EGYHAZISMERET/ FOUNDATIONS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH

Preface:
(1) We all stand before God: in awe of him and in wonder of his creation: we are all learners
together. I am here to learn from you as much as, hopefully, you from me.
(2) Not solely cognitive information transfer: I hope you discover more about God and Christ and,
if you are a believer, to move forward in your faith.
(3) Discussion sought: Not all lecture and note taking thus these set of notes.
(4) Not presume to have answers to all your questions, but I will aim to give biblical parameters. In
the Bible, God does not answer every question only the big ones we really need answered.

Being Human: Imago Dei

Other people I know who went to secular universities partied their way
through school for four yearsThey never figured out who they were, and
no one questioned them as to whether there is more to this life than getting
drunk every weekend.1
What is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
Ps 8:4-8

Important questions. And a sad comment on life as a student! For the next few weeks, we shall take
the opportunity to discuss questions like these and to think alongside this young student, John
Bylston, about the meaning of education and, more deeply, about life. Questions like: Who am I?
What is life all about? What do you want in life?
I.
I.A.

Introduction

Historic: Two Main Views of Humanity

A.1.
Materialistic world-life view
Man as essentially a very advanced form of animal or a very complex machine. Both views, man as
advanced animal or complex machine, deny immortality, and instead: what you have here on earth is
all you get, nothing more exists.
o Examples include: scientific reductionism (man is only a mere bag of chemicals) and
economic reductionism (Marxism: man is unit of production or the inverse, Capitalism: man
is unit of consumption).
o Tends to predominate in modern culture.
A.2.
Idealistic/ Platonic world-life view
Dualism exists between bad/imperfect material world of shadows and appearances, and
good/perfect real spiritual world of ideas, forms, the divine, a kind of Gnostic dualism.
o This view not as predominate in post-modern culture.
o More prevalent in the church, ironically.

John Bylston, age 22, philosophy major Westmont College, Ca, a Christian liberal arts school, quoted in Washington
Times series on USA Christian Higher Education.
1993 and 2012 John F. Brouwer

EGYHAZISMERET/ FOUNDATIONS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH

II.

Non-Biblical Data Concerning Humanity

II.A. Culture: Two Main Views of Humanity

Lots of competing views of humanity circulating in culture:
Some are true, and some are false and misleading
Discussion Q: How does culture portray being human? What is your view of humanness or
humanity? Today in Hungary, what does it mean to be a human being?
What are your examples?
Two main views contained in popular culture
A.1.
Sex: Anthea Turner & internet pornography
First example: Anthea Turner in strawberries magazine cover sitting in my doctors office.
Second example: Illustrates all pervasive presence of this view internet pornography.2
- 28,258 users of internet pornography/sec.
- $3,075 spent/sec for internet porn.
- 68,000,000 daily pornographic search engine requests (25% of all search engine requests).

A.2.
Money, power and position: Corner office & Dream existence
First example: top floor corner office, floor-to-ceiling windows = Power
Second example: helicopter, trophy wife, pool, mansion house = Dream existence and big Forints
Discussion Q: What messages do these pictures communicate?
Do they treat interior or exterior traits?

II.B. Government
The previous 40-45 years of Communism taught two-to-three generations of Hungarians a certain
view of humanity:
1. The individual is nothing. Individuals have little or no inherent worth or value.
2. The state is everything. Only the state or larger body politic has inherent worth and
importance.
Discussion Q: How do you see the legacy of Communism in Hungary? What is the legacy for you?

II.C. Past Events

Our past influences our view of humanness, humanity in at least four dimensions.
C.1.
Pain
Causes us to put up defensive walls. We do one of three things in order to deal with pain:
o Tortoise: Retreat into our own world for safety. We feel safe because we created it.
But does it reflect reality? Does retreating reflect a true view of humanity?
o Grizzly bear: Attack those who cause us pain. Develop a me verses them mentality.
Attack may become how we live life, even to the point of becoming our identity and
determining how we relate to others.
2

http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/internet-pornography-statistics.html. Accessed February 16, 2012.

