Theses on Mankind
Theses on Mankind
I. God created man in his own image, male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27)
II. The distinction between male and female is an order of creation through which God increases and blesses mankind. (Gen. 1:28; 2:24; Ex. 20:14; Matt. 19:6)
III. Consequently, the honor due parents from their children is also an order of creation commanded and blessed by God’s Word (Ex. 20:12).
IV. According to God’s institution, the family grows by marriage, birth, and adoption by which members of different families are truly brought into families that are not theirs by birth. (By Bryan Wolfmueller)
V. This honor of the fourth commandment does not preclude or exclude showing love and compassion for strangers from outside the family or from other lands (Lev. 19:33-34; Luke 10:36-37), and presumes this love and compassion for “strangers” as our own brothers and sisters according to the flesh, all descended from Adam and Eve (see point V.).
VI. All men are descended from Adam and have received:
1. Commands and blessings particular to Adam and his offspring distinguishing them from the rest of creation. (Gen. 1:28-29; 2:16-17)
2. The hereditary curse through which all mankind are under divine wrath and judgment. (Gen. 2:17; 3:19; Rom. 5:12)
3. The promised Seed, the second Adam who is God’s Son born of the Virgin Mary, who saves mankind from demonic lies, sin, God’s wrath, and death. (Rom. 5:17-18)
VII. Though mankind was eradicated by God’s anger in the flood, according to his mercy God spared Noah and his family though whom every man, woman, and child owe their existence. (Gen. 10:32; Acts 17:26)
VIII. Though all men were gathered in common idolatrous cause soon after the flood, God scattered the peoples according to various languages to the ends of the earth. (Gen. 11:7-9)
IX. The nations, or groups of families relating to each other by language, lineage, custom, or government, are raised up and brought down by the Lord according to his good pleasure in the course of history. (Deut. 31:3; Jer. 1:10; Job 12:23-25; Ps. 82)
X. There is no promise that a particular nation or language will persist through time or will gain ultimate superiority over the earth.
XI. Only the church, the sheep that hear and follow the voice of the Good Shepherd (John 10:27), has the promise that the gates of Hell will not overcome it (Matt. 16:18).
XII. The notion that race or permanent divisions of peoples are orders of creation analogous to the three estates of the church, family, and government is not attested by the Holy Scriptures. **
XIII. The characteristics of men, such as language, color, manners, etc., belonging to groups sharing a common culture and ancestry are accidental and not essential to their persons or their humanity.
XIV. It is God’s will that men from all nations, tribes, peoples, and languages will be united around the throne of the Lamb by common faith and share in the same salvation. (Matt. 28:19; Rev. 7:9)
** Theses Supporting XIII
I. Christ redeems what is essential to man.
1. Christ redeems a human body and soul.
2. Christ’s redemption of the body is sufficient for the redemption of all bodies of all peoples despite their varied external attributes.
3. Christ’s redemption of the soul is sufficient for the redemption of all souls of all peoples despite the various attributes of the soul.
II. That Christ’s redemption of mankind encompasses “all nations” (Matt. 28:19) regardless of color, language, lineage, and customs, shows that such characteristics are accidental and not essential to mankind. (Eph. 2:15)
1. Far from showing a discriminatory attitude against people outside his ‘tribe’ on account of their language and customs, Christ commends them for their faith alone. (Matt. 8:19; 15:28)
2. Despite Paul’s rebuke of Cretan manners, he does not exclude them from the highest gifts of grace in the gospel. (Titus 1:12-13)
3. Paul’s rebuke must be taken in the spirit of pastoral care and not as an unchangeable statement against a certain tribe or race of men which is exegetically untenable.
4. It is neither unreasonable nor unbiblical to suppose the attributes of the Cretans have changed over the years.
III. The judgements men make about other groups or individuals are, therefore, human and prone to change and error.
A. Brian Flamme