Anthropology

(Study about Man)

Introduction: Anthropology is the branch of the systematic theology that deals with the study about
the doctrine of Man. In this subject we study about the origin of man including the creation, the
purpose, the fall and the eternal life of Man. All these studies are based on the foundation of the
Bible staying in the light of the Bible we will also try to find answers of the three basic questions in
the life of Man:

 Who am I? (Man)
 Why Am I here?
 Where will I go?

God also created a vacuum in the heart of Man, due to which, he is always in search of God. The
Bible is the only book or the source that gives a perfect answer to the man’s quest for the divine
approach.

ORIGIN OF MAN: There are many theories regarding the origin of man out of all, the evolution
theory is the most prominent out of all. This theory is accepted as fact by many universities and is
taught as a fact worldwide. This theory was established by Charles Darwin. According to the
Evolution theory humans came from a continuous transformation of apes. But as Christians, we do
not need to be unduly influenced by the opinions of majorities; we believe that the Bible is true and
that the evolution is false theory.

THE CREATION OF MAN: We believe on the Biblical account about the creation of man.
According to the Bible:

 Gen. 1:1- tells us that God existed in the beginning; He always existed; He is eternal
 Gen. 1:26-27- Records the fact chronologically that man was created on the sixth day.
 Gen. 2:7- Given the detail of how man was created.
 Isa. 43:7- God says about man as “whom I have created for may Glory”

God created man in His is image and likeness – sinless, with intelligence, self-conscious and self-
determination (Gen. 2:7; Gen. 15:25; I cor. 11:7; Jam. 3:9)

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MAN CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE AND LIKENESS: “Image” means the shadow or outline
denotes the resemblance of that shadow to the figure. Both these terms are important because
Gen.1:26 records as – God said “Let us make man in our own image to be our likeness”.

The image of God does not denote the physical likeness, for God is Spirit and the spirit does
not have parts and passions as a man does. The two expressions mean more than man having
dominion over nature. It refers to moral likeness, not physical likeness.

The moral likeness of man in which he was created can be studied form – Eph. 4:22-24,
which are as follows:

 TRUTH: God has created us to walk on truths

 RIGHTEOUS: God created man without sin
 HOLYNESS: God created man in His own holiness

When God created man, he was in an innocent state where the glory of God was covering him. The
first man and woman- Adam and Eve enjoyed fellowship with God. Their nature was same, thought
procedure was same their ethical knowledge and understanding were same. And man because of
there, enjoyed complete authority on all creatures. The likeness was not physical but spiritual,
because God is spirit (Jn. 4:24). Their ethical understanding was in Godly state (col. 3:10).

THE TWO STATES OF MAN: The complete life of man from the creation can be divided into two
states. Since then the mankind have been the partaken of both these states are:

(i) The Lost state

(ii) The found state

When God created the first man and women, they were innocent and thus enjoyed a very close and
intimate relationship with God their creator. But since their sin, their first state was lost and they
went astray form God. Thus, the entire mankind entered into a lost state, where they lost their first
state of relationship with God. Since than onwards, every human being born of a man, is born in sin
(Gal.3:22, Ps.53:3, Job. 15:14, Ps. Rom.5:12-19, Rom. 3:23). This is the first state of Man.

The second state of man is “the found state” As a man is born in sin, and remained away from
God, God the Father planned to reunion with man through Repentance. The second state of man is
the state where God and man can have a constant communication. This is the perfect plan of God.
When we read the entire Bible, we come to know that God always wanted man to have devotion
towards Him. And the promise or the covenant for this reunion was declared by God immediately

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after the fall in Gen. 3:15, which is considered to be the first prophesy about the coming of the
Messiah.

THE FOURFOLD JUDGEMENT FOR MAN’S FIRST SIN: (Gen.3:14-19) – As a result or the
Consequence of man’s sin, God pronounces curses.

1. ON THE SERPENT: Cursed above all cattle’s and all beasts of the field. It was to crawl on
its belly and eat dust all of its life. This is the curse of the changing of the serpent from
upright ot crawling, grovelling position, fear between the woman and the serpent. This
judgement upon serpent is called as “The curse of degradation” in theology.
2. ON THE WOMAN: Woman was cursed to suffer pain and sorrow in childbirth. Her
husband was to rule over her. This was the judgement upon the woman, the judgment of
sorrow, mitigated by grace (I Tim. 2:15)
3. ON THE MAN: The man was cursed for being the partaker of the prohibited fruit, He would
have escaped, if he had not eater nor allowed Eve to fall into temptation. Because he did not
do so, he was cursed sorrow and toil.
4. ON THE GROUND: Because of the disobedience even the ground came under the
judgement of God. And it was cursed its barrenness, its thorns and thistles and the necessity
to labour for substances.

