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Anthropologically

Don’t let this seventeen letter word scare you. Anthropos is simply the Greek word for mankind. Anthropology is nothing more than the study of mankind. Sociologists have studied mankind for many years. However, we want to examine ourselves through the lens of Scripture. If God is our Creator the God’s Word is our users manual. When we study God’s Word theologically we are discovering who God is. When we study it anthropologically we are discovering who we are and what God expects of us.

As we study the Bible we begin to see who we are so that we might be changed and conformed into His image.  James says that the Bible is like a mirror that reflects our image so that we can make the appropriate changes.

” But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.” James 1:22-24

The Scriptures are going to teach you that you are made in the image of God. Vishal Mangalwadi explains how the Bible gave him the answers that could not be found in eastern religion or university education in his recent book,  “The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization.”

“Introduction to Psychology was a required course for those of us studying philosophy at Allahabad University. In the late 1960s, the department was dominated by behaviorism, the school of psychology championed by B. F. Skinner. Behaviorism presupposes that there is neither God or soul. Consequently, human beings are chemicals-turned-animals, qualitatively no different from dogs. Chemistry has no soul or ‘free will.’ It functions as a closed, deterministic system of causes and effects.”

Can you already see how disturbing anthropology can be without God’s Word? It strips mankind of his soul and free will. It robs him of any real purpose in life. No wonder the world is in such a mess. Young minds are being taught foolishness on the University level and receiving doctorate degrees for it! Young Mangalwadi was not satisfied with the emptiness of such a false education.

“As I started rereading the Bible’s first chapter, I found a radically different view of human self. It says that God created human beings in his image (‘man” – both male and femal). On one hand both dogs and I are creatures. We are similar in many ways. For example, we are both mammals. Yet, in fundamental ways we are very different. I cannot know the essence of my humanness by studying dogs. If I am made in God’s image, would not knowing God be essential to knowing myself? What does this first champter of Genesis tell me about God and myself?

“The Bible opens by declaring: ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.’ God is the Creator. A dog is only a creature. What am I? If Genesis is right, then I am both a creature (made by God) and a creator (made in the image of the Creator). I am a creative creature.

“That was a epiphany for me. Those few short sentences from Genesis matched my experience better than the voluminous words from the department of psychology. The biblical words made sense because they were true to what I knew about myself. Machines produce. Human beings create. What’s the difference? We create what we choose to create. Freedom, or choice, is the essence of creativity.”

We learn the value of mankind not onlybecause we are created in the image of God but also because of the great effort and sacrifice He has made to redeem mankind. God’s love for man was so extreme that He would give “his only begotten Son” to redeem him! We also learn from the Scriptures why man needed redemption. We discover our sinful nature passed down from Adam (Romans 5:12) and see it illustrated on every page. We discover the struggle between the old nature and the new (the flesh and the spirit) as well as how to obtain the victory (Romans 7:14-25).

What the Bible taught Mangalwadi was vastly different than what he had learned either from the eastern religions or from the university. The Bible taught him the truth about mankind! It is only to the extent that we understand our human condition and God’s remedy that we are empowered to have success in our lives and make a difference in the lives of others.

Every Bible story is a study in anthropology. One of the greatest examples is the contrast between King Saul and King David. In both we witness the extent of sin in which man can fall. One teaches the remorse of rebellion while the other demonstrates the remedy through repentance. We can study the twelve apostles and learn how close a man like Judas can be to the truth and still not find it. Likewise, we can learn from Peter and Paul how far we can fall and still find redemption and success. Every story, every Psalm and every proverb teaches us something about ourselves and our fellow man that can guide us gracefully through life’s journey.

Ready your Bible Anthroplogically. Learn about yourself and your fellow man.

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