science it is also a metaphysical question. How you understand man’s origin has an impact on how you think and see the world.

In Western Society there have been two major ways to understand the origin of man.
1. Naturalism: The idea of simple structures developing "evolving" into more complex ones. This occurs through the process of chance.
2. Theism: That a divine being had a hand in creating and guiding the process. There are numerous world views that share this idea (Christianity, Judaism, Muslim) and also numerous Schools of thought.
Three very popular theistic understanding of creation ones are:
A. Short term Creationist
B. Progressive Creationist
C. Theistic evolution
Although each differs in the exact way creation occurred, they all agree that it was divinely driven.

Biblical View
Genesis 1:1, 1: 26-28, 2:7

Let’s look at some key points that come out of these passages.
First, we were created by God.
Our origin comes from God and therefore we are accountable to Him

Second, our creation was a Special act
Our creation is different than all the other creatures. We receive the breath of life from God.
Humanity is the crowning and purpose for creation. What do you think about that statement? Instead of making us arrogant this fact should work to humble us. Why?

Third, it is from Adam and Eve that all humanity springs.
The idea of Adam and Eve being the universal parents should not only impact the way we see each other, it also effects the way we understand the Fall.

Just taking these three points, what are some of the moral and ethical understandings?

The Nature of Man
When we talk about humanity there are two natures we can look at.
Body and Soul
First man is made up of body and soul. Now off the bat this is a complicated idea but still biblically correct.

To help understand it let me make five brief points.
1. The soul is not good and the body bad. The body is not some shell holding us in (Popular Greek philosophy)

2. What happens in the body can affect the soul, and the condition of the soul affects the body. Phil. 2: 20

3. But they are also two distinct substances

4. The soul inhabits the body, is removed from body at death, and exists in a separate state
2 Corinthians 5: 1-10

5. At the time of the resurrection there will be a new body.

Second, man is created in the image of God.
Genesis 1:26-27

What does the image of God mean? This idea of the image of God applies to both men and women so we know it does not refer to gender or that God looks like a man (Mormon church teaching)

Some suggest that it might refer to our intelligence (ability to create and think), our free will (Which we have always had), or our ability to make moral decisions.

Another idea is that it refers to us possessing a spiritual nature.

Regardless, one thing that clearly stands out is that by having the Image of God we are separate from the rest of the animal kingdom.