1993 and 2012 John F. Brouwer

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o Obedient servant: Yield to the other person, do their exact bidding. If we do what they
want, they will not hurt us; they may even like us.
C.2.
Conditional Love
What is meant by the expression conditional love?
o Either real or perceived: leads to a performance mentality. If I do/am ........, then mom or
dad, grandma or grandpa, will love me. Discussion question: As a college student, do
you ever feel like you must perform for your parents?
o Spiritually, this leads to legalism (list of do's and don'ts) and a works based faith rather
than a grace based faith. Leads also to Big F vs. little f confusion.
C.3.
Guilt, for failure to meet the standard
o Failing to meet the standard causes us to feel shame. Instead of feeling worthy, we feel
worth-less, without value. We then tend to substitute doing kinds of things for being.
C.4.
Anger
o If held for a long time, becomes inwardly directed. It acts like an internal acid, a Pacman, eating away at our self image. Eventually anger can even become our self image.
o Acts like a heat seeking missile searching for a target, and when it does not find one it
returns to its sender you or me!
II.D. Family
Parents and close family members influence how we view ourselves as a human being. They do this
in both positive and negative ways, often unaware, and usually mixed together. Examples include
o father vs. Father
o expectations creating false guilt vs. true guilt
Summary: Our culture, government, past, and especially parents, in concert together, have
communicated various messages and views (some of which likely conflict) of humanity, what it
means to be truly human.
III.

Is It Important to Discuss Humanness?

III.A. Students:
III.B. Teachers and ministers:
III.C. Parents: form and nurture your children.
III.D. Workers: how you view yourself and colleagues, suppliers and customers.
Ultimately: Being human is core of Christian life.
Discussion Qs:
- What other messages or beliefs have you seen or heard?

What kind of person do you want to be/become? to marry?

1993 and 2012 John F. Brouwer

EGYHAZISMERET/ FOUNDATIONS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH

IV.

Biblical data on humanness

IV.A. Creation: Pure, Pristine Image

o Mankind is made in the image and likeness of God.
o Image and likeness are synonymous; two terms used for emphasis not distinction.
Begs the question: What does it mean to be in the image and likeness of God?
Practical example of a car:
A car has certain structures (tires, engine, air and gas filters, oil, seat belts and car body) so it will
function as a car: 1. Dependable/reliable, 2. Safe and 3. Economical transport from one location to
another. Similarly humans

A.1.

Structure: Who am I?

Humans have structural capacities or abilities, abilities which characterize and differentiate what
kind of creature we are.
1.a.

Creative capacity

An aesthetic ability by which we create and appreciate beauty

Gen. 1.1 God created the heavens and the earth. God creates; man is in Gods image and has
some of the same abilities/capacities as God,
Therefore man creates.
Discussion Q: What is the difference between how God created and how humans create?
- God created ________________; man creates with material God made out of nothingness.
- Have you thought about nothingness?
-

We create for our own end and purpose; God creates out of nothing, for others.

Question: What did God do before he created?

1.b.

Volitional capacity

A will by which to make decisions

God has the ability to make decisions, humans are like God, and thus humans have a will or
capacity to make decisions.
Example, Terrible Twos: not called Terrible for nothing. Will is being developed and exercised.
Discussion Qs: How many of our decisions are really our own?
-

Made by others for us?

To what extent do magazines read, TV watched determine what we buy?

**To what extent do our parents rules cause us to do the exact opposite?

Important to teach ourselves, fellow students, our children, business associates, church members, to
be conscious of the decisions being made. Make intentional decisions. Not float.
Discussion Q: Are you meant to be like a tree branch in a river, just floating along? Or, can you
make intentional choices in life? Do you make choices?
What kinds of decisions do you make? How do you decide?
1993 and 2012 John F. Brouwer

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Question: Once God decided to create, what kind of a creation did He create?
1.c.

Rational capacity

Reason by which we can think

God is rational, thinking being; man is in Gods image/likeness, thus man is rational, thinking being.
Capacities work together, in unison. For example: Be creative, as you consciously make rational
decisions.
Question: What did God say about creation after he created?
1.d.

