Anthropology
What is Anthropology? Anthropology is defined as the study of human nature and how humans are set apart from the other animals. In this paper it is my goal to not only go deeper in the meaning of this topic but also to look at it through the eyes of Christianity. I will be touching on tough subjects such as sin and what causes sin. Along with when we do sin what are some of the consequences we face because of that sin. I also want to go into some detail about the physical characteristics of both male and female, and the relationship between both of them. Finally we have to talk about the concept of being created and whose image we were created in. In my case I know I was created in the Image of God and I will explain to you how I know each and every human to ever live was created in that exact image.
If we are to study this idea of Anthropology we first need to think of the concept of where we originated from. With this being said we first need to look at the creation story. Now in Genesis 1:1 it says that “God created the heavens and the earth.” Now we have this concept that God who always was is and will forever be created this earth. God created all the plants in the ground to all the birds in the air. Everything you see, taste, touch, and feel God created. Some of you might be wondering well I am eating a piece of cake right now that my grandmother made how could God have possibly made it when I watched my Grandmother bake it herself. You then need to step back and think of all that went into the cake. In Genesis 1:11 it says The God said “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.” You see even though you saw your Grandma make that cake she had to use flour which referring back to verse eleven came from the seed bearing plants that God made, along with the cocoa powder she used to make it a chocolate cake, and the sugar to sweeten just the right amount. Then we get to Genesis 1:24-25 which says And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.” You see God produced the chickens and the cows which in return gave your grandmother the eggs and butter she needed to make that cake, along with the milk it takes to make it all come together. Now according to verses 24 and 25 the ingredients could have only been possible with God creating those living creatures. Then we get to chapter 2 in Genesis where God created Adam and Eve both male and female. This is where your grandmother comes in. Without God creating human kind your grandmother wouldn’t have been able to gather up all the ingredients, put them all together in the proper amounts, and baking it perfectly for you to enjoy that piece of cake. God created man out of the dust of the earth and female He created out of the rib of man thus calling her woman because out of the womb of the man she was created. Do you see what I am referring to when I say God created everything we see on this earth?
Now we need to compare human kind to the other animals here on this earth. It says in Genesis 1:27 it says “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” This verse right here sets us apart from the other animals on the ground, sea, and air. In Genesis 2:20 it says “So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.” You see Adam look over all the living animals to try and find a companion for him but he couldn’t relate to them in the way a husband and wife should relate to one another. That is why God created Eve and that is also why we are set apart from the animals. Although when you look at the animals some might think well we have some very similar characteristics of animals. The whole evolution theory is based on that very concept but that is a topic for another day. Even though monkey’s have similar hands and ears and mouths like ours, and they are mammals that give birth without hatching an egg doesn’t mean they were created in the image of God like we were. You see in order to be created in the image of God you have to have a soul. You need to know right and wrong and have a conscience to distinguish this aspect. God created us in his image with the idea of being able to show affection towards one another. In order to have a soul you have to be able to feel the pain of when you screwed up. Animals have no concept of this. Animals were put on this earth to provide food for us and companionship. Animals don’t have a sense of right and wrong, which means they aren’t given a soul. However humans and animals alike are given a spirit. The spirit is different from the soul. We as humans need both in order to be created in the image of God. Spirit is simply the characteristic that gives us breath of life and a personality. Animals breathe the same air that we breathe and they can show affection and emotions like us. However when they die that is it. The spirit dies along with them but with humans when we die our souls continue to live. This brings me to the topic of sin, and then how does it separate our spirit and soul from God.
