How can  theological anthropology, a.k.a ‘The Doctrine of Man’, translate into the pulpit?  It is worth remembering that, despite the way in which a good theological anthropology has the potential to address the gospel to our contemporary world in ways that are both rich and profound, a concern for understanding the human condition theologically is not merely faddish. Quite apart from the Bible’s own insights into the nature of human being, theologians from Augustine to Luther and Calvin and beyond have spoken directly about humanity. Indeed Calvin opens his Institutes with the observation that the knowledge of God and the knowledge of man are, as it were, pieces of companion-knowledge: true knowledge of one leads to true knowledge of the other.

This is what makes theological anthropology theological of course, and not merely a self-centred study. A fellow theologian once said to me that the study of theological anthropology is not only faddish but only fascinating because it is so anthropocentric. Talking about ourselves is always interesting, but isn’t it merely indulgent? It certainly could be: but theological anthropology must necessarily decentre the human individual. It must start with the absolutely basic axiom: that man is a creature utterly dependent on the God of all things, and indeed as a creature is made by God to serve his purposes.

This is how it should pan out in the pulpit, too. Preachers will have a lot to say about human beings – and since most of their congregation will be human beings, then it is certainly worth saying it. Much of what they say, if it is true gospel, will be to upset the narcissism of the human race. It will show that human creatures are, if they consider themselves carefully, tragic figures: made for glorious purposes, yet unable to attain to them. Human being is a great question mark which leads us to seek a divine answer. And seeking it, we discover that a human nature is something that God himself takes upon himself and inhabits in order to redirect human beings to the purposes for which they were made.

While it would be a great idea to have a series of sermons directly addressing theological anthropological issues, I would like to show how theological anthropology can permeate our preaching of the Bible as a whole. The three great themes of the doctrine of humanity – or better, the three great acts in the story of humankind - are 1) creation in the image of God; 2) sin and 3) redemption and recreation by the incarnate Son of God. Without referencing each of these three, a theological anthropology is not fully an evangelical doctrine. The preacher shouldn’t isolate one of these without considering the others.

What do I mean? Well for example, the human body needs to be understood as a good gift of God the creator. That it is marred and scarred by sin and faces judgement is doubly tragic in the light of its created purpose. But the Son of God lived and died and rose again in the flesh that our whole selves including our bodes might be redeemed (see Romans 8). We now live in the middle of that story, our bodies called the ‘temple of the Holy Spirit’ (1 Cor 6) but still prone to sin.

Here are some anthropological themes that could permeate contemporary preaching. This list could form a series. But I think it would be far more powerful if these themes were to crop up again and again – if a preacher asked each week ‘which of these questions does my sermon touch on?’

1) what is an authentic human life? Contemporary discussions of career guidance and in education are full of assumptions about what a fulfilled and authentic human life ought to look like. The mantra is ‘be true to yourself’. Yet the gospel of the crucified celebrates a life given up to suffering and death before its time – a life that the disciples of Christ are called to imitate. And it points to the inadequacy of the human self as a reference point for itself. The euthanasia debate touches on this: without God, it becomes harder to see how a suffering life, or indeed how old age itself, fits within my idea of an authentic human life.

2) what is happiness, and how can I be happy? Related to the authenticity question is the ‘problem’ of happiness. Why is human happiness so elusive, even with everything we have? How can I be happy when there is such misery in the world, and when I know the end is coming unexpectedly? A Christian perspective does not deny the impermanence of human happiness, but it puts it in the context of the sovereign work of God in history.

3) how can I be truly free? Freedom is the holy grail of our times. It is the one unimpeachable good. Yet human autonomy has brought with it a number of little prisons: addictive behaviours; ill-discipline; lack of self-control; even loneliness. The Biblical diagnosis is that human beings were originally given freedom and responsibility within a coherent framework, but that this has been lost. In fact, the inability of human beings to exercise the freedom they have is a sign itself of the judgement of God – his ‘giving of them over’ to their own desires. The New Testament gospel of justification by faith (see Galatians) is the arrival of a new freedom in the service of a Lord whose ‘service is perfect freedom’.

