The Truth Project: Lesson Three

Lesson 3 - Anthropology: Who is Man?
What is Evil? The question should be referred back to the world because we have an answer and the world does not.
Man has a huge propensity for good, yet he does so much evil. He longs for relationships, yet he is so alone. WHY?
In the Cosmic Battle (Truth/reality vs. Lie/illusion), the most pernicious lie concerns Who Is Man? What is his essence, his moral state, and his need?

The states of man are like the modes of a watch (time/alarm/stopwatch/etc).
These are the modes of man:
1. Created – Innocent Genesis 1:27
The Fall (no way to get back)
2. Fallen – Sinful Romans 5:12, Genesis 6:5 Death--->2a. Hell Revelations 20:15, Hebrews 9:17
Fallen Man: Evil, Dead, Blind, Deaf, Lost
“You can’t slander Human nature – it is worse than words can paint it”---C.H. Spurgeon
Salvation
3. Redemption – Redeemed Revelations 5:9 Death--->3a. Glorified 1 Corinthians 15:42
Saved Man: Saints, Priests, Called Out, People of God

Sanctity of Human Life – even fallen man still bears God’s image, just as redeemed man still carries the sinful nature. Galations 5:16-17

There has been a deep rooted atheism in Human Psychology ever since the fall.---R.C. Sproul
The Cosmic Battle does not absolve us from responsibility for our actions [ie. we can not excuse our actions by saying that ‘the devil made me’ or ‘it isn’t my fault, I have a sin nature!’ etc.]

Man’s Essence: made in God’s image, dualistic (having flesh and a spirit).
Man’s Morality: Fallen
Man’s Need: Redemption

According to Humanism’s viewpoint, the non-reality of the supernatural means that man does not have a spirit. Humanism leads to absolutely NO differentiation between animals and humans: “a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.” This degrades man rather than promoting him. It also leads to the radical environmentalism that we see today.

The culture also says that man is not evil, despite all the evil things that he does. Therefore, since we are not evil, we should encourage our nature because that will make us happy – we should do whatever we want to do. (According to Abraham Maslow) NO!!! Colossians 3:5-10
Culture says that man must reach a point of self-actualization, while Christianity says that man is evil.

The Christian view of Man VS. The Cultural view of Man.
Created in God’s image – Goo to Man through Evolution
Created perfect, now fallen – basically good, just get in touch with himself
Needs grace – needs to be oriented around and focused on himself

Rousseau: Man is natureally good, as long as nothing foreign to him corrupts him.
He believed that Christianity was just such a foreign corruption.
Carl Rogers: Man isn’t evil, the culture makes him evil [And just where did the culture come from????]
Ask a humanist: Why does evil bother you? You look around the world, and you badger us for an explanation of evil, but why does evil bug you? Isn’t it a part of Natural Selection? Isn’t it men getting in touch with their inner selves?