In Genesis chapter 3 we see the fall of man. You see prior to sin entering the world God created pure bliss with the exception of one rule don’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Part of being made in Gods image came with the concept of Free Will. I touched briefly on knowing right from wrong earlier, but free will is the concept of being able to choose if we want to do the right thing or the wrong thing. In this case human kind chose to do the wrong thing. In Genesis chapter 3 we see the story of how on one particular day human kind chose to do the wrong thing. Adam and Eve were going about their business one day when the serpent (better known as the devil) stopped by to play nice with them or so we thought. The serpent laid out all the tricks of trickery. He rephrased what God had commanded Adam and Eve not to do in a way that made them think about it in a whole new way. Once again this goes back to the concept of free will and how God lets us make our own choices in life. As we know from the story the serpent tells them they can be just like God, and that surely they will not die if they eat of that fruit. They eat the fruit and guess what happens sin enters into this world of ours. Now before this we were almost one with God. Adam and Eve walked and talked with God on a daily basis forming a great bond with God. Now that sin has entered into the picture it created a separation of human kind to God. We no longer had that great bond with the Father. Sin is simply the act of doing wrong in Gods eyes. Adam and Eve ate from the tree that God had asked them not to eat from causing sin for the first time. It is because of that sin God creates new characteristics for humans that will forever be until He comes back. Let us look at Genesis 3:16-19 it says “To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband he will rule over you.” 17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” God is very specific here. For women because Eve was the one who was tempted and then got her husband Adam to eat God tells her that she will have great pains in child bearing. Isn’t that still true today? Even though we have epidurals that help ease the pain woman still go through tremendous pain when giving birth. Then God also tells Eve that she will no longer have an equal partnership in her marriage role to Adam for causing him to sin. She is to now take second chair. Man did get off so easy either. Because of Adam sinner we have to work really hard to planting our crops and reaping our harvest in order to get the nutrients we need. The garden is no longer is taken care in a self-sustaining way. We will sweat to produce our crops and when we die our bodies will turn back to dust. The same dust we were formed out of. This is all because of the original sin. The tradition still carries on. We all have to work hard to provide for our needs. We all still have a sense of right and wrong instilled in us but because of this sin we have to work hard to recreate that bond we as humanity once had in the Garden with God. It is our job to teach others about the love of God he showed us not only in the Garden but with the gift of his one and only son to save us from this sin and create a new bond with him. This brings me to the point of personal sin. Even though we all sin we all sin in our own unique way. In the next section I will elaborate more.
Have you ever heard of the phrase “a sin is a sin”? In hind sight this is true but in reality and according to the Bible this isn’t true. We have what is called personal sin. We each sin in our own way at different times. Sin is all around us and according to the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans we all have sinned and fallen short from the glory of God. This doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily not going to heaven. However we each have our own free wills to choose what we want to do. However there is a sin that isn’t forgivable that Jesus talks about and that sin could cause you to not go to heaven. The sin is that of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Let me elaborate. Now to the unsaved human they do not know of this sin. They are naïve in their thinking because they haven’t been taught of the scriptures. For this they aren’t held to this standard in quite the same way. Now if that unbeliever becomes saved and knows the scriptures and chooses to blaspheme the Holy Spirit then at that point it becomes the unforgivable sin. In John 1:9 that if we confess our sins God will be faithful and just, however Jesus said this was unforgivable because they didn’t believe in the Lord Jesus even though they saw him walk this earth. Even though we as Christians have never seen Jesus walk this earth and choose to be saved we are saying that the Holy Spirit is real and we are going to follow him. When it boils down to it after we are saved we have a choice of believing and being held accountable to our actions or denying the existence of the Holy Spirit (even though after we are saved we know of the existence) and that is when it becomes blasphemy and creates the ultimate separation from God that can’t be turned around. Someone might say well God is a just God and he will forgive me no matter what. Yes God is a just god and He wants what is best for us however ultimate we have to make the choices we make and there are always consequences to our choices.
Earlier I touched on the topic briefly of the rolls of male and female after sin was brought into the picture. I would like to elaborate more on this and what the Bible tells us. In Genesis chapter 3 we saw that when sin came into play God told woman that she is to conform to her husband for her part in the sin. In the New Testament we see a better description of this from the Apostle Paul. In Ephesians chapter 5 Paul talks about man as being the head of the household just as Christ is head of the church. Wives are to be submissive to their husbands, as this ties back into the creation of human life and the original sin. However husbands are to love their wives just as Christ loves his church. We need to show our wives the same kind of love and commitment we show not only to Christ but to ourselves as well. This is the role set forth in the commandment from God after the original sin. This doesn’t mean women are held captive by having to submit to their husbands. This just clearly means that as husbands being the head of the house they are there to be providers and protectors, just as Christ does for us his church. However when it comes to crucial decisions in the home the husband (out of respect for his wife) is to sit down and talk about the decision but ultimately it is up to the head of the house to make it.
Now to conclude with a final thought. Since sin has entered into this world we all have been held captive in a way. We are no longer free to roam around the garden having all of our needs met. Even though God provides for us it comes at a bigger price. As I mentioned earlier we have work hard for those provisions. We have to get dirty and sweaty to show God that we are sorry for what we have done so we can have food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our head. We also have to work on our relationship with God. No longer can we walk in the garden with God and talk to him in person and tell him our concerns and have him answer us right away. Instead God had to send his son Jesus to come down to this earth and die for all of us in order to bridge that gap between humanity and God. Even then Jesus who is God had to sweat and work hard in order for this to happen for us. When Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane it says in scripture that Jesus was so distraught that he was sweating blood because of what he was about to do for humanity. To sum up Anthropology in my words I would say looking at it from a Christian viewpoint that it is the doctrine of humanity trying to make things right with God because of our sinful nature. To me that is what ultimately sets us apart from the other living creatures on earth and the reason we have been created in the image of God.