CHAPTER 7 · WEEK 7 What Does It Mean to Be Human? Anthropology — the image of God |
WHAT WE BELIEVE Human beings are created by God, in the image of God, male and female, embodied souls with dignity, vocation, and moral responsibility. We are not accidents, not animals only, and not gods. Our worth is received, not invented. |
Learning Aims for This Week
By the end of this chapter you should be able to:
· Explain the image of God from Genesis 1–2 and its implications for dignity.
· State a biblical view of the human person as embodied and spiritual.
· Describe the goodness of being male and female without reducing persons to stereotypes.
· Connect anthropology to justice, work, rest, and the sanctity of life.
Key Terms
Term | Meaning in this course |
Anthropology | The doctrine of humanity. |
Imago Dei | The image of God — the unique dignity and calling of human beings. |
Trichotomy | The view that humans are body, soul, and spirit as three parts (debated). |
Dichotomy | The view that humans are body and soul/spirit (two aspects). |
Vocation | Calling: the work and relationships through which we serve God and neighbor. |
Stewardship | Responsible care of what belongs to God. |
Teaching Notes
1. Made, not self-made
Genesis 1:26–27 is the foundation of Christian anthropology. God makes humankind in His image, after His likeness, male and female. Dignity does not arrive with intelligence, usefulness, or consent. It is bestowed. That is why the unborn, the disabled, the elderly, the enemy, and the stranger bear a weight the world often refuses to see. James 3:9 will not let us praise God and curse people made in His likeness.
2. What the image means
Scripture does not give a single technical definition. The image includes relational capacity (we can know God), moral capacity (we are accountable), rational capacity (we can truthfully name the world), and royal-priestly vocation (we represent God in the garden-world). After the fall the image is defaced, not erased (Gen. 9:6). In Christ it is being renewed (Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24). In glory it will be complete (1 John 3:2).
3. Embodied life
God formed the man from dust and breathed into him; the result is a living being (Gen. 2:7). We are not souls trapped in disposable bodies. The body matters to God — enough that the Son took one, and enough that He will raise ours. Gnostic contempt for the body is not Christian holiness. Neither is treating the body as a raw identity project with no givenness.
4. Male and female
The image is borne by man and woman together. Difference is not defect. Genesis 2 is gift and complementarity before it is controversy. Churches differ on some ministry applications; they should not differ on the goodness of the created distinction or on the equal dignity of women and men in Christ (Gal. 3:28 does not erase Genesis 1; it announces shared inheritance in the gospel).
5. Work, rest, and rule
The first human job description is to fill, subdue, and keep — cultivation, not exploitation (Gen. 1:28; 2:15). Work is not a punishment; toil after the fall is. Sabbath reminds us we are not the Creator. A theology of humanity that cannot talk about labor, rest, marriage, parenthood, singleness, and death is still too thin for real life.
Key Scriptures
Read these passages slowly before class. Mark what they teach about this week’s doctrine.
· Genesis 1:26–28 — Memory verse: image, male and female, vocation.
· Genesis 2:7, 15–25 — Embodied life, work, and marriage.
· Psalm 8 — What is man? Crowned with glory and honor.
· Psalm 139:13–16 — Formed in the womb.
· James 3:9 — The tongue and the image.
· Colossians 3:9–10 — The image renewed in Christ.
· Galatians 3:26–29 — One in Christ Jesus.
For Discussion
· Where does your culture locate human worth? How does Genesis 1 disagree?
· What would change in campus or church life if we treated every person as an image-bearer first?
· How does the resurrection of the body critique both body-hatred and body-worship?
· Why must anthropology be in place before we speak well about sin (next week)?
Personal Application
· Speak to one person this week as an image-bearer you are tempted to reduce to a use or a nuisance.
· Practice a small Sabbath habit: stop, thank, rest.
· Memorize Genesis 1:26–27.
This Week’s Work
· Read Grudem on humanity / man as assigned.
· Prepare for next week’s midterm window: review Chapters 1–7 terms.
A Prayer to Carry into the Week
Creator God, I am not my own idea. Thank You for making me. Thank You for making my neighbor. Renew Your image in me through Christ. Teach me to honor the body, the unborn, the weak, and the difficult. Amen.
Prepared by Rev Rolando E Santiago, ThD DPM
No comments:
Post a Comment