The Human Being: A Theological Anthropology

414 Pages·2016·13.26 MB·English

by  Hans Schwarz

The Human Being
A THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Hans Schwarz
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, u.K.
© 2013 Hans Schwarz
All rights reserved
Published 2013 by
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49101 I
P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.
Printed in the United States of America
19 18 17 16 'I '4 13
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schwarz, Hans, 1939-
The human being: a theological anthropology I Hans Schwarz.
pages em
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8028-7°88-9 (pbk.: alk. paper)
I. Theological anthropology - Christianity. I. Title.
BT70I.3.S31 2013
233 - dC23
2013°29737
www.eerdmans.com
Contents
Preface xi
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction
I
PART I: A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE WORLD
Chapter I: The Biblical Perspective
1. The Old Testament View
a. Humans as Living Beings
b. Humans as Bodily Beings 7
c. Humans as Theomorphic 9
d. Human Reason
10
2. The New Testament View 13
a. Bipartite and Tripartite Anthropology 14
b. Flesh or Spirit? 17
c. Two Kinds ofE xistence 19
3. God's Special Creature 20
Chapter 2: The Biological Perspective
1. Human Origin 31
v
CONTENTS
a. The Evolutionary Theory of Charles Darwin 32
b. The Present-Day Picture 33
c. Biological and Theological Evaluations 40
2. Human Constitution 46
a. Distinction between Humans and Animals 47
b. Inborn Forms ofH uman Behavior 51
Physical Constitution 51
Social Behavior 55
Cultural Evolution 60
3. Human Potential 63
a. Neurological and Genetic Aspects 63
b. Behavioral Aspects 69
Chapter 3: The Philosophico-Religious Perspective 83
I. The Option of Secular Existentialism 84
a. Life Bounded by Death 84
b. Humanity Thrown upon Itself 88
2. Utopia from the Left 91
a. A New World through Revolution 91
b. Concrete Utopia 95
c. The Right to Be Lazy 98
3. The Impact of Religiosity 100
a. A Homespun Religion 102
b. The Ambivalence ofS ecular Humanism 112
c. Faith in Human Reason (Humanist Manifestos I and II) 112
d. Humanist Manifesto 2000 115
e. A Modest Assessment oft he Future 116
f
The Postmodern Turn II9
vi
Contents
PART II: HUMAN FREEDOM
123
Chapter 4: The Perspective of the Sciences 125
I. The Perspective of the Neurosciences I2.S
a. The Ambiguity ofF reedom I2.6
b. The Functioning oft he Human Brain I2.7
c. Consciousness, Free Will and the Brain 133
d. Religious Consciousness 13S
2.. Freedom from a Psychoanalytic Perspective 137
a. The Intrinsic Form ofE vil (Freud) 138
b. The Integration ofE vil (jung) 143
c. The Tragedy ofE vil (Fromm) lSI
d. An Inborn Inclination for Evil IS6
Chapter 5: The Biblical View of Human Evil 159
I. The Old Testament Sources IS9
a. The Mysterious Cause ofE vil 161
b. Human Responsibility for Sin 166
2.. The New Testament Outlook 168
a. Humanity's Intrinsic Sinfulness 169
b. Humanity's Unnatural Nature 170
Chapter 6: The Understanding of Sin in the
Tradition of the Church 177
I. The Extent of Evil in Human Beings 177
a. The Problem ofE vil (Augustine) 178
b. The Appeal to Human Responsibility (Pelagius) 183
c. Captive, Yet Responsible (Augustine) 187
Phase I 188
Phase 2 193
Phase 3 196
d. Overcoming Evil through Human Willpower (Erasmus) 2.01
vii
CONTENTS
e. The Person as Torn between Two Powers (Luther) 205
f
Humanity's Shattered Image 2II
2. The Kingdom of Evil 215
a. Jerusalem and Babylon in Conflict (Augustine) 216
of
b. The Kingdom the Devil (Luther) 221
of
c. The Kingdom Sin (Kant, Ritschl) 227
d. Evil as Societal Power (Rauschenbusch, Reinhold Niebuhr) 233
3. Sin in Contemporary Discussion 241
a. The Enigmatic Shape ofN othingness (Barth) 242
b. Estrangement and Self-Destruction (Tillich) 245
c. The Self-Centeredness ofH umanity (Pannenberg) 249
d. Sinful Social Structures (Liberation Theology) 254
e. Against a Lop-sided Understanding ofS in
(Feminist Theology) 259
f
Feet of Clay 264
PART III: HUMANITY AS A COMMUNITY
OF MEN AND WOMEN 267
Chapter 7: Distinction and Unity of Man and Woman 269
1. Difference and Equality of Men and Women:
The Issue of Gender 270
2. Men and Women in the Bible 273
a. The Old Testament Account 273
b. The New Testament Account 274
of
c. The Account the Nascent Church 275
3. The Phenomenon of Human Sexuality 280