THE CONSTITUENT ELEMENT OF MAN:

The scriptures certainly teach us that there is a material part to man and an immaterial part.
The material part of man is the ‘body’ and the immaterial part is the ‘Spirit’ and ‘soul’ of man. This
can be readily seen from the account of man’s creation in Gen. 2:7. This brings us to the
consideration of various views concerning the essential elements which are in man.

1. THE DICHOTOMOUS VIEW: This view holds the duality of man – that the ‘spirit’ and
‘soul’ are one and same things, that man isn’t a trinity but just two parts. They base their view
upon many passages, which use the word ‘soul’ to signify all the immaterial part of man and
sometimes spirit. It is true that many passages from the Bible seems that the term ‘soul’ and
‘spirit’ are used interchangeably, but there are other passages where the scriptures clearly
teachers that man has three parts: I Thess. 5:23, Heb. 4:12, so, as Christians, we don’t believe
in this view.
2. THE TRICHOTOMOUS VIEWS: This view holds to a triune composition of man and is
the one which is the teaching of the scriptures – that the man is made up of ‘SPIRIT’ ‘SOUL’
and ‘BODY’, each a real unity the body is the tabernacle of the soulish nature of man, and the

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 soul is the tabernacle of the God – inbreathed sprit of man. It is this spirit of man that contains
the primary image of God in man, since ‘God is spirit’. Let us briefly study the distinction

A. SPIRIT: The Greek word for spirit is ‘Pneuma’. Spirit relates upward to God. It is closely
associated with soul and is clear from Heb.4:12. The Greek word ‘Pneuma’ means ‘breath’.
Spirit gives man ‘God-consciousness’ i.e. the ability to communicate with God. God breathed
into the nostrils of Adam giving him the spirit. The spirit can also be defined as a part of man
which is aware or conscious of God. It is made alive by God’s spirit at salvation. It is
energised by God’s Spirit, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. There are three basic
elements of spirit which are as follows:
a. Heart: Heart is the innocent part or being. The centre of the conscious being and holds
men’s intend and feelings, likes and dislikes. The Bible makes us to understand that the
heart of a man is easily corruptible due to the effect of sin. And it, without the right spirit,
it may lead us to sin. The Bible uses the word ‘Heart’ primarily to refer to the ruling
centre of the whole person, the spring of all desires. The heart is the “home of the

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 personal life”, and hence a man is designated according to his heart (Prov.4:23; Deut.6:5;
I Kings. 3:12; Ps. 24:4 Mt. 5:8; Rom. 2:15)
b. Mind: Mind is that part of human being, in which thought taken place and perception and
decision to do good, evil and the like come to expression. It is a set of cognitive faculties
including consciousness, imaginations, thinking, judgement, language and memory,
which is housed in the brain. It is usually defined as the faculty of an entity’s thoughts and
consciousness. According to the Bible there are two set ups of the mind-one is carnal the
second one is the spiritual. One man’s mind can’t be active in two realms. Either his mind
will be set on the things above or on the things of this world (Rom.8:5-6; Col.3:2;
Isa.26:3; Phil.2:5).
c. Will: The created image of God carries with it awesome responsibility and glory. It
includes the ability to make meaningful moral. Choices (Gen.1:26-27, 2:16-17). Will is
the active part of soul, which translates reasons and emotions into action (in the body)
where he can choose to either obey or disobey, to love or not to love. Since the creation of
man, God has given free will to man to choose according to his own desire.

FUNCTIONS OF MANS SPIRIT:

(i) Revelation from God

(ii) Prayer to God
(iii) Communion with God
(iv) Worship of God
(v) Witness to man (world)
(vi) Conscience: To judge (discern)
(vii) Fellowship with God (Church)
(viii) Discernment of Spirit (Spiritual Senses)
(ix) Spiritual warfare
(x) Seed bed for further fruits of the Spirit.
(xi) Reception area for the gifts of the Spirit.

