1. Why is evolution rejected as an explanation for the origin of Creation? Evolution is unverified, cannot find the missing link, cannot account for the increased complexity of man, and cannot demonsrate the origin of man from organic substances.
2. Explain the phrase ex nihilo. Ex nihilo means that God created the universe out of nothing.
3. What are the possible explanations of creation that have been suggested by Christians?
4. How long ago did God create the world? The Rationalistic approach says millions of years. The Biblical approach generally says six to ten thousand years. My choice is the latter.
5. What is a species? A species is a form of life that demonstrates the characteristics of originality, universality, and immutability in regards to its entire being.
6. What proofs are suggested that all mankind is a unity?
7. What is the image of God in man? The image of God in man includes a rational aspect, a moral aspect, a spiritual aspect, and includes immortality.
8. What are the views that suggest the source of man's immaterial nature? The pre-existence view, the theory of knowability, the position of Special Creationism, and the Traducian position.
9. Define pre-existence as a theory and explain its weaknesses. This theory says that immateral man existed before Adam. However, the Bible does not support that. This view denies man's unity, and it does not harmonize with Biblical teaching of sin. People do not remember an immaterial existence before Adam.
10. Define Special Creation as a theory and explain its weaknesses. Special Creation says that the immaterial part of man is created by God at birth. However, this implies that God is guilty for sin. This form of creation would demand ex nihilo for each immaterial part, plus God is finished with His acts of Creation.
11. Define Traducian as a theory and explain its weaknesses. The Traducian view says that the immaterial part of man is the result of propagation between a man and a woman. This view provides a good explanation for man's inherited moral depravity. All men were seminally in Adam, and each member is present in him totally, both materially and immaterially.
12. Explain your view that suggests the source of the immaterial nature of man. The Traducian view is the accepted view of most Christians, including myself.
1. Define trichotomy, monism, and dichotomy. What are the strengths and weaknesses of these positions? Trichotomy says that man is composed of three separate substances: body, soul, and spirit. This position seems to have some support from Scriptures, where separate words are used for soul and spirit. At the same time, though, many words are used to describe the immaterial. Monism denies the spiritual realm and attempts to explain man as just material substance. However, a monist cannot explain how a person can exist outside his body. Also, this view is not accepted by very many. Dichotomy says that man is composed of two substances: the material which is the body and the immaterial which is the soul and/or spirit. This view is widely held among Christians. In Scriptures, the words "soul" and "spirit" are used interchangeably. The Bible also teaches that man's entire being is body and spirit (or soul).
2. Why are there so many words used in Scripture to define man? Because there are so many different facets to material and immaterial man. We have a body and a sin nature. We are mortal beings. We will have a glorified body. We think. We make choices. We have a conscience.
3. Define the heart. Why is this the predominant term for the function of the immaterial part of man? The heart is the seat of the entire inner man. It concerns the whole inner life of man. The heart is the seat of thought and reflection. It is the seat of emotions, of moral consciousness, and of our will. The heart is the term used for the function of the immaterial man because it is a unity and functions as such. It is where our thoughts and emotions are manifested and also where our choices are made. It is the power that drives us to do right or wrong.
4. List the immaterial aspects of the heart. How do these parts relate to the other? The heart is the seat of thought and reflection, the seat of emotions, the seat of moral consciousness, and the seat of volition. The immaterial aspects of these various seats are perception, thinking, anger, fear, excitement, remorse, sex, moral consciousness, and the will.
5. Trace the influence of evil in the heart. Man is essentially evil because his heart is evil. The heart is the motivating power of man. When he does wrong, it is because he has been motivated by lust or strong desire. The heart is blinded by sin so that he cannot understand spiritual things. The heart is hardened by sin so that he is driven to a state of continual unbelief.
6. Trace the influence of salvation in the heart. All the functions of the heart are involved in salvation. Man must have some knowledge of God and must act in faith on that knowledge. The heart acts as the agent of faith. Saving faith is believing with the heart. Then, the heart becomes the seat of regeneration, being indwelt by the Three Persons of the Trinity.
Tom of Spotswood "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews
Lessons 20 & 21 - Ecclesiology
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