a. The Peculiarity ofH uman Sexuality 280
b. The Old Testament Assessment 281
c. The New Testament Assessment 283
d. Dualistic Asceticism 287
viii
Contents
e. Sexuality as Part of God's Created Order
f
A New Look at Human Sexuality
A Sexual Revolution?
The Homosexual Controversy
4. Marriage
a. Marriage in the Old Testament 310
b. A New View ofM arriage: The New Testament 313
c. Against a Prevailing Culture: Early Christianity 317
d. Marriage Is No Second Choice: The Reformation 321
Marriage, Sensuality, and Celibacy
The Practice of Marriage
Parenthood and Family
The Challenge of Today 333
Children and Working Spouses 339
Chapter 8: Human Destiny 343
I. Work and Vocation 344
a. The Respective Station (Stand) as Location
for Mutual Responsibility 349
b. Vocation and Calling 351
Vocation as Divine Service 351
Vocational Mobility
354
2. The Final Destiny of Humanity 357
a. The Discovery ofL ift beyond Death 359
b. The Old Testament Account 363
c. The New Testament Perspective 367
d. Rival Options: Reincarnation and Immortality 369
e. The Materialistic Attack 376
f
Ultimate Fuljillment 380
ix
CONTENTS
In Conclusion
Index of Names
Index of Subjects
Index of Biblical References and Other Ancient Texts
x
Preface
Anthropology is a vast terrain even if narrowed down to Christian anthro
pology. I have in front of me three anthropologies. One rather recent publi
cation is the massive two-volume work by David Kelsey, Eccentric Existence:
A TheologicalAnthropology (Westminster John Knox, 2009). It is written
in the ecclesial context for the believer who wants to know what being a hu
man being entails. It may also be beneficial for people outside the theologi
cal circle who want to know what Christians think a human being is all
about. Central are the incarnation and resurrection ofJesus Christ, human
sin, and redemption. It is strange that in his extensive bibliography Kelsey
does not even mention W olfhart Pannenberg's Anthropology. Genetics is
given at the most four pages, concluding with Charles Hodge. This is very
different from the anthropology by Philip Hefner, The Human Factor: Evo
lution, Culture, and Religion (Fortress, 1993)' It reflects Hefner's long inter
action with scientists and so we read about nature and nurture, altruism
and love, and freedom and determinism. It seems to be written for those
who today want to know whether one can still say human beings are created
in God's image and what that means. Finally, there is Pannenberg's Anthro
pology in Theological Perspective (Westminster, 1985). He writes first about
the human being in nature, and then inquires about the uniqueness of hu
mans, their openness to the world, and their being created in the image of
God. There follows the social being where identity and sin are important is
sues. Finally, Pannenberg touches on culture and the social institutions and
the place of humans in the world. Here I see the attempt to connect knowl
edge about the faith with knowledge about the world to show that both be
long together in elucidating who we are. To sum it up, a theological anthro
pology can be written in many different ways.
Xl
PREFACE
This anthropology was written with a threefold emphasis: the biblical
testimony, the historical unfolding by its major voices through the centu
ries, and the present affirmation of this tradition in view of rival options
and of the factual evidence the various sciences have unearthed. It starts
with our place in the world, ponders our freedom, and concludes with the
premise that we are a community of men and women in this world and in
the world beyond.
Some of the issues presented here I have treated more extensively in
earlier works but have updated everything as much as possible. Of course,
much more could have been said, but I trust that the general thrust has be
come clear.
At this point I want to thank first of all my longtime secretary
Hildegard Ferme, who typed the manuscript with her usual speed and accu
racy; Dr. Terry Dohm, who undertook the arduous task of improving my
style; Dr. Bong Bae Kim, who helped with compiling the indices; and my
colleague Dr. Rudiger Schmitt, a geneticist, who read through the science
section to correct any inaccuracies. Nevertheless, all remaining mistakes
must be attributed to me. But, as our son once said when he was a little boy,
"Nobody's perfect!" We are still on this side of heaven.
HANS SCHWARZ
xii