Chapters 53 54

PPt by Mark E. Hardgrove, PhD, DMin

Systematic Theology II
Chapter 53
“The Origin of Human Beings”

The Original Created Conditions
Created Guiltless and Innocent became Sinful
According to Genesis 1-2, Adam and Eve were created
with complete innocence. They were not only guiltless
of any sin, but also innocent of sin.
According to the NT, by disobedience Adam and Eve
became sinful (Rom. 5:12; 1 Tim. 2:14) and brought
condemnation on themselves and their posterity (Rom.
5:18).

Created Virtuous and Upright
Not only were Adam and Eve innocent (without evil), they
were morally virtuous , created with moral perfection, or
righteous.
The Supernatural View: A view held by Catholics that original
righteousness was not natural but supernatural.
The Natural View: A position promoted by Shedd, it held that
man’s righteousness was that natural state for man and that
sin introduced an unnatural state in the human condition.

A State of Moral Responsibility
Adam was free in that his actions were self-determined;
God specifically said, “You are free” (Gen. 2:16). When
Adam chose to disobey, God blamed Adam, asking,
“Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded
you that you should not eat?” (3:11, AMP). God’s words
point to a self-determined act.

Theological Basis for the Original
State of Innocence and Perfection
1. God is an absolute perfect Being.
2. An absolutely perfect Being cannot
produce an imperfect creation.
3. Therefore, the original creation God
made was perfect.

Three Views:
The Origin of the Human Soul
1. The Preexistence View
2. The Created View
3. The Traducian View

Three Views:
The Preexistence View
Two Forms of the Preexistence View
1. The Uncreated-Preexistence View
2. The Created-Preexistence View
These views contradict the clear
teaching of Scripture about the creation
of human beings.

Three Views:
The Creation View
The essence is that God directly creates a
new individual soul for everyone born
into this world. The body is generated
by his or her parents through a natural
process, the soul is supernaturally
created by God.

Three Views:
Creation of the Soul at Conception
There are various view as to the exact
moment of the creation of the soul.
Most evangelicals who hold the
creationist view maintain that the
creation of the souls by God occurs at
the moment of conception.

Three Views:
Creation of the Soul at Implantation
Some believe that the soul is created at the
moment the fertilized egg implants into the
uterus. The argument is that until
implantation the egg can still divide into
identical twins, if the soul is created at
conception, then two people would share
the same soul.
Geisler dismisses this argument.

Three Views:
Creation of the Soul after Implantation
Thomas Aquinas placed the creation of
the human soul well after conception—
40 days after for boys, and 90 days after
for girls.
However, with new scientific studies,
this argument has been abandoned.

Three Views:
Creation of the Soul at Animation
Some theologians have speculated that
God does not create a human soul until
just before the baby stars moving in the
mother’s womb. Another theory based
on outdated science.

Three Views:
Creation of the Soul at Birth
Some Christians argue that the soul is
created at birth. Their two main points:
1. Human life is biblically designated
from the point of birth (Gen. 5:1ff.)
2. Adam was not human until be began
to breathe (Gen. 2:7)

Three Views:
Creation of the Soul at Birth -- Geisler refutes this view on these points:
1. Adam wasn’t conceived and born like other humans; he was directly created.
2. His first breath is no more an evidence of being human, than his being created adult is a
sign of being human.
3. Breath, in the Heb. ruach, denotes the origin of “life.” It indicates when God have life to
Adam, not simply because Adam began breathing.
4. Other animals breathe, but they aren’t humans—breath does not determine “humaness.”
5. Some people stop breathing, but then are revived and sustained with aid of a machine.
6. One does not stop being human when they stop breathing. God’s Word teaches that
human being continue to exist after they stop breathing (Phil. 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:5-6; Rev. 6:9).
7. The Scriptures speak of human life in the womb long before breathing begins, namely,
from the point of conception (Ps. 51:5; Matt. 1:20).

Three Views:
The Traducian View
The word “traducian” come from the Latin
tradux, meaning “branch of a vine.” As
applied to the soul, it means that each new
human being is a branch off of his or her
parents; that is to say, in the traducian model
both soul and body are generated by father
and mother. ~Geisler

Three Views:
The Traducian View: Arguments in Favor of
1. Creation was completed on the sixth day
(Gen. 2:2; Deut. 4:32; Matt. 13:35).
2.Science shows that human life begins at
conception, humans have souls.
3.This view accounts for original sin.
~Geisler

Three Views:
The Traducian View: Arguments in Favor of
Geisler appears to favor the traducian view
and provides biblical “evidence” in support
of the traducian view.