Moral capacity

A conscience by which we can determine right from wrong, good from evil
Simply because we have the ability to determine right from wrong, does not mean that we use it!
In fact, we often act and do not think about the moral rightness or wrongness of our action(s).
Discussion Q: in the Post-Modern world, what is the chief virtue?
Gods moral nature demonstrated by tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Gen. 2:9, 17.
God has a capacity to decide (volitional capacity) on moral rightness or wrongness;
Thus man has the capacity to decide (volitional capacity) on moral rightness or wrongness.
1.e.

Emotional capacity

Emotions through which to feel

Sense of this with Gods pronouncements: It is good;
And with God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Gen. 3.8.
More clearly: I Jn. 4.8 God is love
Rom. 1.18 wrath of God.
o Love and wrath come together on the Cross.
Holiness of God = Gods mercy/love and Gods justice. [We return to this later]
God emotional: Jesus wept and deeply moved in spirit at Lazarus tomb, Jn. 11.33-35.
Not British stiff-upper lip: that is unbiblical & not human.
Jesus was passionate: You brood of vipers! Called anyone a viper lately? Mt. 23.33.
Begin to see how the capacities/abilities work in unison, in concert with each other.
o Not function independently: flow and work together, form a unified whole.
Can you imagine an angry Jesus, saying: I spoke you into existence. Now I am going to speak you
out of existence! [Jesus emotions were governed by his rational and moral capacities.]
o The rational capacity informed the creative ability: God created a well ordered universe.
o The moral capacity informed the creative ability: God created a morally good universe.
o Now emotional: God enjoys his creation.
1.f.

Spiritual capacity

A spiritual aspect which seeks transcendence and possesses capacity to worship

God is spirit. Gen. 1.2: The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Yet Adam and Eve had
relationship with God Gen. 3.8: God walking in Garden with Adam and Eve.
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Recall the story of Jesus, not traveling with his parents to the Temple when he was 12.
Returning to Nazareth, parents could not find himJesus was nowhere to be found!! They
looked for three days! No Jesus! Lk. 2.42-50.
How would your parents react? - do?
Discussion Q: What caused Jesus to ask, Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I
must be in my Father's house? (Lk. 2.49)
Answer:
o Jesus, that is, God, had the capacity (and the need) to worship, and
o Similarly humans because we are made in the image and likeness of God.
Question: what is the chief aspect of man made in Gods image?
1.g.

Relational capacity

Personal: the capacity and yearning for relationship

Of the seven characteristics, this is the chief defining mark of being in the image and likeness.
Discussion Q: Why would I say this?
Answer: How does God exist? What is the very nature of his being?

o Let us make man in our image, in our likeness Gen. 1.26.

o Jesus creates creation; then Spirit of God hovers over the waters. Gen. 1.2, also Jn. 1.3-4.
o See John 14 and 16, for clearer view of the Trinity.
Thus, if the very nature, the very essence of Gods being is deep, abiding relationship,
and since humans are made in Gods image and likeness,
then the very nature and essence of a human-being is relationship!!
Relationship is the very core of being human. Anything less is sub-human.
That is why materials like Anthea Turner in Strawberries which essentially make a person into an
objecta body, not a person with whom another human can have relationship, that is why it is
morally flawed and wrong. It violates Gods created order.
That is the structural aspect of humanity, the capacities and abilities which make us human. But how
are these abilities to function?
Discussion Q: How are they used today? Which are most important for you?
To what end or purpose are these capacities to be devoted? Does it matter?
Is there purpose, and therefore meaning in life?

A.2.

Function: Do I have purpose and meaning in life?

2.a.