4) how can I have what I want? 21^st century westerners know themselves as creatures of desire – desire for the possession of things, desire for sublime experiences, desire for other bodies. Eastern philosophy of course says that desire is at the root of all human suffering. There’s a wisdom to this, that many western people recognise; but they also know themselves profoundly as creatures of longing and yearning. Augustine in particular tells his own life story as a wrestle with his desires. Only, he didn’t deny desire. Rather, he found desire’s truest goal. The human being’s desires are good but disordered: we want for less than the highest good – namely, God. It isn’t that we want too much, in the end: it is that we don’t want enough.

5) who am I? The question of identity – related to the authenticity question – is a child of the individualism of our culture. What is it that makes me me among all the other mes? How will I find out? In our society, we attempt to construct selfhood through work, on the one hand, and buying products, on the other. Work gives us a sense of who I am and my purpose in life. It’s justification by work. And then I can buy a Holden and a iPad, and drink Coke (not Pepsi) and that’s how you’ll know me. The gospel tells the story of the futility of human attempts to construct an identity for ourselves, and the need for us to give away these attempts in favour of allowing God to tell us who we are. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s poem ‘Who am I?’ is a great exposition of the theology of human identity in Christ.

6) What is our place on the globe? The looming environmental catastrophe inevitably leads to questions about the human relationship to other parts of the created order. Actually labelling it ‘the created order’ completely changes the discussion of course. Many human beings keenly feel that something has gone terribly wrong here – our exploitation of the planet and our lack of care for the other species is an extraordinary tragedy unfolding before our eyes. The gospel is not a message merely about the salvation of people from the planet, but about the reconciliation of all things (Col 1:15f). Genesis 1 and 2, Psalms 8 and 104 and the Noah story are sharp rebukes to human abuse of the planet – on such things the judgement of God is coming.

7) Am I a spiritual being? While attendance at church has fallen, the sense that we are ‘spiritual’ beings has not abated. Membership of ‘church’ means allowing someone else to determine what this spirituality means, and so hampers my freedom to express this very personal side of myself. But I sense that my life is lived with reference to a higher power – I just wish I knew a language with which I could address my prayers to this power. I am searching for a sense of connectedness and peace. This vague language is nevertheless entirely conventional – we all seem to understand what people mean by it. The ‘Eat Pray Love’ ideal is addressed directly by the gospel of Jesus Christ – which gives us a direction for our prayers and a place for our spiritual selves to find rest.

8) What about my gender? The liberation of women that occurred in the early 1970s brought about a massive shift in gender relations – and much of it was for the better, and fairer. We need to recognise this: almost no-one I know wants to go back to the 1950s. And yet, tensions over the meaning and purpose of our sexed bodies and gendered selves have not disappeared - just shifted and changed form. We are still asking ‘what should my life look like as a man/a woman?’ The Bible gives a far more nuanced answer than we sometimes think – and it less prescriptive than we think. The emphasis is always on the mutuality of the genders – maleness and femaleness together comprise humanity, each not without the other (1 Cor 11). And the tension between the genders set in train with the fall is mitigated by the gospel of Jesus Christ which calls men to use their natural power advantage in loving and sacrificial service to the extent that Christ did; and women to let them. 

9) What is to become of me? The human future is uncertain, as well we know. We live in an age of cultural and personal anxiety. On the one hand, we have the promise of our exciting technological future – and the marvel of the advances we have witnessed in our lifetimes. On the other, we have the promise of financial and environmental and political collapse. Already we have seen the great tectonic plates of the global economy begin to shift. What will happen to us? Individually, I know I face (though I don’t want to face it) my own death. Will I survive it? Or is that all there is for me? The gospel makes things much worse of course, because it tells us that ‘man is destined to die once and afterwards face judgement’ (Heb 9:27) We are not merely creatures under the sentence of death: we are creatures who stand to give account to God for our lives. But the future of humankind has already been announced in the cross and resurrection of the man from the future. As Hebrews continues: ‘so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.’ (9:28)