B. SOUL: The soul is the part of man which is aware or conscious of himself – self-awareness.
It is the centre of the ego or personality. Soul given man “self-consciousness” – the ability to
be a person, personality. It stands for the individual personal life. The Greek word for soul is
‘psyche’. Soul can also be called as mind, intellect or memory. The Bible speaks of a hungry
soul, a weary soul (Jer.31:25). A thirsty soul (Ps 42:2); a grieved soul (Job.30:25); a loving

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 soul (Song of Songs 1:7). The soul seems to be the part of man midway between the body and
the spirit, yet it is not the mixture of the two. The soul joins two worlds the physical and the
spiritual. The work of the soul is to coordinate the activates of the two diverse parts.

FUNCTIONS OF A MAN’S SOUL:

(i) Memory: To recall, remember, reflect.

(ii) Curiosity: To inquire, explore
(iii) Perception: To interpret sense and understand
(iv) Reason: To think, meditate, conceive
(v) Imagination: To create, dream, ambition
(vi) Emotion: To feel, have passion, affection
(vii) Volition: To will, desire.

C. BODY: The body is the part of man with which we are most familiar. The physical part of
man. The body gives man “world consciousness” – The ability through the senses to
understand. The Greek word for body is “Soma”. It a part of man which is aware of and
reacts with the outside world. The body of a man have five senses –
(a) Sight (b) hearing (c) Taste (d) touch (e) smell.
All ecstasy, pain, sensation or ability is expressed in and through the physical body. After the
fall, the body became a dying, death doomed body. According to the Bible, the body is
created by God, with the dust of this earth (Ps.139:14; Gen.3:19). Dust of analysed as
containing 96 elements and man also contains 96 elements, and they are identically the same
ones. This is a wonderful proof of creation.

FUNCTIONS OF MANS BODY:

(i) Reception: Information is received from the world by the way of senses.
(ii) Reaction: The body reacts through the system of words and actions.
(iii) Expression: The body can express to the world, the thoughts, feelings and decisions of
the soul.

RESPONIBLITIES OF MAN: Even since God created man, He gave them some responsibilities.
Even Adam while kept in the Garden of Eden had specific responsibility. The greatest of all
responsibilities was to keep the commandment of God. Every person has their own responsibilities or
duties toward this society and family. Here are the few responsibilities of believes. Our response is

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different than the other worldly people. So, the responsibilities stated here are by keeping the
teachings and the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, there are our responsibilities as
believers:

A. RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS SOCIETY

Society is a crucial part of our life. We all are part of a particular society or nation where we are born
and raised up. Nobody can survive without a society. So, as a believer, no matter the society we live
loves God or hates God, we cannot cut ourselves away from the society. So, our responsibilities can
be divided into two:

a. Common/General responsibilities
b. Special responsibilities.

a. Common/General responsibilities

Under common or general responsibility, even believers are equivalent to other people. He is not to
be separated on his belief or practices. The following will become his responsibilities

(i) To obey all the rules and regulation of the nation and to keep under the authority
(Rom.13:1)
(ii) Should participate in the growth and build-up of the nation without any sought of
religious discriminations.
(iii) Present ourself as a leading example before our society so that though our lifestyle,
the name of Go be glorified (1 Pt. 2:12).
(iv) Keep yourself away from all sought of illegal activities political conflicts.
(v) To be a good citizen.

b. Special responsibilities: The Bible teaches us about some special responsibilities towards
our societies or nation when we live. Such responsibilities are as follows:
(i) Preach the Gospel: - As the last commission of our Master, it becomes our
responsibility to reach out to the unsaved and introduce them to the saving Grace of
God (Mt.28:19-20; Jn.3:16).
(ii) To Pray: - It’s our responsibility to pray for our society. Pray for all type of wrong
things happening in our society, to pray for our political leaders, to pray for unity and
peace. (2 Chron.7:14; I Thess.5:17)

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 (iii) Keep yourself separate: - We are a part of the society but we should not defile
ourself separate, not to compromise our holiness and purity. (Rom.12:1-2; 1.Jn. 2: 15-
17).

B. RESPONSIBILITIES TOWARDS GOD: Our responsibility towards God can be divided

into two:
(a) Our Motives (b) Our Devotion

(a) OUR MOTIVES: First responsibility toward God is to have a clear motive with Him.
This is an act of our heart. Our heart should be right with God. Above all our activities or
our work God is pleased by our motive. The Bible says, He is a God who searches deep
inside our hearts (1 Sam. 16:7).

