SURVEY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
by Andrew Corbett

THE STATES OF HUMANITY

The Bible has a great deal to say about mankind. In fact, God and mankind are the two main characters throughout the Bible. Because of this we can know for certain, that God, in giving us His word, does not want us to be ignorant about ourselves. Outside the kingdom of God today, people are seeking to replace what seems to be the most apparent, with man-made views of origin and purposes.

THEORIES ABOUT ORIGINS

A. EVOLUTION

This is often labelled "Atheistic Evolution" by apologists. It suggests that all life began from one cell and then evolved into life forms then into fish, then birds and animals, then into apes and finally into man. Satan has used this theory to poison the minds of many people away from acknowledging God as their Creator.

1. Why do you think he has done this? (What would it mean if God were not really our Creator?)

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While evolution declares that survival of the fittest is their foundation, it can not explain the origin of the first of a kind, because it is not based on facts, but on assumptions.

B. THEISTIC EVOLUTION

This is a religious based compromise on the theory of evolution. It maintains that while God may have been the origin of all things, He didn't necessarily have direct involvement in the creation of each species. Those who hold to this belief possibly acknowledge that God intervened at significant times to alter a species to create a new one.

2. What recurring expression is found in Genesis 1:11, 12, 21, 24, 25 etc.?

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C. CREATION

This is the belief in the Bible's account of Creation - that God created everything. The story of Creation presents man as being the highest of all created beings, not just another phase in the evolutionary fantasy.

3. On what truth does Paul say that people are without excuse? (Rom. 1:20)

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D. PRE-EXISTENCE

This non-Biblical belief suggests that the soul of man existed before being born into a human body.

THE NATURE OF MAN

(i) MANKIND IS U _ _ _ _ _.

4. What parts of God's creation did God declare "Let Us make..."?

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5. Some things God simply spoke into existence. What did He create without doing this?

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(ii) MANKIND IS A R _ _ _ , NOT A COMPANY.

6. What makes our relationship to each other so possible?

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(iii) MANKIND IS I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

7. What action of Adam indicates that he was of a higher order than the animals?

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(iv) MANKIND IS A M _ _ _ _ BEING.

8. What created quality in man would explain the fall into sin? (NB John 7:17)

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9. According to Romans 2:14-15, what has each person got?

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10. What does Hebrews 9:14 imply about the above aspect of each man?

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(v) MANKIND IS A L _ _ _ -BEING.

11. According to 1 John 4:19, why did God create mankind?

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12. What capacity did God endow mankind with? (1 John 4:19)

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THE SUBSTANCE OF MAN

As we have just seen, man is a unique being, with unique capacities. Not only are we unique in our origin, but we are also unique in our substance.

13. What seems to be the theme of Psalm 8?

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No other part of Creation had God make the awesome declaration - "Let Us make man in our own image" and then have Him follow through by personally and individually being formed with the tender sculpting of God's hands. Even then, mankind received a greater honor - God breathed life into them! Man was no longer a lump of dirt. He now had a spirit. While the body grows and then deteriorates, the life from God (spirit) will last forever.

14. Animals also obviously have life, but what distinguishes them from mankind in this regard? (Eccl. 3:21)

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Man is a spiritual being. Technically, it is not correct to say that man is a being who is merely clothed or garmented with a body. Our bodies are us, so is our spirit. We are not to think of our spirit as being of more importance than our bodies or vice-versa. We are a united being (holistic). Even after we die we will all be resurrected to receive new bodies (1 Cor. 15:49).

A. TRICHOTOMIST VIEW OF MAN'S SUBSTANCE

This view would probably be the most popular view among most fundamentalists. It proposes that man is made up of 1) body, 2) soul and 3) spirit. Scriptures such as 1 Thess. 5:23 and Heb. 4:12 are used to support this view. However there are problems with this proposal. The terms used to describe particular functions of a man that are ascribed to either the body, soul or spirit are used interchangeably (Gen. 2:7, Psalm 146:4, Ecclesiastes 12:7, Matthew 10:28, 1 Corinthians 7:34, 2 Cor 7:1).

15. Where was Jesus troubled? (John 12:27 and 13:21)

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B. DICHOTOMIST VIEW OF MAN'S SUBSTANCE

This view suggests that man is basically two parts: a body and a spirit.

16. How many parts of us did Jesus say we should love God with? (Mark 12:30)

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17. When the scribe summed up Christ's words, what did he say we should love God with? (Mark 12:33)

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The issue mentioned in these two Scriptures was not to compartmentalize man, but to show that man must love God with everything that he's got. The Dichotamist view says that apart from man's body, he contains a spiritual substance. In Romans 7 there is a description of the struggles that take place in this area of a man's life. Our spiritual nature is tainted by sin, and this causes the redeemed to battle against this residing nature. When you got saved, did that mark the end of you ever sinning again? Of course not. The tendency for a trichotamist view is attractive, because it says that sin has only polluted our soul- not our spirit. Therefore when a person gets saved they can receive God into their pure spirit. Some refer to the Scripture that light can not dwell with darkness (2Cor. 6:14) to suggest that God could never dwell in a human spirit polluted by sin. But this overlooks several things-
a) God has cleansed us from sin by the blood of Christ,
b) God often inhabits situations that look bleak but does so by His grace (Ex. 20:21; 2Chron. 6:1),
c) God dwells in redeemed people who still sin.

Another argument for suggesting that man is essentially a three part being is that we are created in the image of the Triune God. Our body represents God the Son, our spirit represents the Holy Spirit, and our carnal sinful nature- our soul, is represented by the Father??? Where the Bible uses the expression soul, it represents the sum total of our whole being. Therefore, Body + Spirit = Soul (Refer to Theology of the Older Testament, pgs. 224-225, by J. Barton Payne, published by Zondervan, and the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, pgs. 1036-1037, edited by Elwell and published by Baker).

THE FALL OF MAN

Although man enjoyed perfect harmony with God, nature, self and others, he lost it when he rebelled against God. Now everything is unnatural. This is because things are not as they were originally created.

18. What alien thing now dwells in man? (Rom. 7:17, 20)

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19. What things has this caused mankind to put up with?

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THE DESTINY OF MAN

We were created for a purpose. We are not without an ultimate direction or destination. Redeemed mankind enjoys a hope (a sure guarantee) that we will be transformed into the likeness of Christ and receive a body like His (1Cor.15:35ff). This transforming takes place in our hearts from the moment we surrendered to God. In this sense we are continually being saved and being transformed into Christ-like-ness as we surrender to Him.

20. Read Ephesians 1:11-12. What does it say about man?

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Amen.

(Options for questions 4 - 11 headings include: unique, love, moral, race, intelligent.)

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