christian worldview 2

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Christian Worldview 2

! What to expect from this semester (Syllabus)

! A Time of Review: What is a Worldview &Why does it matter?



Syllabus

Course Description:

The course consists of the Christian worldview of human being and itsredemptive aspect.

A study of the Christian worldview of human being is the study of Biblicalanthropology (the doctrine of man) and hamartology (the doctrine of sin): hisorigin, nature, purposes, and corruption because of sin. Emphasis will be given onhuman being as a psycho-somatic unity created in the image of God; his state ofintegrity; the covenant of work; the cultural mandate and its implications forscience and technology; the fall and its pervasive effects on human life; and theepistemological implications of the fall. A study of the Christian worldview interms of its redemptive aspect will focus on Jesus Christ as the author, sustainer,and restorer of creation. Emphasis will be given on the incarnation of Christ, Hisdivine-human nature, His messiahship as King, Priest, and Prophet, the meaningof his redemptive work, and the significance of all these for developing a Christ-centered worldview.



! General Instructional Objectives (GIO):

! After the course, students will be able to:

! Comprehend and appropriate the Biblical teaching of human being and its

redemptive aspect based on sound and valid methodology of biblicalinterpretation.

! Develop thorough theological concept of human being and its redemptiveaspect with its implications based on the Biblical teaching.

! Demonstrate the significance and coherency of theological teaching of humanbeing and its redemptive aspect in the framework of Christian worldview.

! Built and implement the framework of Christian worldview, with its Theologicalteaching of human being and its redemptive aspect as integrated elements, inmaking decisions related to objects and issues in his discipline, vocation,ministry to others, and community.

! Defend the Biblical soundness and rational validity of Theological teaching onhuman being and its redemptive aspect, as the only presupposition for theintelligibility of reality.

! Analyze and critically evaluate every contemporary stream of thoughts in allscientific disciplines related to humanity and cultural studies based on Christianunderstanding of human being and its redemptive aspect.!



! Must be Christian or Catholic. If not and you want to take this class, please sign a statement

stating that you have registered for the class voluntarily.

! Must have passed the Religion course: Survey of Old Testament and New Testament andChristian Worldview 1 Course: Prolegomena, Bibliology, and Theology Proper.

! Class Policy:! Students must come on time. Students will sign the attendance book at the start of class and,

after fifteen (15) minutes, the lecturer will call the roll. Students who do not answer the callwill be considered absent.

! Students must come in proper clothing and are not allowed to wear sandals as the “ProgramKasih” stipulates.

! Students must switch off their mobile-phones during class otherwise they will be confiscated.! Inattentive and intolerant students will be given penalty or lose 5 marks for each time they

create troubles or bring troublesome in the class.! Students must attend every class session. If a student cannot attend a class for any reason s/

he will be marked “absent”.! 85 % of minimum attendance is strictly required before a student can sit for the Final Exam.! Attendance is counted starting from the first day of the class (not after the Drop-Add Period)! No permission letter is necessary; every absence for any reason will be counted towards the

15% maximum absences with result in a penalty applied to student’s final grade.

!

! Media : Computer, LCD projector, whiteboard, and textbooks.



! For worldview :

! David C. Nauggle, Worldview : A History of A Concept,

! Ronald H. Nash, Faith and Reason, Publisher :

! Abraham Kuyper, Lectures On Calvinism,

! For Biblical Anthropology, Hamartology, and Christology

! Antony Hoekema , Created in God’s Image

! Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (New Combined Edition 1996

! Reformed Confession : Heidelberg Catechism and Westminster Standards (Confession of Faith,Shorter, and Larger Catechism).

! References for Lecturers :

! Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology

! Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics:God and Creation

! Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics:Sin And Salvation In Christ .

! G Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction To Biblical Doctrine , InterVarsityPress,1994.

! Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion .

! Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on .



! Middleton, The Transforming Vision (Illinois:Intervarsity Press, 1984).

! Henry R. Van Til, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture

! J.P. Moreland and William Lane Craig, Philosophical Foundations For AChristian Worldview

! Journal of Christianity and Society , XIII No. 2, April 2003 (Available athttp://www.kuyper.org ).

! Til, Cornelius Van. Introduction to Systematic Theology . Ronald Nash, Imandan Akal Budi (Surabaya : Penerbit Momentum, 2003).

! Klaas Schilder, Christ And Culture (Available athttp://www.contra-mundum.org ).

! Herman Bavinck, Calvin and Common Grace ( Available athttp://www.contra-mundum.org ).

! J. Richard Middleton, Liberating

! Gordon J. Spykman, Reformational Theology: A New Paradigm For DoingRichard B. Gaffin Jr. (Ed.), Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation: TheShorter Writings of Geerhardus Vos (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing,1980).

! John M. Frame, A Theology of Lordship: The Doctrine of The Christian Life VernS. Poythress, Reedeming Science: A God-Centered Approach

! John Murray, The Imputation of Adam’s Sin



What is a Worldview

> review<



What is a Worldview-review

! According to Albert Wolters in his book “ CreationRegained ”, a worldview is the comprehensiveframework of one’s basic beliefs about things .

! Things = everything in general and they can includeGod, the world, human life, education, purpose, etc.Beliefs = cognitive claim and basic heart commitment.Basic = the fundamental beliefs, general principles, and

answers to questions about ultimate reality.Framework= each belief relates to other beliefs andform a coherent and consistent whole.



WV Review (cont.)

! According to David K. Naugle, worldview is asystem of narrative signs that establishes a

powerful framework within which people think(reason), interpret (hermeneutic), and know(epistemology) .

! Worldview is a semiotic phenomenon .

! Culture is a communicative phenomenon



! Popular Culture is the product of large, heterogeneous andtechnologically developed societies. Within popular culture,businesses manufacture products that are intended to generateprofit through mass consumption and frequent disposal. In thisway, popular culture changes very little over space but it variesgreatly in time (no one wears last summer's fashions, ect…). PopularCulture does not respond to, or take into consideration, localenvironments or conditions.

! Folk Culture is the product of small, isolated, homogenoussocieties. Within folk culture, people produce goods in response tothe local environment in order to meet a need. In this way, folk

culture is highly variable over space (a community on this islandmay farm or build houses or speak languages that are very differentfrom those expressions on the island that is one mile away), but it isnot very variable in time (the people of this island have beenfarming this way for centuries).



! So How do we decide the ethics of eating or themorals of marriage?

! Can we eat horses and marry children? Can childrenmarry horses? Are our standards relative to our

cultures?



The unifying tie of narrative

! How our framework is organized: STORY

! Worldview as STORY (how everything is related)

! STORY as SOLUTION (How the tough questions are answered)

! STORY united in SYMBOLS (How the values are celebrated andrepresented)

! STORY giving SUBSTANCE (How one lives in light of these realities)

! Video discussion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUz0L4emNko



! Bloom’s journey to find significance in his brother’sstory, looking for substance in the symbols of livesof theft.

! How do our journey’s find significance in other

stories, looking for substance in the symbols of ourfields of study, social lives,…?



Example of a worldview! A scientific narrative : “...there is an external world which can in

principle be exhaustively described in scientific language. Thescientist, as both observer and language-user, can capture theexternal facts of the world in propositions that are true if theycorrespond to the facts and false if they do not. Science is ideallya linguistic system in which true propositions are in one-to-onerelation to facts, including facts that are not directly observedbecause they involve hidden entities or properties, or past eventsor far distant events. These hidden events are described intheories, and theories can be inferred from observation, that is,the hidden explanatory mechanism of the world can be

discovered from what is open to observations. Man as scientist isregarded as standing apart from the world and able toexperiment and theorize about it objectively anddispassionately .” The story of science and her symbols give ussignificance to life and solutions to our problems



THE STRUCTURE & TEST of a Worldview

! In theoretical dimensions , our worldview is a function of what we learn . When we have

attained a maturity in the development of our cognitive ability, we can define our worldview philosophically . Philosophically speaking, our worldview is an answer to threedifferent philosophical questions. Firstly , metaphysics . We always ask questions like what is thenature of reality ? what is the relation between God and reality ? Is there a meaning in thisreality ? Is there a miracle in reality ?Secondly, epistemology . We always ask questions like can

we trust our common sense ? What is the role of common sense in science ? Can we trust oursense perception to give us accurate knowledge about reality ? Can God and revelation be know ?Is there an ultimate truth ? Thirdly, ethics . We always ask moral questions like is there a morallaw ? Is the moral law relative or absolute ? Is moral law transcend the limitation of culture,history, and individual ?

! According to biblical teaching, worldview is a basic heart commitment and a gift. But inphilosophical-academic level, scholars try to devise some methods to test a worldview : First , a

theoretical test . This test includes, firstly, a rational test . A worldview must in accord with thelaws of logic especially the law of non-contradiction.Second, an experience test . A world viewmust in accord with our inner and outer experience . Third , a practical test . A worldview isnot only a matter of cognitive but also an applicative. Actually, we must live out our worldviewconsistently. We cannot live on a contradictory worldview.



Christianity as Worldview! Is Christianity a worldview too ? Yes. God the Creator of Heaven &

earth & there is no distinction between the secular and Sacred ( or eventhe “Holy” and “prophane” Lev. 19). Secondly, Christianity givesus basic and ultimate principles about all of the component of

worldview mentioned earlier , theology, metaphysics, epistemology,ethics, and anthropology & answers major ???’s of life.

! From Reformed Theologian, Herman Bavinck :” “The essence of theChristian religion consists in the reality that the creation of theFather, ruined by sin, is restored in the death of the Son of Godand re-created by the grace of the Holy Spirit into the Kingdom ofGod.” This give us insight that Christian WorldView covers the aspectsof creation, fall, and redemption. This is our pattern to comprehend allof reality in all its totality and answers all the questions of life.



ow a e empt ve stor caTimeline helps us see the

STORYCreation REDEMPTION

I-I-----------------------------I----------------------I------>FALL CONSUMATION

Gen 1-3

Exodus

Israel

Christ

Church

New Havens & the New Earth



Lecture 2- BiblicalAnthropology

Contemporary Imagesof Humanity



Pertama

! BOOK REVIEW: ONE BOOK- “CREATIONREGAINED” by Albert Wolters

! A GOOD BOOK REVIEW! A thorough Summary (@ " a page)! A Personal engagement (@ " a page)! A Sincere application (@ # page)! DUE BY OCTOBER 29



Questions from last class

! What is a worldview and what are the functions of aworldview (include a particular application for yourfield of study)?