(b) OUR DEVOTION: Devotion is an act of showing love, respect, gratitude towards
someone. It’s our responsibility to show our devotion to God alone. He should be the
epitome of our life. This also includes Prayer, worshipping and praising God.

C. RESPONSIBILITIES TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER: Our responsibility towards another

can also be divided into two:
(a) Towards non-believers (b) Towards believers

(a) TOWARDS NON-BELIEVERS: The major responsibility towards a non-believer is to

preach about Christ to him (Evangelise) we should also be very much careful that they
should not fine any fault in our life, but we should lead an exemplary life (Mt.28:18-20;
Gal. 6:10)

(b) TOWARDS BELIEVERS: The major responsibility of us as believers to the fellow

believers are as follows:
(i) Encourage one another
(ii) Pray for one another
(iii) Build and nourish each other’s spiritual life
(iv) Should not became a stumbling block for our fellow brothers

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 D. RESPONIBILITIES TOWARD OURSELVES: The greatest responsibility towards ourself
is to present ourself as a holy vessel both spiritually and physically. These responsibilities can
be divided into three major aspects:
(a) Towards Spirit
(b) Towards Soul (Thoughts)
(c) Towards Body
(a) TOWARDS SPIRIT: Every believer has a responsibility to develop himself spiritually
day by day (1 Cor. 1:13; Rom. 12:9-12). It’s also mandatory that according to one’s
behaviour, character and lifestyle should showcase the fruits of the spirit recorded in the
Bible like love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness etc (Gal.5:22;
Phil.2:3).
(b) TOWARDS THE SOUL (THOUGHT): It’s important to keep our thoughts in
accordance to the mind set of Christ. He alone in our measuring rod (Phil. 2:5). We
should not corrupt our thought process by thinking in accordance to the world as we do
not have any alliance with this world (1 Jn. 2:15-17) (Mt. 16:26).
(c) TOWARDS OUR BODY: The Bible makes us to understand that our body is the temple
of God. So, it’s our responsibility to keep our body holy and not to defile it by any cause
of flesh desires (Rom. 12:1-3). We should walk according to the spirit of God and should
not fulfil the lust of flesh (Gal.5:16-17; 19-21).

ROOTS OF FAMILY

Family means a group of people who are related to each other. Often people will say a family which
includes a mother, father and children all living together under one roof. Some might also say that a
family can be anything that involves love. Families are legally bound through marriage, adoptions
and guardianships including the rights duties and obligations. The family can also be together by a
blood bond, i.e., bond together biologically.

There are basically three types of family.

(i) NUCLEAR FAMILY: This is also known as a conjugal family. This includes of – a
father, mother and children.
(ii) EXTENDED FAMILIES: This includes at least of three generations – i.e., Grand Parents,
married offspring and grandchildren.
(iii) JOINT FAMILY: Joint families are composed of sets of siblings, their spouses and their
dependent children, grandchildren, grandparents and immediate family members.

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CHRISTIAN FAMILY: The Bible with its all types of moral and ethical values also lays
foundation for a well and healthy family. It was God who established a family by giving a helper to
Adam in the form of woman and blessing them to be fruitful thus giving them the offspring’s (Gen.
1:26-28; Gen. 2:18-24).

 A Christian family is an institution where parents are bound together by Christian love, where
children are welcome and scripturally instructed and our Lord Jesus Christ is not only the
supposed head of the family, but the actual head; where parents and children gather together
daily for family worship.
 A Christian home is a place where members of the family enjoys rest privacy, a sense of
security; and learn to work, play, pray and plan together.
 A Christian family is one in which the members learn to regard one another as having equal
right; where loyalty, honesty and corporation is practiced and learned by each members of the
family.
 A Christian family is the one that radiates Christ; welcomes and dispenses hospitality without
measures.
 A Christian family consists of a God-fearing mother and God-fearing children. Thus, the
secret of successful Christian family is in the family altar where Christ is crowned as the head
of the family, and love is the second secret.

ROLES IN THE HOME: In the Bible, there are three main passages on husband wife relationship.
Each of these scriptures affirms the leadership of the husband and submission (subordination) of the
wife.

A. Scripture 1: I Pt. 3:1-7

Role of a husband Role of a wife

 Live with their wives in an  Be submissive to their own husband.
understanding way (with knowledge).  Have chaste and respectful behaviour.
 View her as valuable and precious  Have a gentle and quiet spirit
(show her honour).  Be obedient

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 B. Scripture 2: Eph. 5:21-33

Role of husband Role of wife

 Have sacrificial love for the wife.  To be subjected to their husband.
 Lead in sanctification, nourish and  Respect their husband.
cherish the wife.