Knowledge (image)

Question: Can you guess what word might appear in Col. 3.10?
Read Col. 3.9-10: is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator...
Knowledge = Yada` (Hebrew: )(.
Knowledge, as Paul would have perceived the word, is essentially a relational term:
Look at Gen. 4.1 and see what we learn about the word: knowledge.
o Gen. 4.1: Adam yada` (knew) Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain.
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o No greater relational intimacy possible than sexual intercourse, quite literally the two
become one.
Yadah is personal and relational knowing, not detached, intellectual head knowledge.
o Not Greek contemplative, philosophical, distant, isolated reasoning.
o Not Platonic/Idealist: separation of bad/imperfect material world of shadows and
appearances from good/perfect spiritual world of ideas, forms, the divine.
o Not Enlightenment Rationalism as typified by Descartes famous saying: Cogito ergo sum
I think therefore I am.
Yadah implies great personal intimacy: a knowing and being known, by first-hand personal
experiential knowledge.
o Paul in Philippians 3.7-9: I consider all things loss compared to the surpassing greatness of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have lost everything.3
o Mary in Lk. 1.34: Mary said to the angel, How will this be since I do not know a man?

2.b.

Righteousness and Holiness (likeness)

Eph. 4.22-24: put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Interesting: like God. What does this imply?
Returns us to Gen. 1.26: man made in Gods image and likeness!
The new nature for believers is a return to the original image and likeness of God at creation.
Christian character is the restored image of God.
Righteousness
Again, essentially a relational term:
What is righteousness?
o Righteousness is the state of being rightly related first to God; and then, by being rightly
related to God, to self. A persons conscience is clear; guilt from sin is removed; and they
have peace. Then, being rightly related to others and to creation. Righteousness is not just
something (a glob) which is stuck into believers, making them righteous; but also a
way of living life.
o Legal rightness (forensic, per Martin Luther) before God is certainly the major part of this,
but not the only thing.
Righteousness is a sign of Christian maturity.
See Heb. 5.14ff., the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from
evil.
Note combined use of moral capacity and rational capacity (moral reasoning).
Practice and effort required.
Christian maturity is not what the church often portrays it to be:
Not preaching & teaching. Not evangelism. Not speaking in tongues, prophetic words.
Christian maturity is the ability to distinguish good from evil.
Requires practice and experience, not natural:
For example, airplane executive who made $12,000,000 mistake.
Q: what would you boss do if you made a 2,400,000,000 Ft mistake?
3

The verb ginsk (to know) carries the sense of knowledge gained through personal, first-hand experience, to
experientially know. Ginosko contrasted with oida.
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Holiness
Literally, being cut apart from the ordinary or profane, implies connection with and service for God.
Holiness = kadosh (Hebrew).
The supreme characteristic of God: Is. 6.3: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God
Discussion Questions: English superlative formed how? Answer: add -___ to adjective.
How is Hungarian superlative formed? Answer: add ____- as prefix and -__ as suffix.
How does Hebrew rhetoric form superlative? Answer: _________ _______ _______ = superlative
Therefore the characteristic Christians should develop:
1 Pet. 1.16: Be holy because I am holy
- Assumes that .

A.3.
Ultimate Aim: Love
Followers of Christ called to love God supremely and to love neighbor as self
The Greatest Commandment
And one of the scribesasked him, Which commandment is the most important of
all? Jesus answered, The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is
one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your
neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. Mk. 12.28-314
Raises the questions: What is love?

More importantly: What do you love?

Love devalued by overuse: have you ever said or heard someone say
I love your new purse your new Facebook page/picture ...your dog.
Or, I love to swim in the Balaton to dance go clubbing fill in the blank.
When we love everything, we love nothing
Love has no meaning; it loses value
Discussion Q: What do you love?
(Also: What is love, really? Is there source for love?)

A definition of love and for its source

Love is the essential nature of God: a joyful commitment to the well being of another at any
cost to myself.5
Love comes from God
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of
God and knows God. 1 John 4.7
SUMMARY2 Cor. 3.18: Humanity reflects or mirrors Gods glory.
4

The Greatest Commandment is repeated in Mt. 22: 35-39 and Lk. 10: 25-28
Larry Crabb, School of Spiritual Direction. Essential nature is the inclination or movement that flows out of ones
being. The philosophical/theological term for essential or dispositional nature is ontology.
5