! How does Scripture (God’s Word) offer a worldviewfor the Christian through giving us the True Story ofthe world, offering us true solutions to our

questions and true significance for our lives?! ALSO, class will end regularly at 3:20

! Questions? Email me at [email protected]



WHAT DO YOU SEE?



Worldview shaped byPopular culture

! MONEY!

! POWER!

! COMFORTABLE THINGS I CAN BUY

! SIGNIFICANCE!

! SECURITY!

! Why? It is a closed world view with no eternalperspective. What matters is how I look and feel andwhat others think of me! SHOW ME THE MONEY!!



A Biblical Worldviewon piles of money

! Money is a Monetary System Created by Humans, who were createdby God created (Ps 24:1) Money is printed & coined on materials Godhas (Hag 2:8)

! We are to remember the Lord who gives us wealth (Deut 8:18)! Worshipping wealth is a trap & will cause grief (1 Tim 6:9-10)! We worship God with our money (Mal 3:8-10) & we cannot serve

Jesus and money (Mt 6:4)! Money can be used for good (2 Cor 8:1-5,9:7; Gal 2:9-10, MT 25)! Wealth Builds the eternal Kingdom (Rev 21:18-21) & should be used

to build the Kingdom today as we serve the purposes of the king



You see the difference aworldview makes?

! Your “ comprehensive framework of one’s basic beliefs aboutthings ” helps you identify

! Whose STORY are you living in (Comprehensive framework)?

(Pop culture humanism OR Scripture)

! What symbols do you celebrate (hermeneutical interpretation)?

(Cars, houses OR Cross, Kingdom…)How are you finding solutions (metaphysical questions)?

(money = happiness? OR God’s design)

What is the substance of your life (ethics- how do you now live)?



WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OFHUMANITY?& CONTEMPORARY

IMAGES?



WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF HUMANITY?& CONTEMPORARY IMAGES?

! A complex machine formed by chance throughevolution?

! A sexual being purposed to reproduce! A social being, not important as an individual,

important only for creating utopia?! A pawn to play a role OR a free being to grow in

intelligence What we believe about the purpose of humanity

speaks volumes aboutour belief of the origin of humanity



Westminster ShorterCatechism

! What is the Chief end of man (purpose)?

>To Glorify God and enjoy Him forever

WHY? Because a Biblical worldview has a clear startingpoint for humanity: God Created us, so in Him we findour purpose, happiness, and satisfaction!

READ: Genesis 1:27, Colossians 1:12-17, Heb 1:1-3



Popular theories on the originof humanity

! Naturalism: Trying to explain the origin ofhumanity apart from a Creator!

Chance has caused random combinations of atom, motion,and time. After many creatures appeared in this world, naturestill produces many creatures by the same process.

! Natural selection happens when the higher level of evolvedcreatures compete for survival. or competition. The best

creatures will survive.! Humans won the evolutionary struggle for survival in the

evolutionary journey and are the highest evolv-



Introduction to Naturalism

• Copernicus (1473- 1543)• Published “On the Revolutions of the Celestial

Sphere”.• The “first” astronomer to formulate a comprehensive

heliocentric cosmology .



Introduction to NaturalismGeocentric Universe Heliocentric Universe



Introduction to Naturalism! Johannas Kepler (1571-1630)

! Was the first importantastronomer to followCopernicus.

!

Deeply influenced byPythagorean philosophy,Kepler developed a model ofthe universe that wasmathematical in nature.



Introduction to Naturalism

! Rene Descartes (1596-1650)! Descartes set the stage for naturalism by conceiving of

the universe as a giant mechanism.



Naturalism

! Question : What is the nature of the world aroundus?

! Answer: The universe exists as a uniformity ofcause and effect in a closed system.



Naturalism! Question : What is a

human being?! Answer: Human beings

are complex “machines”;

personality is aninterrelation of chemicaland physical propertieswe do not yet fully

understand.



Naturalism

! Question: What happens to a person at death?



Naturalism

! Question : How do we know what is right andwrong (ETHICS)?

! Answer: Human experience in culturalframeworks. God

RightandWrong



Naturalism

! Question: What is the meaning of history?! Answer: History is a linear stream of events

linked by cause and effect but without anoverarching purpose.



COMPATIBLE WITH A

BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW?



COMPATIBLE WITH A

BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW? ! NATURALISM MUST ANSWER THESE ??’s! Where is the origin of Creation? Hoe do we relate to things like

math, Science, history, and philosophy? They are GOOD! Butthey are NOT GOD! … Vehicles for HIS GLORY

(Richard Dawkins at the end of his logic-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoncJBrrdQ8 )! How do you explain the complexity of nature and organisms

and their internal communication within systems? ! How do you explain natural laws such as gravity?



Implications of contemporaryviews of humanity

Business: Health: Education. Science. Rule of Law. CityPlanning…

“A central component of Christian social teaching, and Catholicsocial thought in particular, is how to best avoid objectifyingman, how best to maintain a social order that retains both thedignity and the liberty of every individual, so that they may havethe opportunity to develop of their own accord, following in thefootsteps of Christ. The effect that economic processes have on

man and society is therefore a crucial inquiry. It is a concern thatevery good Christian has an obligation to take pause andconsider.” – Michael Novak in the Journal of Markets & Morality Publisher: Acton Institute

W d C i



We need a CopernicanRevolution of our SOUL!

! When we make the spiritual discovery that God is sovereignover all of creation, the maker of all that exists, the sustainer ofevery atom and molecule, the architect of human history, andthe planner of our very own lives as well, a similar revolutiontakes place in the human heart. Our discovery of the theo-centric state of the universe-- that God reigns in every sphere oflife through the radiance of His Son Jesus Christ-- is noaccident. This new manner of thinking is nothing less than thedrawing, prompting, and confirmation of God’s Holy SpiritHimself.

BE TRANSFORMED! (Romans 12:1-2)

Th l /CWII



Theology/CWII-LECTURE 3

! Opening our system with a Biblicalworldview to better integrate our faith.



Study Questions

1) What is the importance of having an eternalperspective on our fields of study and vocations?How is our life, studies, and fields of vocations achasing after the wind if we do not live our of aBiblical World View?

2) How does understanding the complexity of

creation (particularly humans in this lecture) helpus embrace the reality of a loving Creator and,through that knowledge, an eternal perspective?

S h i b S i



Synthesis between Science& Faith

! What fields of study are used in this video?!

How do we see different fields in this videoserving as vehicles for glorifying God?! How do we see different fields of expertise

worked into the greater Story of God?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zWKm-LZWm4

Th i h i ft th



The issue: chasing after thewind or seeing from the Son

! Ecclesiastes: All of life is vanity, a chasing after the wind (1:14).But from what perspective? UNDER THE SUN

! Ecc Chapter 2! Wild living (1)! Wine (3)! Wisdom (3)! Work(s) (4)! Woman & workers (7)! Want (10)!

Weariness = result (2:11, 17 ), wrangling the wind



Th i h i ft th i d



The issue: chasing after the windor seeing from the Son

! After 11 chapters of re-enforcing this message, the “Preacher”opens the system and connects us with the eternal:! Remember your Creator in the days of your youth (12:1)!

Receive the wisdom of the written Word (12:9-10)! Revive yourself with seeing life from the perspective of the

Lord (12:13-14)

! REALIZE your work is not in vain!! 1Cor. 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast,

immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”



Psalm 139:14

I will praise thee; for Iam fearfully and wonderfully made:

marvelous are thyworks; and that my soulknoweth right well.



Cellular Complexity



Cellular InformationNucleus



Cellular ComplexityTo grasp the reality of life as it has beenrevealed by molecular biology, we mustmagnify a cell a thousand million timesuntil it is twenty kilometers in diameterand resembles a giant airship largeenough to cover a great city like London

or New York. What we would then seewould be an object of unparalleledcomplexity and adaptive design .

Denton, M,. Evolution: A Theory in Crisis,

Adler and Adler, Maryland, p328, 1986



! Human DNA = about 1000books.

! 2mm pile of DNA =! 500 stacks of books

reaching the moon.! stack reaching the sun.! 1600 km stack of CDs.



B d S



Body Systems! Circulatory! Respiratory! Digestive! Excretory! Skeletal! Muscular! Nervous! Endocrine! Immune! Integument

! Reproductive



Irreducibly Complex



Immune system origin?

Gerhart, John and Marc Kirschner. 1997.

Cells, Embryos & Evolution. Malden, MA: Blackwell Science.. 161.



Nervous

SystemThe nervous system connect

the sensory systems withthe response systems.

There are nearly 45 miles ofnerves running throughour bodies.



Nerve Cells



Nerve Cells(neurons)

• 1,000 to 10,000synapses

(connections) for a"typical" neuron.

• 100 trillionsynapses minimum.



Our Amazing

Brain! The brains weighs only3 pounds but uses 25%of the bodies oxygen.

! There are about 100billion (neurons) givinga minimum of 100

trillion connections inthe brain.



! There are over 10



million cone & rodcells in the retina ofthe eye - packedtogether with adensity up to

200,000/sq. mm! Each of these minute

photoreceptor cells isvastly more complexthan our mostsophisticated

computer.

Photoreceptors



Retina

! 10 billion calculations occur every second in theretina before the image even gets to the brain.



We are beginning to know something about the scientificmechanism involved in signal processing of 3-D colorvision in real time . . .