C. Scripture 3: Col. 3:18-19

Role of husband Role of wife

 Love their wife  Be subjective to their husband
 Do not be embittered against their
wife

A GOD-FEARING HUSBAND / FATHER:

a. God has placed the husband as head of the family (Gen. 18:19; Eph. 5:23): - This is
God’s order and the family that reverses it breaks God’s plan and destroys the peace of that
home. This does not mean that the wife is a slave, she is his helpmeet taken from his side, to
remain at his side, an equal partner.
b. It is husband’s duty to love his wife (Eph. 5:25): - This is not mere respect, this is
tremendous love of 1 cor.13, loving in health in sickness, in poverty and in prosperity.
c. This husband is required to be faithful to his wife: - We live in an age of tax moral
standards and easy divorce and infidelity. But the standards of our God have not changed.
God still demands honesty, frankness and faithfulness between the pertness contracting
marriage.
d. It is husband’s duty to comfort his wife in times of sorrow (1 Sam. 1:8).
e. It is husband’s duty to always put Christ first in his life (Luke. 14:26). He must love his
wife, but he must love Christ more. The husband is the priest of the family and is responsible
for daily family prayer and worship (Job 1:5).

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 A GOD-FEARING WIFE / MOTHER

a. The wife’s first duty is to love and serve Jesus Christ (Lk. 14:26)
b. The wife’s second duty is to obey her husband (Eph.5:22): - e.g., Sarah (1 pt. 3:6). [ If the
husband is unsaved, she would have to become the spiritual head of the family, yet is
subjection to her husband. God will give wisdom and grace].
c. Wives are not only to respect and obey their husband, but they are to love them too
(Tit.2:4).
d. The woman is not to be adorned with ornaments (1 Tim.2:9-10): - That is , outward
adornment is not appreciated, but she ought to be adorned with good works including:
(i) Modesty and Sobriety (1 Tim.2:9)
(ii) A meek and quiet spirit (1 pt. 3:4-5)

A good wife and good mother are a wonderful gift from the Lord. They become a tremendous
blessing for their husband and family. almost all great men have been made great by one or two
loving women a godly mother or a devoted wife.

RESPONSIBLITY OF CHILDREN

(a) Honour your parents (Exo.20:12; Eph.6:1): - Children should obey their parents for their
days to be long on this earth. Base was exemplary in Gen.22, by carrying the woods without
murmuring. Jesus Christ, as a child was obedient to His parents (Lk. 2:51). The one who
dishonour his parents Bible calls him cursed (pro.23:22).
(b) Obey your parents (Eph.6:1): - Children should obey their parents as their parents will
always guide them to right ways for a better future.
(c) Love your parents (Eph.6:1): - Children should always love their parents. Parents are
couriered to be the shadow of unseen God. They sacrifice a lot to give children a bright
future.
(d) Should show gratitude towards parents: - We should always be thankful towards God for
giving us such lovely parents. Through the action, words children should always show their
gratitude towards their parents.
(e) Submissive towards parents: - Children should always be submissive towards the
commandments or the rules and regulations set by the parents. Children should not be wise in
their own thinking.

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 RESPONSIBLITY OF GOOD PARENTS:

A home cannot be happy without children. Children make a complete family. Also, children are the
future of any family. As Christian’s parents, God gives some parenting tips which are as follows: -

(a) Parents are to love their Children (Tit.2:4)

(b) Parent are to bring their children to the Lord at an early age (Mt.19:13,14)
(c) Parents have to train and discipline their children for the Lord (Prov. 22:6)
(d) Parents should teach their children to obey God and the laws of the country (Deut. 32:46): Eli
was punished because he couldn’t control his wicked sours.
(e) Parents are to provide for their children (1 Tim. 5:8; 2 Cor.12:14)
(f) Parents are not to provoke their children to wrath (Eph.6:4)
(g) Parents should set themselves as a good example before their children (Gen.18:19)
(h) Parents should direct their household (1 Tim.3:12; 3:4-5)
(i) Parents should discipline their children (Prov. 29:17; 29:15)
(j) Parents should reflect God’s love in their love (Isa. 66:13; Ps. 103:13)
Above all let Godly parents pray for their children pray that they will be saved. Pray that they
will overcome sin, temptation etc.

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