1993 and 2012 John F. Brouwer

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Christian character is consequently to Love like the Trinity in all relationships of life.
IV.B. Fall: Corrupted and Distorted Image
Discussion Q: How did the fall affect humans?
See Gen. 2.25; 3.8-10

B.1.
Image and likeness remain after the fall
o Image, Gen. 9.5-6: God institutes the death penalty for murder because of the value God
places on the image of God.
o Likeness, James 3.9: A persons salvation is questioned for cursing men made in the likeness
of Godwhether the person being cursed is a believer or not!
B.2.
Structure/capacities remain but distorted and mis-directed
o Consequences: twisting, distorting and corrupting of true humanity
Love becomes lust
Dominion becomes destruction
Work becomes wealth accumulation.
o Capacities/abilities remain: creativity, will, rationality, emotions, relational.
B.3.
Functions and ultimate aims essentially lost
o Function lost: consequently no purpose because not function correctly as originally intended
For knowledge, righteousness and holiness
Ultimately to love God and to love neighbor.
o Now functions in wrong way: directed to self or sarx (in Greek).
o No longer God and others centered.
B.4.

Unholy trinity now draws and governs humans

For world, Devil and flesh
Ultimately to serve self: me, myself and I
Yes, in the past you lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers
[Devil] that are above the earthIn the past all of us lived like them, trying to please our
sinful selves and doing all the things our bodies and minds wanted. We should have suffered
God's anger because we were sinful by nature Eph. 2.2-3

Helpful to compare love with fallen human nature of sinful selves

- Love: is a joyful commitment to the well being of another person at any cost to myself. (agape)
-

Fallen humans: a strong commitment to well being of self at any expense to others. (sarx)
Self/ sarx: exact and complete antithesis, inversion of love.
For discussion: Have you experienced either love or sarx, or both? How so?
Which might you prefer? And why?

A computer example helps us understand how the fall changed humans

Imagine that each human being is composed of both hardware (physical body) and software,
including a first operating system (FOS) and also a multitude of thirdparty-generated
software applications (3rdPSA) from our family heritage The operating system and other
software is what runs the computer (us), and represents our deeply held worldview beliefs
and desires. The challenge is that at birth, our FOS and 3rdPSA are riddled with viruses
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EGYHAZISMERET/ FOUNDATIONS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH

small and large. The viruses do not fully shut down our capacities, but prevent us from
functioning as originally designed.6
Our original example of a car: still runs, but not dependable, safe, or economical
o tires are flat
o sugar in gas tank and dirt in oil
o radiator low on water and spark plugs missing
Car no longer really functions as a car should work
Humans corrupted and twisted: love lust; dominion destruction; work wealth
accumulation.
Discussion Q: What examples illustrate this?

IV.C. Restoration: Renewed Image

Discussion Q: How does conversion affect humans? our humanity?

C.1.
Justification: Regeneration/Born Again
o Means: double accounting transfer of 2 Cor. 5.217
o God restores and renews image and likeness but not completely. Perfection awaits heaven
o Function again as true humans:
- for knowledge, righteousness, holiness
- love God supremely and love neighbor as self
o Followers of Christ again mirror Gods glory. 2 Cor. 3.18
Car: tires inflated, petrol cleaned of most of the sugar, but not all; much dirt removed from oil; some
water added to radiator.
Justification is a completed, one time act by God, not ongoing.
C.2.
Sanctification: Growth in holiness/godliness
o Joint: Believers have a part and God has a part
- Phil 2.12-13: 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as
in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good
pleasure.
o Progressive and ongoing
- Col. 3.10: is being renewed (present active indicative);
- 2 Cor. 3.18: are being transformed (present active indicative).
Present on-going, continuous action
Process not an arrival
o God not hindered, but confident he will complete
- Philippians 1.6: being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will
carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
- See also: Heb. 12. 5-12: Heavenly Father who helps believers with sanctification.
Sanctification is a joint, ongoing, progressive process.
We return to our computer example
6
7

Paragraph is adapted from Klaus Issler, Living into the Life of Jesus, ebook, Downers Grove, 2012, paragraph 2.164.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