But evolutionists are nocloser to a scientificexplanation of how theeye evolved thanDarwin had in the1860s



Our lungs inhale over twomillion liters of air everyday to bring in O 2 anddiscard CO 2

They contain about 600million tiny air sacs calledalveoli. If flattened out,the lungs would coverabout 1,000 square feet.

Respiratory System



Skeletal System! There are 206 bones in the adult

human body - more than half arein the hands and feet.

! The skeletal system is also

responsible for making new cellsfor the circulatory system andimmune system. In the adult, themarrow of flat bones makes 2.5million RBCs/ second.



Hard working heart..Your heart beats100,000 times in one day, about40,000,000 times a year, and 3 billion times during theaverage life span – pumping a total of1.2 million poundsof blood .

In one hour, theheart works hardenough to produce

the energy necessaryto lift almost 2000pounds of weightone meter off the

ground.



! Is only the size of the tip of your thumb andweighs 4 g.

! Yet it regulates homeostasis as well asthirst, body temperature, water balance,hunger, and blood pressure.

! It links the endocrine system with thenervous system.

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Smell

! Human olfactoryreceptors – 40 mill.

! Dog olfactoryreceptors - ???



True Science



! For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to dogood works, which God prepared in advance for us to do---Ephesians 2:10

!

Chris Ashcraft M.S., M.Ed., MTMS. USED W PERMISSION

CW2/ Theology 2



CW2/ Theology 2lecture 4

Psychological & sociologicalunderstanding of a human being

CW2/ Theology 2



CW2/ Theology 2lecture 4

! A GOOD BOOK REVIEW! A thorough Summary (@ " a page)!

A Personal engagement (@ " a page)! A Sincere application (@ # page)! DUE BY OCTOBER 29

! Creation Regained for Book review. You can find thebook in the Momentum Christian Book Store inTanah Abang 3 Street, Number 1 OR look online atgoogle books- Creation Regained (free)

l



Human Development! After briefly looking at the amazing

complexity of the Human body, let’s take

a moment to learn about the process ofdevelopment from conception to birth:

http://www.evolutionnews.org/2012/03/mathematician_a057741.html

b ld i



Remember our worldview! Your “ comprehensive framework of one’s basic beliefs about

things ” helps you identify

! Whose STORY are you living in (Comprehensive framework)?

(Pop culture humanism OR Scripture)

! What symbols do you celebrate (hermeneutical interpretation)?

(Cars, houses OR Cross, Kingdom…)

How are you finding solutions (metaphysical questions)?

(money = happiness? OR God’s design)

What is the substance of your life (ethics- how do you now live)?

Test your worldview:



Test your worldview:Human Development

! Ethics within the womb: Embryonic Stem Cellresearch & the questions of abortion

! Since stem cells have the ability to differentiate intoany type of cell, they offer something in thedevelopment of medical treatments for a wide rangeof conditions. Treatments that have been proposedinclude treatment for physical trauma, degenerative

conditions, and genetic diseases (in combinationwith gene therapy ). Yet further treatments usingstem cells could potentially be developed thanks totheir ability to repair extensive tissue damage.-- Science Daily 29th march 2006

Embryonic stem cell



Embryonic stem cellresearch cont…

! Embryos are not equivalent to human life while they are stillincapable of surviving outside the womb (i.e. they only have thepotential for life).

! More than a third of zygotes do not implant after conception. [20][21] Thus, far more embryos are lost due to chance than are proposed tobe used for embryonic stem cell research or treatments.

! Blastocysts are a cluster of human cells that have not differentiatedinto distinct organ tissue; making cells of the inner cell mass nomore "human" than a skin cell. [19]

! Some parties contend that embryos are not humans, believing thatthe life of Homo sapiens only begins when the heartbeat develops,which is during the 5th week of pregnancy, [22] or when the brainbegins developing activity, which has been detected at 54 days afterconception. [23]

!

Peter Singer & Kathlene Berger

Th i f b i



The question of abortion! abortion for the sake of the mother's health

! including her mental health

! abortion where a pregnancy is the result of a crime! such as crimes like rape, incest, or child abuse

! abortion where the child of the pregnancy would have an ' unacceptable quality of life' suchas cases where the child would have! serious physical handicaps,! serious genetic problems,! serious mental defects

! abortion for social reasons, including:! poverty,! mother unable to cope with a child (or another child),! mother being too young to cope with a child

! abortion as a matter of government policy! as a way of regulating population size!

as a way of regulating groups within a population! as a wa of im rovin the o ulation

ere o you s an on ehi f b i & S



yethics of abortion & Stem

Cell research?The math of human life: Essay- The Sword of Solomon (From Ravitalk 1) There is a sense in which two and two are four,The plane ofledgers and cashbooks – on which these propositions areapproximately sound, But if you rise from that plane to a loftierone, You will find at once that they are untenable … it is obviouslyuntrue that half-a-baby and half-a-baby make a baby, Let thesword do its deadly work… The two halves of a baby make nobaby at all, "On this higher plane of human sentiment andexperience, the laws of mathematics collapse completely”

From 1 Kings 3:16-28

Why is the value of human



W y s t e va ue o u alife incalculable?

! God Created: Gen 1

! Man in His image: Gen 1:27

! The Lord is involved in the womb: Jer 1:5; Gen25:24, 30:3; Job 31:15; Ps 71:6, 139:13; Luke 1:31

! The Lord cares about life: Gen 4:10 (“what have you

done!?...” & He came that we may have life: Jn11:25-26, 14:6

! The Lord wants us to protect life: Gen 9:6, Ex 20:13

The Origin of Humanity



g y

• In the Christianity itself, there are several theories about humanity. The key point of differencebetween these theories is about the nature of God’s work to create all things. Is God’s workcharacterised by a process or by immediacy and discontinuity ? This question is answereddifferently by Christian scientific theories about the origin. Firstly, there is fiat creationism . This

view believes that God has brought everything out from nothing. There are two features of thistheory. Firstly , the brevity of the time envolved. While there are various stages in the creation, but thereis not substantial amount of time elapsed from beginning to the end of the process. Secondly , God

created everything by His direct or immediate actions and by discontinuities. Therefore, creation wasbrought out not from ever existing organism but from nothing. Instead of that, every species wascreated by God too. This view is built upon the literal reading of the Bible. So there is no difficulty toreconcile this view with what the Bible said about the origin.

• Secondly, deistic evolution . According to this view, God just created the first living matter andimplanted the laws that will govern the matter’s development. After that, God withdrew from His owncreation and give way to that creature, through the process of evolution, to become what it is now byitself. In this view, God is the ultimate cause of everything but evolution is the proximate cause. This view contradicts the Bible because the Bible told us that God never created just first living matter butHe was involved in all the process of creation, including in the creation of man. Beside that, this viewcontradicts the Biblical teaching of God’s providence, which is define as God is personally andintimately concerned with and involved in what is going on the specific events within his entirecreatuion.

Q i 1



Question 1

How does a Biblical worldviewdiffer from a secular worldview onthe question of ethics in regards tohuman development in the womb?WHY!?! And please give specificexamples

Does it matter what we are



born into?! he 1989 overthrow and execution of Romanian dictator Nicolae

Ceausescu provided the first glimpse of a country that had beenmostly closed to the outside world — and many of the scenes wereappalling.

! Among the most disturbing were images of tens of thousands ofabandoned children suffering abuse and neglect in Romania'sorphanages. Many were confined to cribs, wallowing in their ownfilth and facing mental health issues.

! There was outrage globally & many moved to adopt.

! Abandoned children suffered from “ Reactive Attachment Disorder ”.The lack of expressed love (hugs, encouraging words, a safe familyatmosphere) led to dysfunctional development (do not trustauthority) and self destructive behavior

! Several thousand are still homeless ( From NPR )



! When we do not connect in aloving community we will not

mature and develop as Godhas designed us to-

Physically, Emotionally, &Spiritually



! The Value & Perspectives of Psychology & Sociology:

! Psychology helps us in Study of the mind & human behaviorfrom several perspectives (Psycodynamic, behavioral,Cognitive, Biological, Cross-Cultural, evolutionary,

humanistic). To understand modify behavior. To understandthe world and how our environment shapes us. To improveour emotional and spiritual well being and our relationshipwith others.

! Sociology aid us in our understanding of group attitudes

cultural values, behaviors , political processes of workers,families, organizations, consumers, and governments. Majorperspectives include structural/ functional models, Socialconflict models, Symbolic interactive models, knowledgebased models, interpretive, critical, and empathetic models, aswell as scientific models all helping us have “a systematic

study of human society.”

ow a ca or v ewh th



can enhance these

disciplines

H l ti hi



Human relationships

What was “not good”

before the fall?

H R l ti hi



Human Relationships

“It is not good for man to be alone”Gen 1:28

Wisdom from above the sun pointsus to the value of relationships:

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

H man relationships



Human relationships

! We are created in God’s image:Genesis 1:27

! Why does this matter?

Human Relationships



! COMMUNITY OF GOD

! God exists in relationship

within Himself- Father, Son,

& Holy Spirit

Human Relationships

SON HOLY SPIRIT

FATHER



John 14:16; 16:13-15; Mt 3:13-17;

Creation Recreation

Human relationships



Human relationships

! GOD imaging Humanity

Loving Loving

Communicating Communicating

Ruling ruling

Giving Giving

Sharing Sharing

Knowing Knowing

Human Relationships



Human RelationshipsKuyper’s Sphere of Society: the family, business, science, the artsand so son. It stands in antithesis to the State. Society, he declares,is not one whole, but a number of diverse parts. Each part has"sovereignty in the individual social spheres and these different

developments of social life have nothing above themselves butGod, and the state cannot intrude here" (p. 116). The family is thebasis of all human social relations, and as such is based upon theprimal blood relationship. Thus society functions organically and

may be compared at this level to a plant. In society "the chief aimof all human effort remains what it was by virtue of our creationand before the fall - namely, domination over nature" (p. 117).

(SPHERE OF STATE WILL BE COVERED LATER)

Human Relationships



Human Relationships

! THE FAMILY: How our families shape us

(nature or nurture?)

