Series Intro

Every month in 2022 I will be writing a blog post about anthropology, humanity, and sexuality. This series of blog posts will be used to foster discussion and to drive the reader back to Holy Scripture to learn about God’s grand design for men and women. I hope and pray these blog posts will offer greater clarity about God’s design for men and women. And I also pray that learning about God’s design for men and women will result in praise.

Anthropology 101

There is mounting pressure on the church to conform. The pressure is coming from every angle. The questions faced by the church are: What does it mean to be a man or woman? Can a woman become a man, and can a man become a woman? What are the implications of how a person understands the self? All these questions are fundamentally anthropological. Anthropology is the science of human beings. From a theological perspective, anthropology deals with the origin, nature, and destiny of human beings (per Merriam-Webster). If a Christian wants to know what it means for a man to be a man and a woman to be a woman, then the origin, nature, and destiny need to be found in Holy Scripture. When a Christian searches the scriptures for their origin, nature, and destiny, the world of anthropology is intersecting with theology and, suddenly, the doctrine of humanity. Here is a insightful quote about the doctrine of humanity.

The doctrine of humanity is one in which we would expect ourselves to be naturally interested, because we are humans. But there’s more to the importance of the category of the theology of humanity than just that we happen to be interested in it. It’s actually objectively an important part of God’s ways with the world: of all the things God is doing with all creation, he has a special eye on the part of creation that is created in his image—that is, humanity.– Fred Sanders, “The Doctrine of Humanity,” in Lexham Survey of Theology, ed. Mark Ward et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018).

The path toward having a solid understanding of humanity begins with a foundation of biblical anthropology. Thorny questions can only receive answers after the foundation is laid. 

So Many Questions

I want to argue that discerning proper anthropology is one of the essential conversations that needs to take place in the local church. At present, we are not having a conversation. However, if you’re going to understand yourself, you need good anthropology. Further, your anthropology affects how you understand others. If anthropology reveals the nature of a human being, then how did the nature of a human being come to fruition? Is the nature of a human being malleable, or is it fixed? A bevy of questions can be asked when delving into the deep end of anthropology. 

The cultural conversation about sex and gender is anthropological. Since the dawn of time, sex and gender have been inseparable. Some would even use the words synonymously. But in the 21st century, because of philosophical hocus pocus that makes transubstantiation look like a fact, sex and gender are two different malleable concepts. Here is another question. What roles, if any, are there for men and women? Until recent church history, the church has made clear distinctions between men and women in the home, church, and society. Your anthropological foundation will inform how you answer the question about the roles of men and wome