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God-the original designer-intervenes in our life and miraculously regenerates and brings us into his
family and orb of influence. God radically changes our potentiality at the core of our being by
replacing our FOS with his powerful Born-Again operating system (BAOS), a replacement only
the original designer can make in this closed architecture context. Now we have the potentiality to
function at optimum levels. But we still have all those 3rdPSA riddled with viruses that distort our
functionality, even affecting the BAOS at times. The new BAOS will never have viruses itself, but
its operation is influenced by the poorly made 3rdPSA What God wants to do over time is to
replace all those virus-tainted 3rdPSA we currently have with his own God-designed software
applications. These are guaranteed forever to never have any viruses!

IV.D. Consummation: Perfected Image

When Christ returns, converted believers will be perfectly and completely restored. Each and every
structural aspect will always, and in all ways perfectly function for God's glory. They will have
perfect, new spiritual bodies (1 Cor. 15.34-54).

V.

Application

V.A. Forget this!

Not something one would expect to hear in a lecture!
Why forget: the past several weeks we dissected humanity. In a sense we have killed it. But
Humanness is living. It is all about life; it is vibrant, vital, and organically whole.
A.1.
Process to internalize truth
o Means to change character: anticipates final part of this course and other courses
o Before forget, apply simple three step process to internalize
- Applicable for this or any other truth biblical or otherwise.
- Think about: get this in your mind to renew thought. Rom. 12.1-2. See parts and whole
- Meditate on: ponder in daily life. Phil. 4.8. Did I live humanly today? Ponder the various
capacities and how they should function together for knowledge, righteousness and
holiness, and ultimately love.
- Preach to yourself: self-talk by giving yourself mini-sermons, talk to yourself.8
This three-step process will help internalize what we have discussed in this seminar. You must first
get truth in your head. And then the knowledge must seep down to your heartthat is the ponder
and preach partso it becomes a dynamic part of who you are. Biblical truth is intended not only
for the head, but yadah, for the heart as well, to become part of who you are.
A.2.
Why necessary to forget
o Life not static, but dynamic and flowing; over-think problematic
o Sarah Hughes and Olympic gold medal
8

In thy meditations upon all these incentives of love [for God], preach them over earnestly to thy heart and plead
with it by way of soliloquy, till thou feel the fire begin to burn.Do not only think on the arguments of love, but
dispute it out with thy conscience, and by earnest reasonings with thy heart, endeavour to affect it. There is much
more moving force in this earnest talking to ourselves, than in bare cogitation, that breaks not out into mental words.
Imitate the most powerful preacher and just as he pleadeth the case with his hearers so do thou in secret with
thyselfIt is a great part of a christians skill and duty, to be a good preacher to himselfTwo or three sermons a
week from others, is a fair proportion; but two or three sermons a day from thyself, is ordinarily too little. Therefore I
have added soliloquies to affect your hearts, and kindle love. Richard Baxter, A Christian Directory I, 155.
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Discussion Q: How can we apply these ideas in our respective fields? How practice this?

V.B. Being Human is Being Spiritual

To be human is to be spiritual
Rom. 8.29 believers to be Christ like.
The problem is not being too human, but the exact opposite not being human enough.
Christian spirituality and character is not something out there, something extra human.
Spirituality is human: a restoration of humanity.
B.1.
Sermon on the Mount
o Spiritualizing best avoided, rather allow to humanize.
o Describes and illustrates true humanity in great detail. Paints a beautiful, expansive mosaic
of what it means to be human.
B.2.
Beatitudes (Matt. 5.3-12)
o Blessed flows naturally when people follow their true nature.
o True humanity described at its deepest.
B.3.
Be true to our true self.
o Ice cream scooper illustrates.
Discussion Q: In the past, how have you viewed Christian spirituality?
Perhaps you saw it as an other worldly kind of thing? (Harp playing with angels on clouds?)

As a corollary, in a negative sense we see this conflicts with the devil, world and flesh.
V.C.