God designed the family: Gen 2:18-25 & gives

direction for the family (Duet 6:6-7; Eph 6:1-4)Sin has destroyed the family: Genesis 4:1-12

Human Relationships



Human Relationships

! The casualties of family destruction:

! The power of family redemption:“Choose this day whom

you will serve”

Human Relationships



Human Relationships

! God chooses a family to redeemfamilies and give us a new family

! Genesis 12:1-3;! We can come from anywhere into

God’s family by faith: Joshua 2:1-14! We are apart of the same family by

faith (Galatians 4:1-7)

Human relationships



Human relationships! DEALING WITH BROKEN FAMILIES– Should we?

Stages of Faith

Stage 1Life-Changing

Awareness of God

Stage 2Discipleship

(Learning)

Stage 3The Active Life

(Serving)

THE WALLTHE WALLStage 4

Journey Inward

Stage 5Journey Outward

(From my inner life)

Stage 6Transformed into Love

adapted from

Janet Hagberg/ Robert Guelich

Human Relationships



Human Relationships! God Grieves (Jn 11) and can be grieved (Eph 4:30)

! God has anger (Jn 2:12-16; Deut 1:37)

! God rejoices (Isa 62:5; Zeph 3:17)

! God gets a broken heart (Gen 6:6)

! God meets us in our brokenness (Isaiah 63:7-9) to heal us

(Psalm 147:3). God entered into our brokenness Phil to makeeverything sad become untrue (Revelation 21:1-4)

Human Relationships



Human Relationships

! It was said to Dietrich Bonhoeffer“God doesn’t understand my

suffering,” to which he replied, “Onlythe suffering God can help.” It is said,“God doesn’t care about my emotions”

to which I reply, “Only an emotionalGod can help you understand what itmeans to be created in His image.”

Human Relationships



Human Relationships! The New Order of God in the here and now:

Control ! Vulnerability Dread ! Faith & trust Self will ! Surrender

! Hopeless apathy ! hope filled compassion

! Resignation ! acceptance Lust ! passion Management ! Mystery

! Helpless ! powerless Defensive ! security

! Worry ! faith Judgment ! discernment! Pride ! confession Self-justification ! humble

repentance

! Penance ! transformation Survive ! thrive

Human relationships



Human relationships! The benefits of emotions VS IMPAIRMEN T

!

HURT ! Feel your feelings, name your wounds, begin healingResentment

! SADNESS ! Value and honor what is present & missed Self Pity

! LONLINESS ! Frees us to ask for help and reach for relationship Apathy

! FEAR! Helps us practice and prepare for accomplishment Anxiety/ Rage

! ANGER ! helps us tell truth, dares to hope, arouses desireDepression/ perfectionism

! SHAME ! Awakens us to humility (Biblical need & dependency) Toxicshame/ Pride/ Rage

! GUILT ! Offers freedom to seek forgiveness Pride/ toxic shame

!

GLADNESS ! Reveals fullness and richness of life Happiness/ Entertainmen



Human Relationships



Human Relationships

! Sociology aid us in our understanding of group attitudescultural values, behaviors , political processes of workers,families, organizations, consumers, and governments. Major

perspectives include structural/ functional models, Socialconflict models, Symbolic interactive models, knowledgebased models, interpretive, critical, and empathetic models,as well as scientific models all helping us have “a systematicstudy of human society.”

! Our societies are broken and twisted by sin. What is theproblem?

Human relationships



Human relationships! According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to

poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villageson earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience ofthe world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying

multitudes even more invisible in death.! Number of children in the world2.2 billion; Number in poverty1 billion

(every second child)Shelter, safe water and health. For the 1.9 billionchildren from the developing world, there are:

! 640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3)! 400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5)

! 270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7)

! Children out of education worldwide121 million

Human Relationships



Human Relationships



Human Relationships! The victims most vulnerable are women and children. Children in particular

are sold, bonded, trafficked, subjected to commercial sexual exploitation,recruited into armed conicts and forced to work as domestic workers.9(antislavery.org)

! Several factors contribute to the persistence of slavery practices despite itbeing illegal in most countries, most significantly, poverty, the lack

! of enforcement of anti-slavery laws, and crime and corruption, including atthe state level.10 (Free the Slaves)

! Slavery has various forms today including human trafficking, forced labour,descent-based slavery, bonded labour and child labour.11 (antislavery. org)

! Other less known forms of slavery include domestic servitude, forcedmarriage and those traded for the purpose of organ removal.12 (UnitedNations Of ce on Drugs and Crime)

Human Relationships



Human Relationships

! The sum total of our daily interactions lead to agrand picture showing us that there is a problem!!!What is the solution??

! God Creates a new humanity with New Hearts anda New Ethic where we are to bring redemption tobear in the world: Acts 2, Philemon & slavery in theRoman Empire. What was the churches role? Howdoes a Biblical worldview interact with social evilsas we have seen above?

Human Relationships



Human Relationships

! Outside of the issue of slavery, does Scripture speakto social responsibility for the people of God?! Joseph, Daniel, Esther, Jeremiah’s call for shalom (Jer

29), Jesus’ call for Salt & Light, vision of the Newheavens

! What this looks like practically: Luther on Mt 6:11-

Give us our daily bread (FARM TO TABLE!!)! Planter-> farmer->reaper-> milker-> city planner-> grocery-> baker-> shop keeper…

Human Relationships



Human Relationships!

What is missing from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Ze_wpS_o0 ! “The declaration that the market is God's greatest gift to help His people serve others.

The suburban setting, with two innocent American girls celebrating the fruits of laborersnever really seen from around the world. The total ignoring of any of the accusation ofexploitation coming from the Majority World. The total ignoring of any of the dangersimplicit in putting technologies like Smart Phones in the hands of 6 year olds who are,apparently, needing to talk to friends across the country "face-to-face" (with no irony) andcheck the stock market. The baptizing of the market as "magical," with the disturbingimage of the iPhone blazing with light and almost sucking the young girls in as iteducates them in the way the world works. And most disturbingly of all, the clearstatement at the end, implicit throughout, that the invisible hand which turns our self-interest into everyone's benefit is truly the Hand of God.” Michael Rhodes

! A Biblical Worsldview calls us to use the market as a vehicle for the Lord’s work and notsalvation for the Lord’s world.

! “The problem with this [dominant] theological economics is that it is so easily used,so readily relevant. It will not create martyrs. It will only legitimize the dominant social practicesof the ruling powers, even when it seeks to reform them with religio-moral values. . .Theeconomics supported by these theological doctrines actually does not need them . . This theologydoes not matter to the economy, and this results not from the lack of theological work in this area,but because of it. - D. Stephen Long, Divine Economy

Question 2



Question 2

! Does a Biblical Worldview call us to retreat from thebrokenness of our families and society or call us toengage the brokenness? What examples do you see

of this in Scripture? Please prove your point withpractical application for your chosen field

Lecture 5



Lecture 5

MAN

AS THEIMAGE OF GOD

Questions



Questions

1) What is the significance of understanding theBiblical picture of the Image of God to betterunderstand why we are the “Crown of Creation?”

Please give three examples2) What is the Old Testament picture of the image of

God and how it was affected by sin? How does thesin of idolatry interact with the disorder of theimage of God brought by humanities rebellionagainst God?

God Created



God Created

! The Lord is INTIMATELY INVOLVED with hiscreation

! Psalm. 139:13

! Exodus 4:11

! Matthew 6:26

! Psalm 104:21, 27-30

Why did God create man?



Why did God create man?

ISAIAH 43:7 I Corinthians 10:31

What is unique about the“ f ”



“crown of creation”?

What is unique about the“ f i ”?



“crown of creation”?! Nehemiah 9:6, Acts 17:24-26! Genesis 1:26-28: “Image” and “likeness” are used

synonymously and interchangeably.

TESLEM = “to carve” or “to cut”

DEMUTH = “To be Like”!

Gen. 5:1-3 & Gen 9:6! Psalm 8 & Colossians 3:10 (more on this when we

get to NT teaching on Imago Dei next class)



“crown of creation”?! They are elements which belong to man as man, such as

intellectual power, natural affections, and moral freedom. Ascreated in the image of God man has a rational and moralnature, which he did not lose by sin and which he could not

lose without ceasing to be man.

! Joshua 24:14-15; Romans 2:15-16




“crown of creation”?! God is Spirit (John 4:24)

! God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;

and man became a living soul.” Gen. 2:7. The“breath of life” is the principle of his life, and the“living soul” is the very being of man. The soul isunited with and adapted to a body, but can, if needbe, also exist without the body. In view of this wecan speak of man as a spiritual being, and as also inthat respect the image of God.




“crown of creation”?! God is immortal: I Tim. 6:16! Humanity receives immortality as an endowment from God.

Man was created immortal, not merely in the sense that his soulwas endowed with an endless existence, but also in the sensethat he did not carry within himself the seeds of physical death,and in his original condition was not subject to the law ofdeath. Death was threatened as a punishment for sin, Gen. 2:17,and that this included bodily or physical death is evident fromGen. 3:19. Paul tells us that sin brought death into the world,Rom. 5:12; I Cor. 15:20,21; and that death must be regarded asthe wages of sin, Rom. 6:23.

! The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus (immortality!)




“crown of creation”?! The dominion over the lower creation also formed a part of the image of

God sets us apart. It is indicative of the glory and honor with which man iscrowned, Ps. 8:5,6

! Gen 1:28- Subdue kabas and Dominion (vs domination) or better, Rule radah! Genesis 2:15: abad used for “work” used here carries a literally meaning of

“serve” with the connotation of doing hard work in the process, and this iswhy many translations use “work, till it, cultivate.” We are, as God’s people,his servants of creation. The Hebrew word samar used for “keep” carries theweight of “to keep something safe,” with protection, care, and watchfulness.