Systematic Theology II
Chapter 54
“The Nature of Human Beings”

Biblical Terms for the Immaterial
Dimension of Human Beings
Soul
Hebrew, nephesh: Greek, psuche
Basically “soul” means “life.” It refers to
the principle of life in a human being, or
to that which animates the body.

Spirit
Hebrew, ruach: Greek, pneuma
Almost always refers to the immaterial
dimension of a human being. It is often
used interchangeably with the word
soul. Spirit is immaterial (Lk. 24:38-39;
Jn. 4:24).

Heart
Hebrew, leb: Greek, kardia
The heart (sometimes used to mean
“mind”) is the instrument with which we
are to worship God (Deut. 6:5). It is also
the seat of evil (Matt. 12:34). For better
of worse, it the heart reflects the whole
inner being.

Mind
Greek, nous
Refers to the immaterial dimension of a
human being by which he or she thinks
and imagines.

Biblical Terms for the Material
Body
Hebrew, basar: Greek, soma
Is normally used of the outer (material)
aspect of human nature (Matt. 10:28;
James 2:26)

Flesh
Hebrew, basar: Greek, sarx
Use of both the moral and resurrected
body.

Earthen Vessel (2 Cor. 4:7)
Used as an illustration of the human
body, since it is an outer structure
containing something else (a soul)
inside.

Earthly Tent (2 Cor. 5:1; John 1:14)
A figure of speech used to illustrate the
mortal body as a material shell that in
this world houses the presence of the
immaterial soul.

Outward Man (2 Cor. 4:16, KJV)
If the soul is the “inner man” then the
body is the “outer man.” The outward
person is visible, material, and tangible.
It is subject to decay and destruction
since it can “perish.”

The Relationship Between
Soul and Body
Anthropological Materialism
Affirms the material body, but denies the
existence of an immaterial soul. Only the
body exists.
Anthropological Epiphenomenalism
The soul is only a silhouette of the body; the
body is the to the soul what a tree is to it’s
shadow. The soul is reducible to the body.

Soul and Body
Anthropological Idealism
A non-theistic view that materialism is idealism.
Humans have a soul, but the body is merely an
illusion that exists only in the mind.
Anthropological Monism (Double-Aspect View)
Soul and body are two sides (inner and outer) of
the same thing. Body and soul are of one
substance, two aspects of the same entity.

Soul and Body
Anthropological Dualism/Dichotomy
Soul and body are separate and parallel entities;
like railroad tracks, they run side by side, but
never intersect. However, this lack of contact is
problematic in that they do appear to intersect.
Anthropological Interactionism
Body and soul are two different substances: The
intellectual soul (mind) is a thinking, non-extended
entity, and the physical body is a non-thinking,
spatially extended entity.

Soul and Body
Anthropological Pre-Established Harmony
A preestablished harmony exists between soul and body.
Though not directly aware of each other, they are
synchronized by God and thus connected.
Anthropological Hylomorphism
From two Greek words, the theory proposes that there is
form/matter unity between the soul and the body, just as
there is unity between shape and form of a statue and the
rock out of which it is made. Asserts that the soul (mind) is
to the body (matter) what ideas are to words: they form a
unity, inner and outer dimensions fo their holistic oneness.

Dichotomists & Trichotomists
Dichotomists
Argue that since soul and spirit are used interchangeably in
many passages of Scripture, a human being has only two
parts (body and soul/spirit). Verses where the two are used
interchangeably include Luke 1:46-47.
Trichotomists
Hold that a human being is tripartate (“having three parts”),
namely, body, soul and spirit. The following passages appear
to support the trichotomists’ view: Heb.4:12; 1 Thess. 5:23;
Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 15:44; Mark 10:5; 1 Cor. 6:19).

Elements of Human Personhood
Intellect: Self-reflective mind that have the power of
syllogistic reasoning. Redemption of the mind is
“renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col.
3:10).
Emotion: Feeling. Humans are capable of deep emotions
and feelings such as joy and sorrow.
Will: Choice. Humans were created with the moral capacity
to know right from wrong and to choose one over the
other.
Conscience: Moral Capacity. A God-given moral capacity
which enables us to recognize good and evil and provides
the potential to make the right choices, if we exercise our
will.

Chapters 53 54

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Chapters 53 54