Flesh (sarx) vs. humanity

C.1.
Being human confused with flesh
o Humanity is good, indeed very good; only flesh is bad
o Flesh = sarx (Greek); sarx is fallen image of man
- Augustine: flesh is the corrupted, twisted, distorted image of God.
- Lovelace: flesh is the whole human personality body, soul, mind, will and emotions
as they function apart from the presence and control of the Holy Spirit.

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C.2.
Flesh/Sarx is old nature to be taken off
o Col. 3.9: Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its
Creator.
o Eph. 4.22-24: You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old
self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your
minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
C.3.
Consequences
o Mortify (kill) the flesh: Col. 3.5 and Rom. 8.13 does not mean that humanity is bad; indeed
humanity is good, even very good (Gen. 1.31).
o Nor does it mean that believers should mortify (kill) their humanness in order to be spiritual
(Platonic or Gnostic view).
o Rather Christians should mortify (kill) twisted, corrupted image (human faculties/capacities
that function for self not God. Things like lust, destruction, wealth accumulation, etc.).
Discussion Q: As you look at life and society, what kinds of distortions or corruptions do you see?
What do you or have you experienced?

Christ: We have talked much about humans, but in Christianity we must always come back to
Christ. He is the focus and center. He alone offers the perfect example of true humanity.
V.D. Perfect Example: Jesus Christ
Christ is perfect image of God Heb. 1.3.
In Christ all the fullness of God dwells Col. 1.15-20.
D.1.
Jesus illustrates true perfect humanity
o Structural capacities (creativity, mind, will, etc.) always perfectly balanced
o Functioned perfectly for knowledge, true righteousness and holiness
o Love for God and for others: true unconditional love illustrated in real life
Observe how he lived life: study and reflect
D.2.
Gospels illustrate true humanity
o Jesus perfectly models true humanity and therefore
o Jn. 2: Water to wine; Jn. 3: Nicodemus; Jn. 4: Woman at well, etc.
Every Gospel vignette (story) of Jesus illustrates perfect, true humanness: all human
capacities working together in perfect harmony for knowledge, righteousness and holiness.
And ultimately for loving God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and loving our
neighbor as ourself.
Discussion Q: How do we see Christ using his divine/human capacities in these vignettes?

V.E. Beware Your Desires!

Eph. 4.22 states that the old self [sarx] is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.
Discussion Q: What are the consequences of this?

1993 and 2012 John F. Brouwer

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o Desires of the old self deceive. We think they benefit us; but in reality their fulfillment
corrupts true humanity. (like money or sex or power or prestige)
o For example, would you take a knife and stab yourself with it; or, mix lead or mercury or
arsenic in your drink? Nobody would ever think about doing that, yet daily we do the exact
same thing to our soulscorrupting them.
o Anthea Turner illustrates: Pictures portray a buoyant joy; article tells of her gray depression,
the consequences of her choices.
V.F. Every person is important
All humans are in God's image: therefore treat them accordingly. C. S. Lewis wrote
It is a serious thing ... to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to
may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to
worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a
nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of
these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and
the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another,
all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics ... It is immortals whom we joke with, work
with, marry, snub, and exploit immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
Weight of Glory

Discussion Q: What is your view of humanity?

1.
2.
3.

VI.
Conclusion
Christ himself, and his teachings reveal true humanity.
This is Jesus Christ. This is what the Bible teaches followers of Christ are to be and to become.
o For students: Who are you? Who do you want to be? to become?
o For parents: How do you want your children to turn out?
o For teachers: Is this what you want to develop/inculcate in your students?
o For pastors and church leaders: What you are instilling/nurturing in your congregation?
A biblically redefined humanism/humanist lies at the very heart of Christianity.
To be Christian is to be human; and to be human is to be Christian.
Q: Could this be the abundant life promised by Jesus in Jn. 10.10 and 5.40?
o zoe vs. bios
What answers have you developed?

1993 and 2012 John F. Brouwer

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EGYHAZISMERET/ FOUNDATIONS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH

GOD
BEING HUMAN

Ultimate Aim

Ungodly Function
& pulled by

Capabilities/Faculties

Godly Function

Ultimate Aims

1993 and 2012 John F. Brouwer

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