! This is a “ fundamental aspect of our humanity, not and optional dimension of ourChristianity” as it is part of who we are called to be- rulers in His place,crowns of His creation

! A kingdom of Priests: Exodus 19:3-6; Deut 17:14-20; Psalm 145



! Num. 3:7-8; 18:7 explains the works of priests and Levites inthe tabernacle, to serve and to keep the tabernacle. From thisparallel of words and their meanings, we can conclude:

1- the earth in all its aspects, just like the garden of Eden, is asacred place, created by God for His glory.

2- man, just like priest or Levite, must serve God in serving andkeeping the sanctity of the earth in order to glorify God. To serveand to keep mean to cultivate the earth and to keep its sanctity inin a godly way.

The image of God after sin



g

Image of God after sin



g! Humans, however, have filled the earth not simply with their descendantsbut also with violence (Genesis 6:6, 11 in light of Gen 1:28).

! What was “very good” God later sees that the “evil” of humanity hasbecome “great” on the earth (Genesis 6:5). From this point on, Scripture tellsa story of God’s purposes for the restoration of flourishing in earthly life intension with the human propensity to misuse the vocation of imago Dei(which clearly continues after sin; see Genesis 5:1 and 9:6).

! God’s intervention in history to set things right, initially through the electionof Abraham and his descendants as a “royal priesthood” (Exodus 19:6) tomediate blessing to all families and nations (Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4;28:14). God’s people’s vocation to the nations is analogous to the humancalling as imago Dei to the earth. And the redemption of Israel constitutesthe beginning of God’s renewal of the image, a process meant to spread tothe entire human race and will continue through eternity (2 Tim 2:12…)

! A FRESH LOOK At Exodus 20 (10 Commandments) & Deut 4:4-8!!

The image of God after sin



g!

The image of God and the sin of Idolatry ! Idolatry: the construction and worship of false images of the divine. Israel,

hoped to be a picture of renewed humanity, is portrayed in Ezekiel as God’strue image in the world, in contrast to idols. Much of the language in Ezekiel16 describing Israel’s turn to idols (see verses 15-19) is first used by God toportray his relationship to Israel; he washes them, clothes them, and adornsthem with gold and silver (Ezekiel 16:8-14). Israel (like humanity, generally)is God’s own cult statue in the world.

! The imago Dei theme recurs in Isaiah 40-55, where the presence of God’sSpirit (rûa ! ) on the servant of the LORD enables him to accomplish justicefor the nations (Isaiah 42:1-4). This is in contrast to the images of the nations,

which are “empty wind” (rûa ! vatohû), according to Isaiah 41:29. But Godgives “breath” (ni $mâ) and “spirit” (rûa ! ) to humanity (Isaiah 42:5). Thiscontrast between idols and humans in Isaiah echoes the statement in otherprophetic texts that the images of the nations are false precisely because theyhave no rûa ! in them (Jeremiah 10:14; 51:17; Habakkuk 2:19). Unlikehumans, idols are not living images and have no power to act in the world(Ps 115:4-8). (adapted from Middelton)

Theology 2, Lecture 6



gy ,

The image of God

In the NT

&

A Historical Survey of discourse

Exam Questions



Q

1) Offer insight on the Bible’s teaching of the Image ofGod from the new testament, particularly relatingto the incarnation of Christ. How does the teaching

of the NT help you understand what it means to becreated in the image of God? How does creation/fall/ redemption inform your understanding too?

2) What are the three main historical understandingsof the Image of God? And how do they worktogether to form a more complete understanding ofScriptures teaching of the Image of God?



The Church &the Imago Dei



the Imago Dei The church is a “new humanity”, renewed in the image of God(Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:9-10) and called to live up to thestature of Christ, whose perfect imaging becomes the model forthe life of the redeemed (Philippians 2:5; Ephesians 4:13-16, 24;

5:1-2; Colossians 3:13, 1 Corinthians 11:1). Indeed, the churchwill one day be conformed to the full likeness of Christ (1 John3:2), which will include the resurrection of the body (1Corinthians 15:49).

The Image of God remains in fallen humans who comprise thechurch (James 3:9) and we are to be a people who model theimage of God to the world (Romans 8:29).

The end times &the Imago Dei



the Imago Dei The church is the Body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit(1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21), aforetaste of the promised future, the day will come when the curseis removed from the earth (a reversal of Genesis 3:17- See Rev

21-22, esp 22:1-5). Then God’s throne will permanently beestablished on a renewed earth (Revelation 21:3; 22:3), and thoseransomed by Christ from all tribes and nations will reign aspriests forever (Revelation 5:9-10; 22:5). We will one day be like

Him (1 John 3:2)! As we are fully known (and fully know- 1 Cor13:12).



Major Take-a-ways



j y1- The image of God is the essence of man, male and female. This means that he can’t be called man without the imageof God. In other words, it is man’s essence that He is in the likeness and image of God.

2- As an image of God, man is assigned a mandate from God to multiply, to subdue, to have dominion, to work, and tokeep the earth. This is the implication of the image of God in the sense of representation and likeness. Man belongs toGod and because he belongs to God, he represents and like God in the realization of His mandate. To multiply, tosubdue, to have dominion, to work, and to keep the earth is man’s mandate and in the realization of this mandate herepresents and like God.

3- There are two aspects of the image of God according to the meaning of its terms. Like and represent God meansome poor reflections of God’s attributes is in man and man can do what God does in some poor ways. Man as theimage of God means the attributes and the works.

4- There are three relations in which God had put man, that is relation with Himself, with their neighbor, and with earth.In relation to God , they must devote themselves to Him absolutely, in relation to their neighbor , they must love eachother, and in relation to the earth, they must subdue, have dominion, to work and to keep it.

5- Christ is the perfect human being so that He is the model, the pattern, and the goal of the image of God.

6- There is a four states of the image of God that correspond to the four states of man in the light of salvation history:Creation, fall, redemption, and consummation. The image before the fall, the image after the fall, the image after theredemption, and the image after the consummation.

Historic Views of Imago Dei



g

1) Substantive view teaching that the image of God is some definitecharacteristics or quality inherent in man that differentiate him from therest of creatures.

2) Functional view defines the imago Dei according to how an individualacts, namely, the way in which one functions as an image bearer...Middleton, describes it as seeing “the image of God as the royalfunction or office of human beings as God’s representatives and agentsin the world, given authorized power to share in God’s rule over the

earth’s resources and creatures.”

3) Relational view who teaches that the image of God is not somethinginherent in man or just a matter of relationship but in what man does.

Historical views



Substantive:! the imago Dei can be described by any one or more of its essential

parts, but particular human rationality. Church fathers such asIrenaeus (d. 202) and Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) fashioned theirtheological views around God’s creating humankind in his imagewith the ability to reason and think over the non-human creation.

! Influenced by Plato and Aristotle, Irenaeus is acknowledged asdistinguishing between the image of God and the likeness of God (i.e.,Gen. 1:26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in ourlikenessand let them rule…’”). He maintained that humans retainedGod’s image after the fall but lost God’s likeness because ofdisobedience. Drawing from his magnum opus, Summa Theologica (“Summary of Theology”) Aquinas, a theologian of the medievalchurch, also regarded the imago Dei as man’s intellectual andreasoning capacity.



Functional! Gen. 1:26b, 28: “…let them rule . . . Be fruitful, increase in

number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of thesea and the birds of the air and over every living creature thatmoves on the ground.” The functional view asserts that beingcreated in the imago Dei means to have stewardship, dominion,and oversight over God’s creation. This view directly ties tothese three areas: vocational, physical/wellness,and economic/ resource formation. As Anthony Hoekema argues in his book,Created in God’s Image, “If it is true that the whole person is theimage of God, we must also include the body as part of theimage” (p. 68). God created us with potential to steward the

resources He has given us



Relational-male and female collectively reflect God’s image through theirrelationality with each other and with God. Emil Brunner, MartinBuber, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Karl Barth all affirm this perspective. ToBrunner, the imago Dei is clearly possible because of humanity’s

relationship and fellowship with God. For Buber, the “I-Thou”relationship between the individual and God should inform and enactall other human relationships. Dietrich Bonhoeffer depended on Buber’s“I-Thou” perspectives, while Karl Barth drew on the work of Bonhoefferin defining his position. This connects to emotional and relational formation. God has given us relational capacity to relate to Him and to

others.Together all views cover spiritual, emotional intellectual, relational,vocational, physical health/wellness, and economic/resourcestewardship are evidenced in the creation narrative and supported byan historical discussion of the imago Dei … but none are perfect…

Historic Views cont.



Substantive appraised :-it limits the imago Dei to one aspect of human nature.

-the aspect of human nature to which the image is limited is often

driven by cultural factors, as was the case with the early emphasisupon reason and its roots in Greek philosophy and Gnosticism.

-such conclusions are often the result of mere speculation asScripture does not delineate the faculty to which the image must

be confined.-as Erickson notes, if the image is to be limited to man’s reasonthen why are some unbelievers “more intelligent and perceptivethan are some highly sanctified Christians”

Historic Views cont.



Functional appraised:

The issue is not that the exercise of dominion or representative rule isnot an aspect of the image of God; the issue is that the image cannot be

limited to a mere exercise of rule. The inadequacy of the functional viewis summarized by Berkouwer: “this does not imply that the content ofthe image of God should be sought in this lordship, or that Genesis 1 isconcerned with this dominium over other creatures as an image orrepresentations of the complete and absolute sovereignty of God.”

Furthermore, it is demonstrated by Middleton’s prismatic description ofdominion, which points to a multifaceted rule that reveals themultifaceted character of God. Simply stated, dominion alone does notcomprise the image of God; other characteristics which shape and guidethis dominion must be present for it to adequately image the rule ofGod.

Historic Views Cont.



Relational appraised:This view, too, has a conception of the imago Dei that is too narrow. Themodern emphasis upon this view has been strongly influenced byexistentialism. Erickson also notes that this view suffers, like thefunctional view, in that there must be substantive aspects to the imagethat allow humanity to exist within relationship.What way then is man made in the image of God meant to representHim? J. I. Packer gives the following answer,! “It was this ―that when God made man, he communicated to him

qualities corresponding to all of these. This is what the Bible meanswhen it tells us that God made man in his own image (Gen1:26-27)―namely, that God made man a free spiritual being, aresponsible moral agent with powers of choice and action, able tocommune with him and respond to him, and by nature good,truthful, holy, upright (Eccles 7:29): in a word, godly.”

Interaction with “the fall”



! The first view is inadequate as it suffers from both improper exegesis,by propagating the image-likeness dichotomy, and it presents alimited understanding of the image of God, by limiting the image topurely structural essence. The second view properly accounts for theeffects of the fall upon the image of God. Structurally man’s mindand heart has become darkened (Rom 1:21; 2 Cor 4:4) and hisconscience has been seared (1 Tim 4:2). Functionally man fails toexercise dominion and rather than mastering creation, he is masteredby it; as Geerhardus Vos explains, noting the climactic nature of thecurses found in Genesis 3 he translates it as, “thy hard labor willfinally slay thee.” Relationally man has been alienated from and ishostile towards God (Rom 5:10; Col 1:21; Heb 10:26-27), a hostilitythat not only sets man against man (Rom 1:28-31) but also sets a managainst himself (Jas 4:1). The effects of the fall upon the imago Dei arepervasive; man does not cease to be an image bearer, and yet everyaspect of that image is distorted by sin and the curse.

The stage forredemption is set



redemption is set! The fall distorts humanity on every level and yet we

remain the image of God. The dark backdroppainted by Christ here sets the stage for the beauty

of redemption and the restoration of the Imago Dei:“You are of your father the devil, and your will is todo your father’s desires. He was a murderer fromthe beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth,because there is no truth in him. When he lies, hespeaks out of his own character, for he is a liar andthe father of lies.” (John 8:44).

Redemption & theImago Dei



Imago Dei ! Christ came not merely to restore the image He came as the image; “He isthe image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Col 1:15). On

John 1:18 Kenneth S. Wuest exclaims, “Jesus Christ is the exegesis of God.”When discussing the imago Dei during this current age the discussion mustnot be centered upon Old Testament texts; it must begin there, but it mustprogress and develop until it centers upon Jesus Christ. Earlier the

teleological function of the image was mentioned; now, within this Christ-centered framework it is clear that, “humanity created in the imago Dei isnone other than the new humanity conformed to the imago Christi, and thetelos toward which the Old Testament creation narrative points is theeschatological community of glorified saints.”

! Building upon a biblical theological development of the relational aspects ofthe imago Dei Middleton explains the ecclesiological nature of the imagenoting, “Since Christ is head of the church, this community of faith inheritshis revelatory, representative task. The ‘body of Christ’ is no mere metaphor;it is the calling of the church to continue the incarnation and mission ofChrist by manifesting God’s redemptive purposes and coming kingdom.”



God has created man in His own image with all hisstructural capacities whether soul, psychical power, orbody, which manifested his likeness with God, so that he

can be enabled to realize his God-given mandatefunctionally in true knowledge, righteousness, andholiness toward all of his relationship whether God, hisneighbor, or nature . –Pak Hendra

Lecture 7, 8, & 9



Review of Theological views of the Imago Dei through groupdiscussion.

Group Topic Summaries!

1 Functional View! 2 Substantive View! 3 Relational View! 4 Imago Dei in OT!

5 Imago Dei in Incarnation! 6 Imago Dei in Eschatology! 7 5 reasons why we should care

Does the Imago Deimatter today?



matter today?! Here are a FEW examples of the right answer, “YES!!!”! Role of Women in society

! Dignity of the poor

! Vocational, Civic, scientific… ethics

! Living true humanity & glorifying God

God & Science



Why Science needs a Biblical Worldview & a Biblical Worldviewneeds Science:

We must understand the world we are called to have domainover! And so we must have a Biblical working relationship withScience (& the Sciences). What we will discuss with Science can bereplicated with other fields of study

Study Question 1



How does Science depend on God? Andhow can we know God more through

studying Science? Please offer specificexamples

The God-centerdness ofscientific methodology



scientific methodology! Scientific theory builds upon PREDICTIBLE EVENTS,

REPEATED PATTERNS, & Sometimes MATHMATICALDESCRIPTIONS

! These are sometimes called, “Natural Law,” “Scientific Law,” ora theory of some sort.

! these laws, if it really is a law and is cor-rectly formulated andqualified, holds for all times and all places. Is God involved inthese laws? And Can we know Him through them?

! SEE Genesis 8:22; Psalm 147 15-18, Colossians 1:15-17

Attributes of God inscientific laws



scientific laws! Omnipresence (Jeremiah 23:24, Psalm 139)

! Eternality (Revelation 1:8, 1 Tim 1:17)

! Omnipotent (Mt 1:19-26; Ephesians 1:19-22)! READ Romans 1:18-23

! Order, beauty, predictability, & simplicity: snorkeling offKomodo Island

! Laws imply a law-giver: So what came first, God or The laws ofscience? With this, do we invent laws or discover laws thatalready exist?

God & activity outside of“the laws”



the laws!

Miracles are in harmony with God’s character as they take place inaccordance with his predictive and decretive word. Through Moses,God verbally predicted the plagues that came to Egypt, and thenbrought them about. Through God’s word spoken by the prophetElisha, a spring of water was made healthy:

! “Thus says the LORD, I have healed this water; from now on neitherdeath nor miscarriage shall come from it.” So the water has beenhealed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke (2 Kings2:21-22).

! The real law, the word of God, brings forth miracles. Miracles may be

unusual and striking, but they do not violate God’s law. They violateonly some human expectations and guesses. But that is our problem,not God’s. Just as Newton’s laws are limited to low velocityapproximations, so the prin-ciple that axe heads do not float islimited by the qualification, “except when God in response to aspecial need and a prophet’s word does otherwise” (e.g., 2 Kings6:5-6).

Trinity & Natural laws



All three persons are involved in creation: God the Father is originator.God the Son, as the eternal Word (John 1:1-3), is involved in the wordsof command that issue from God (“Let there be light,” Gen. 1:3). Godthe Spirit hovers over the waters (Gen. 1:2). Psalm 104:30 says that

“when you send forth your Spirit, they [animals] are created.”Moreover, the creation of Adam involves an inbreathing by God thatalludes to the presence of the Spirit (Gen. 2:7).

Dorothy Sayers acutely observes that the experience of a human authorwriting a book contains profound analogies to the Trinitarian characterof God. An author’s act of creation in writing imitates the action of Godin creating the world. God creates accord-ing to his Trinitarian nature. Ahuman author creates with an Idea, Energy, and Power, corresponding

mysteriously to the involvement of the three per sons in creation

God’s creation still speaks



! Psalm 19! Vs 1-6 show God’s revelation through creation and providence.

Verses 7-11 focus on his revelation through his law given to Israel.The first of these, general revelation, clearly has a relation to science

and its study of the external world. The second, special revelation,has a close relation to the Bible and to the study of the Bible intheology. So the theology of revelation found in the Bible gives us away of seeing the relation between science and the Bible.

! In Genesis 1, God creates by speaking. “And God said, ‘Let there belight,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). Psalm 33:6 sums up thepattern: “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and bythe breath of his mouth all their host.” Providential events take placethrough God’s word of command:

Do faith & Science gotogether?



together?!

“science is not a “neutral” endeavor but presupposes sci-entific law,which presupposes God. People either serve God or serve a coun-terfeit god. The kind of god that they serve influences theirexpectations concerning the kind of laws that they think they willfind. Thus the entrance of bias is not merely an occasional, accidentalerror, but a pervasive problem. It is as pervasive as sin in the heart.”

! In the case of apparent discrepancies between the Bible and science,we must therefore be ready to reexamine both our thinking about theBible and our thinking about science. We must not assume tooquickly that the error lies in one particular direction. In the modernworld, we find people who are always ready to assume that science is

right and the Bible is wrong. Or, con-trariwise, others assume that theBible is always right and modern science is always wrong.! We might say that in such ways God’s word of prov-idence forms the

ontological and epistemological foundation for the coming of hisword in Scripture.

Question 2



! Please list three of the six waysScience and Faith are not only

compatible but also need oneanother:



together?! What has lead to the animosity?! How Much do we really know? See Job 38-40! 1896 the president of Cornell University Andrew Dickson White published a

book entitled A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom.Under White’s influence, the metaphor of “warfare” to describe the relationsbetween science and the Christian faith became very widespread during thefirst half of the 20th century. The culturally dominant view in the West—even among Christians—came to be that science and Christianity are notallies in the search for truth, but adversaries.

The idea of a warfare between science and religion is a relatively recentinvention of the late 19th century, carefully nurtured by secular thinkerswho had as their aim the undermining of the cultural dominance ofChristianity in the West and its replacement by naturalism—the view thatnothing outside nature is real and the only way to discover truth is throughscience



together?1. Religion furnishes the conceptual framework in which science can flourish. Loren Eiseley has emphasized, science is “an inventedcultural institution” which requires a “unique soil” in order toflourish. Although glimmerings of science appeared among theancient Greeks and Chinese, modern science is the child ofEuropean civilization. Why is this so? It is due to the uniquecontribution of the Christian faith to Western culture. As Eiseleystates, “it is the Christian world which finally gave birth in a

clear, articulate fashion to the experimental method of scienceitself.”

2. Science can both falsify and verify claims of religion. When religions make claimsabout the natural world, they intersect the domain of science and are, in effect,

making predictions which scientific investigation can either verify or falsify.



! Mormonism & “The New Israel” in N America

! The Medieval Church’s condemnation of Galileo for his holding that theEarth moves around the sun rather than vice versa. On the basis of theirmisinterpretation of certain Bible passages like Ps. 93.1: “The Lord hasestablished the world; it shall never be moved,” medieval theologians

denied that the Earth moved. Scientific evidence eventually falsified thishypothesis, and the Church belatedly finally came to admit its mistake.! claim of several Eastern religions like Taoism and certain forms of Hinduism

that the world is divine and therefore eternal. The discovery during thiscentury of the expansion of the universe reveals that far from being eternal,all matter and energy, even physical space and time themselves, came intoexistence at a point in the finite past before which nothing existed. AsStephen Hawking says in his 1996 book The Nature of Space and Time, “almosteveryone now believes that the universe, and time itself, had a beginning atthe big bang.” But if the universe came into being at the Big Bang, then it istemporally finite and contingent in its existence and therefore neither eternalnor divine, as pantheistic religions had claimed

(ALL INFORMATION IS FROM WILLIAM LANE CRAIG)

3. Science encounters metaphysical problems which religioncan help to solve. Science has an insatiable thirst forexplanation. But eventually, science reaches the limits

of its explanatory ability



of its explanatory ability

! Physicist David Park reflects, “As to why there is spacetime,that appears to be a perfectly good scientific question, butnobody knows how to answer it.”

1. Everything that exists has an explanation of its existence (eitherin the necessity of its own nature or in an external cause).

2. If the universe has an explanation of its existence, thatexplanation is God.

3. The universe exists.

4. Therefore the explanation of the existence of the universe is God(Sky Scrapker & Sand)--- THANK YOU WILLIAM LANE CRAIG

4. Religion can help to adjudicate between scientific theories Particularly in cases inwhich two conflicting theories are empirically equivalent, so that one cannot

decide between them on the basis of the evidence, metaphysical concerns,

including religious concerns come into play



including religious concerns, come into play. Lawrence Sklar, a prominent philosopher of science, has remarked,“The adoption of one scientific theory rather than another, sometimes invery crucial cases indeed, rests as much upon . . . philosophicalpresuppositions as it does upon the hard data . . . .”

Two ways to interpret the mathematical core of Special Relativity. OnEinstein’s interpretation, there is no absolute “now” in the world; ratherwhat is now is relative to different observers in motion. If you and I aremoving with respect to each other, then what is now for me is not nowfor you. But on H. A. Lorentz’s interpretation, there is an absolute nowin the world, but we just cannot be sure which events in the world arehappening now because motion affects our measuring instruments.Moving clocks run slow and moving measuring rods contract. TheEinsteinian and the Lorentzian interpretations are empiricallyequivalent; there is no experiment you could perform to decide betweenthem.



! But I want to argue that if God exists, then Lorentz was right.Here is my (William Lane Craig’s) argument:

! 1. If God exists, then God is in time.! This is true because God is really related to the world as cause

to effect. But a cause of a temporal effect must exist eitherbefore or at the same time as its effect. So God must be in time.

! 2. If God is in time, then a privileged observer exists.

! Since God transcends the world and is the cause of theexistence of everything in the world, His perspective on theworld is the true perspective.

! 3. If a privileged observer exists, then an absolute now exists.

Can Science & Faith go Together?



5. Religion can augment the explanatory power of science.One of thepillars of the contemporary scientific view of the world is theevolution of biological complexity from more primitive life-forms.Unfortunately the current neo-Darwinian synthesis seems to beexplanatorily deficient in its explanation of the gradual rise ofbiological complexity

! The gradual evolution of biological complexity is betterexplained if there exists an intelligent cause behind the processrather than just the blind mechanisms alone. Thus, the theisthas explanatory resources available which the naturalist lacks.

6. Science can establish a premise in an

argument for a conclusion having religioussignificance



significance. !

Thomas Aquinas always assumed the eternity of the universe in all his arguments for theexistence of God, since to assume that the universe began to exist made things too easy forthe theist. “If the world and motion have a first beginning,” he said, “some cause mustclearly be posited for this origin of the world and of motion” ( Summa contra gentiles 1. 13.30).the application of the General Theory of Relativity to cosmology and the discovery of theexpansion of the universe during this century appears to have dropped into the lap of thephilosophical theologian precisely that premiss which had been missing in a successful

argument for God’s existence. For now he may argue as follows:! 1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause.

! 2. The universe began to exist.

! 3. Therefore, the universe has a cause.

! Premise (2) is a religiously neutral statement which can be found in almost any text onastronomy and astrophysics. Yet it puts the atheist in a very awkward situation. For asAnthony Kenny of Oxford University urges, “A proponent of the big bang theory, at leastif he is an atheist, must believe that . . . the universe came from nothing and by nothing.”

Science & Faith mustfruitfully interact



y!

LANE Concludes his arguments with this:“So why does the universe exist instead of just nothing? It is plausible that theremust have been a cause which brought the universe into being. Now from the verynature of the case, as the cause of space and time, this cause must be an uncaused,changeless, timeless, and immaterial being of unimaginable power which createdthe universe. Moreover, I would argue, it must also be personal. For how else could

a timeless cause give rise to a temporal effect like the universe? If the cause were animpersonal set of necessary and sufficient conditions, then the cause could neverexist without the effect. If the cause were eternally present, then the effect would beeternally present as well. The only way for the cause to be timeless and the effect tobegin in time is for the cause to be a personal agent who freely chooses to create aneffect in time without any prior determining conditions. Thus, we are brought, notmerely to a transcendent cause of the universe, but to its personal a creator...

… Thus, in conclusion, we have seen that science and religion should not bethought of as foes or as mutually irrelevant. Rather we have seen several ways inwhich they can fruitfully interact. And that is why, after all, there is such aflourishing dialogue between these two disciplines going on today.”

Question 3



! Please articulate the relationshipbetween the domain of humanity and

technology. When does the use oftechnology become idolatrous andwhy? What is the proper use oftechnology? Please give specificexamples from Scripture & life



Technology & Domain



The New BMW & resources from the earth as advertised-“Natural, tanned leather, certified wood from responsibleresources, textile materials with recycled resources” ! & what

l ?

Technology & Domain:when do we cross the line?



The Driving Question for the design of the touchScreen i-phone: How can our customers feel like God?

Technology & Domain:when do we cross the line?



The Tower of Babel: When technology becomes anend in itself.

Technology & domain:when do we cross the line?



!

Genesis 11:1-9! Baked Bricks! Bitumen for mortar (The word for “tar” is chemar and the word

for “mortar” is chomer , and the word is used elsewhere only inGenesis 14:10 (referring to “tar pits”) and Exodus 2:3 (referringto what was spread on the “ark” made for the baby Moses).

Earlier in Genesis, Yahweh instructed Noah to build an ark andto cover it inside and out with “pitch” (Gen. 6:14), using the

Hebrew word kofer , related to the verb for “cover.” Like Genesis11:3, Genesis 6:14 doubles the word: “you shall kafar it insideand out with kofer .”)

! What was intended for grace becomes a vehicle for idolatry …A

it ith t h t h t h




! “Let us make a name for ourselves” (compare with Gen 1:27)

! “Let us settle” (Compare with Genesis 1:28)

! (Note the reverse of Babel in Acts 2)! From this passage, how can we see when Technology crosses

the line?

! ABUSE DOES NOT NEGATE PROPER USE! What is the properus of technology?




! God chooses a people and will make their name great (Genesis12:1-3)

! Blessing returns in them and through this family (to all thefamilies of the earth)

! Blessing pre-fall curse Blessing post-fall

Gen 1:22, 1:28, 2:3 3:14-19 after mercy (9:1-3, 9-17)

Fruitfulness, domain brokenness saved from________

& rest saved to __________

Technology forthe glory of God



g y! God’s chosen people saved FROM what?! God’s chosen people saved TO what?!

Where is the first place after the fall someone is told to be filledwith the Spirit of God?

! Read Exodus 28:3; Exodus 31:1-6ff

! Technology as a vehicle for the glory of God- creating a placefor God’s glory to dwell




! Contrast Exodus 32:1-5 A good use of technology?! Romans 1:18-32 Technology & idolatry

! A Biblical Corrective- whose glory are you after?Colossians 3:17; 23-24; 1 Corinthians 15:58

! Technology & the church in history: Roman Roads and sea

vessels; Renaissance & Scientific innovation, Reformation& the printing press, today in 3rdmil and Acts 29.! Abuse does not negate proper use!! ALL for the glory of

God

How the realism- antirealism debate can help us



p! What is Realism?

! Realist justifications of scientific rationality areanchored in the claim that scientific knowledgeaspires to discover the truth about how things reallyare. Moreover, realists claim that if it is rational toaccept a theory, it is equally rational to believe in theexistence of the "theoretical entities" posited by such a

theory, even though such theoretical entities cannotbe directly observed.

Realism vs anti-realism



! "Realism" can be thought of as a philosophical theoryanswering the old question which we called the"Problem of Authority": how can we justify the claim thatit is rational to believe scientific explanations? The realistanswers by saying the ultimate authority which justifiesthe rationality of scientific beliefs is simply that they aretrue in the sense of "truth“ as a relation ofcorrespondence between what we believe to be the caseand what in reality is the case.

! Alternatively realism can be thought of as a theory aboutthe aim of science: scientific theories aspire to tells us thetruth about the world. Thus it is an Axiological theoryabout science which holds that all science has one fixedgoal: finding out the truth about the nature of reality



!

It is typical of some philosophers who hold this sociologicaloutlook to speak of "Philosophy" as having been terminatedwith the end of the "modern" period, so these "postmodern"thinkers disown the label "Philosopher." Their viewpoint mightbe labeled a "non-philosophical anti-realism" or, moredescriptively, a "social constructivist anti-realism." This outlookis most commonly found in programs or departments whichare typically called "Science Studies" programs, by which isintended a cluster of different social sciences applied to thestudy of scientists and their activities, including not only"sociology" but also psychology, economics, linguistics,cognitive science, gender and ethnic studies, etc.




! The philosophical anti-realists are today's descendants of olderempiricists. Their empiricism makes them wary of"metaphysical" claims about the "nature of reality" andenthusiastic for "observational claims" which can be terminated

in an actual experiential state in which some piece of data isrecorded. Only this latter class of observational statements needbe accorded "truth" and their truth is settled directly by anappeal to experience. They are said to be "directly verified" byexperience. All other statements which scientists make aboutwhat is not directly observed need not be thought of as"true" (or "false") but only as "successful" as a means forpredicting or deducing "observation statements.”




! Any terms in theories which appear to refer to "unobservable"entities, states, or processes, should not be understood asreferring to real events behind the screen of phenomena which

we observe. Such "putatively referring terms" (appear torefer but don't) are constructs of our theories, theacceptance of which is solely a function of their empiricaladequacy (getting the numbers right), with the usualpragmatic virtues providing further back up when there'sa choice to be made between empirically equivalenttheories.

Realism vs anit-realism



!

Realists see scientific inquiry as discovery while anti-realists sees it asinvention . For the realist there is a "way things really are" andscience is trying to find out what it is; it endeavors to discover the"truth." For the anti-realist there is no way things are apart from howour theories construct them. All "worlds" are constructions of how we

view the world, of our theories. Therefore there is no "way thingsare" to discover the truth about. To think of theoreis as "true" or"false" descriptions of an unseen world "beneath" or "behind" thephenomena we observe is to mistake what theories are. Scientifictheories are not attempts to describe what is (allegedly) the real causeof phenomena by "representing" or "mirroring" an independent"reality" as it exists apart from the phenomena we experience. Theyare invented by theoreticians to serve as tools for makingobservational predictions about empirical phenomena.

Biblical truth: what is real?



! How do the Biblical claims of truth benefit from thedebate between the realist and anti-realist?

! “All truth is God’s truth” said Francis Schaffer. Howdoes this affect the way we lean into and learn fromthis debate?

! How can this debate help us learn the proper use ofour relationship with science & the social sciences?

Question Four



! How does the Realism-Anti-realism debate

affirm our understandingof truth AND reinforce

the Biblical proposition ofTranscendent truth?

Lecture 9



The Constitution

of Humanity

Questions for this lecture



1- Please articulate why a dichotomist understanding of theconstitution of humanity is Biblical. Please include specificverses (Or, if you disagree, please convince me otherwise andyou will get the same credit! Sama Sama!!)

2- Please give three reasons why understanding theconstitution of humanity from a dichotomist perspectivehelps you in ministry.

3- Please articulate the complementary nature of men andwoman as the image of God and how a Biblical Worldviewdignifies women more than other worldviews.



! Anxiety comes from unanswered questions: Doctorcall from Tucker’s school--- anxiety! Until we seereality.

! Studying theology is an attempt to fill in the Gapswith Gods word… and we must be patient until thefull knowledge comes…

The Constitutionof Humanity



• The Bible teaches us that man is composed by material andimmaterial elements. Gen 2:7 clearly explains that God formedman from dust ( material element ) and breathed into hisnostrils the breath of life ( immaterial element ) and manbecame a living being ( unity of material and immaterialbeing ).

• Scripture uses the phrase “ living being ”, so we can say that man is

the unity of material and immaterial element.




! The Bible also clearly teaches us that the material elementof man is body and the immaterial element is soul orspirit . In the church history there was a long time debatebetween dichotomy and trichotomy view of humanity.

The trichotomists say man can be divided into threeelements i.e. the body, the soul, and the spirit but thedichotomists say there are just two elements in man i.e. thebody and he soul OR the spirit.

! If we want to be faithful to the Biblical teaching, we must

h ld d h




Monism claims that we are indivisible, and thus, are not made upof any parts. When we die that is the end of us—there is noseparable soul or spirit. This is the view of modern philosophyand theology for the most part.

Dichotomy disagrees on the basis of biblical teaching concerningan intermediate state. We have to affirm that we are made of twoparts: a material body and an immaterial spirit or soul.

Trichotomy says that is right but we can go can go one stepfurther. The immaterial part is subdivided in Scripture into twoseparate entities—a soul and a spirit—which are distinguishablein definable ways.




! 1- the Bible clearly teaches us that soul and spiritis interchangeably used ( Jn 12:27 and 13:21;Luke 1:46-47; Heb. 12:23; Rev. 6:9 ).

! 2- Scripture says either that in death the souldeparts or the spirit departs ( Gen. 35:18; 1

King 17:21; Ecc. 12:7; Luke 12:20; Ps. 31:5;Luke 23:46; John 19:30; acts 7:59 ).




! 3-Man is said to be either “body and soul ” or “body andspirit ” ( Mat. 10:28; 1 Cor. 5:5; James 2:26; 1 Cor. 7:34; 2Cor. 7:1 ).

! 4- everything that the soul is said to do, the spirit is also saidto do ( Act. 17:16; John 13:21; Mark. 2:8; 1 Cor. 2:11 ), andeverything that the spirit is said to do the soul is also said todo ( Ps. 25:1; 62:1; 103:1; 146:1; Luke 1:46 ). The wholeperson, the unity of body and soul or spirit, worshipping God( Ps. 63:1; 84:2; 47:1; 150:3-5 )



The response to these texts:



1- The biblical vs is inconclusive. For 1 Thes. 5:23,compare with Mat. 22:37 and Deut 6:4 (And noteapplication of WHOLE, so unity is in mind)

2- The Bible never gives us very detailed definition aboutwhat is the difference between soul and spirit. It seemsmore precisely, the Bible used them interchangeably.

Here, the emphasis is towards entirety.3-Not just our spirit but, as the Scriptures testified, ourwhole person worships God (We are a complete person).

The dangers of trichotomists:



! 1- The depreciation of the body. This is rooted in the Greekphilosophy which is dichotomize radically between the matterand form and consider the latter the most valuable compare

with the former. (leads to a compartmentalized faith)

! 2- the tendency of anti-intellectualism because of consideringthe spirit is higher than the soul because it is the only facultyof man that relates to God (watch out, oneness Pentecostals!)

! 3- the emotion is valued lower than the spirit because it is thepart of our soul and not part of our spirit which is moredignified.

Implications for ministry



• Man must be seen as unitary being, asc o n d i t i o n a l u n i t y , o r a s t h e

psychosomatic unitythat is

the embodiedsoul or the “besouled body” .

• This dichotomy view does have an

implication in our church ministry , inmission , in school , and in parenting , andin counseling .



The Biblical teaching on man’s constitutionshould make us wary of any so-called “gospel,”which only seeks to improve the quality ofman’s earthly life.

-Health & Wealth; Liberal Social gospel

John 6:27; Matthew 10:28; Matt 6:33




>The Biblical teaching on man’s constitution shouldhelp to preserve us from unbiblical views ofregeneration and sanctification

>The Biblical teaching on man’s constitutionencourages us to show respect the body— even afterdeath (physical fitness now, honoring the body atdeath)

>The Biblical teaching on man’s constitution remindsus that salvation is incomplete without theresurrection of the body .

The origin of the soul



! 1- creationism which is a view that God creates anew soul for each person and sends it to thatperson’s body sometime between conception and

birth.! 2- traducianism which is a view that the soul as

well as the body of a child are inherited from the

baby’s mother and father at the time ofconception.

Argument in favor oftraducianism .



1- to reproduce children is just oneaspect of image of God, that is to create.

2- able to explained the inherited sin.3- Heb. 7:10.

Argument in favor ofcreationism



! Psalm. 127:3; Is. 42:5; Zach. 12:1; Heb. 12:9 . But wemust be careful that God sometimes, in His wiseprovidence, works by the second cause.

! God uses the male and female, through conception,to create the soul of man, but the mode of God’s

work is hidden from us and Scripture doesn’t teach itclearly. In the creation of Adam, the soul is from Godbut the body is from the earthly material.

The Complementary Rolesof Male And Female



! The Bible teaches us that God not only created man in His image but woman too. Why did God create man as male and female in His ownimage?

! 1- The implication of the image of God . Just as God exists in

plurality, so with the man who is created in His own image, exists inplurality as male and female.

! 2- The singleness of man when he was created by God is not whatGod designs for him .!

Gen. 2:18 , God used the word “it is not good that the man should bealone”. The word “good”, in Gen. 1:28 , is the same with the word “good”in Gen. 1:31 when God gave His commend on His creation. God said thatHe will make a helper for man. This is dignifying (see Psalm 121 where Godis called our helper!)




! Woman was created to be a suitable helper of man. The phrase “ helper ” doesn’t mean that woman isinferior to man but only that the helped can not do

many things without the helper because he wascreated as the plural existence which must alwaysto cooperate in order to maximize his role . Thephrase “suitable ” originally mean “facing”, “oppositeof ”, or “in front of ” which mean complementary.

Therefore the role of man and woman is thecomplementary role.




! There are common and different traits in man and woman which can beintegrated to be a holistic humanness. The complementary role, asindicated by the word “suitable”, is the original design of God for manas male and female which must be understood from the Bible.

! There is order in the relationship of man and woman. When Eve wascreated by God from Adam’s rib, Adam gave her name Eve. In AncientNear East custom, the namer always have an authority over the named.

Adam had the authority over the woman as head of family. Just as in

Trinity, there is order between Father, Son, and The Holy Spirit, so doman which was created in the image of the Trinity. Paul told us in 1 Cor.11:3, that the head of woman is man.. He Himself ordered Himself asFather, Son, and Holy Spirit (John 12:44-50; 16:4-15).




• In Ephesian 5:22-33 & 1 Peter 3:1-1-7 , Paul and Peter emphasize theheadship of man and the submission of man. But they also emphasizethe primacy of self-denial, self-sacrifice, self-emptied, and self-offeringlove in the relationship of man and woman and the principle of servanthood leadership which must be applied by man toward woman.

• The headship of man and the submission of woman is not a matter ofcultural conditioning. 1 Tim. 2:11-15 , Paul used the argumentation from

creation which was used by Christ in Matthew 19:4-6 also to forbiddivorce. Creation design should inform our present practice, no matter what our culture.

The Biblical view & thedignity of Woman



While Scripture offers equal dignity for men and women within theirrespective roles other world views do not. Here are some Biblical distinctivefor the dignity of women:

" Woman are the image of God, not objects of enjoyment

" Women are the image of God, not commodities to be bought and sold

" Women are the image of God and should be treated with dignity

christian worldview 2

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