Anyone could look around at our world today, and tell me
that the issue of the creation of man is present. People are writing articles
about creation and others are setting up museum displays on the evolution of
man. There are cases arguing about what to teach in schools, people losing
their jobs to what they believe, and books being written about how we were
created everywhere. The constant argument about how we came about is obvious in
our culture today.
In his book A Clear View, Keith Ogorek, says, “In
most cases, what a person believes about the origin of man is influenced by his
view on other matters such as the nature of the universe and the existence of
God.” So this tells you that this issue of where we came from is a lot more
important then what most people think. In his book, Ogorek gives the example
that if a person believed in the big bang theory, they wouldn’t believe that
God had created Man. If they didn’t believe that God created man, they wouldn’t
believe that man was created in God’s image. This is how our belief in the existence
in man effects our other beliefs.
Over the years, people have narrowed down into four
different beliefs, how a person views man’s purpose and destiny. The first one
is that man is fated and subject to the forces of nature. This belief
originated in Greek mythology with the gods and forces around them. The second one, that man is the center of the
universe and can determine his own destiny. In other words, man is now the
master and not the subject. The third one is that man is subject to chance, and
that nothing is sure, predictable, or controllable. It also means that man is
simply subject to chance. The fourth and last belief is that man was created by
God for a specific purpose and destiny but can at the same time, make choices.
This is what Christians believe about man and our purpose.
Man is fated and is subject to the forces of nature
Like I said
before, this way of thinking started in Greek mythology. The consequences of this
position are that a person feels like they are not in control of anything and that
everything just happens because of “fate.” There is nothing personal about it;
your life is just kind of “falls on you.” This makes someone believe they are
not important and that no one really cares about who they are. In society this
would mean that if you were rich, it was not given to you or worked for, it
just “fell on you.” This way of thinking, like I said, is not personal at all.
Man is the center of the Universe and can
determine his own destiny
This view is very personal but in
a different way. A person believes that everything is
about them and that the world
revolves around them. Man is his own god and can determine his future. This
belief has consequences because everything becomes about that person and not
about others. If you had a whole society
believing they were their own gods, you would have utter chaos.
Man is subject to chance, and nothing is sure, predictable, or
controllable
This
way of believing is what you would today classify as existentialism. Everything
is by chance because we have no idea what is going to happen. A famous quote
that sums up this view is from Forest
Gump, “Momma always said life is like a box of chocolates. You ever know
what you’re gonna get.” Meaning, sometimes you would have good things happen and other times bad things
happen, but you never know. This way of thinking has consequences because you
just live life with no purpose. This creates a world of people who believe they
don’t matter.
Man is created by God with purpose and destiny but can also make
choices
Like
I said before, this is the way most Christians believe because it follows the teachings
of God’s word. Now with all of the other beliefs, I have listed the
consequences of believing this way. Because this is what man was created for
and is the truth, it has no error. But I am not saying that Christians have not
struggled with this idea and because of that, I will go into this more. The issues
are that some people struggle with destiny by comparing it to fate. Fate and
destiny are two different things, but can sometimes be used as the same word. This
view of man is sometimes hard to understand because we have a destiny, but we
also have freewill. How does that work? Well the best I can explain it to you
is that God has a plan for us but at the same time gives us a choice to decide,
already knowing what we will decide. Does that make sense?
As you look at these beliefs, you might recognize some of
them. This is because our culture has so many different views on the purpose of
man. One way people choose to share their ideas is through the media. If you
look at one movie, most of the time, due to the mood, theme, and purpose of the
movie, you can tell the worldview of the producers. This is because we as
humans show what we believe through our actions and our words.
It is important as a Christian to know and understand other
people’s beliefs because they will work to your benefit in the end. What I mean
by this is if you can tell something about what a person believes, usually you
can figure out everything else they believe. Now this doesn’t always work but
it helps when you are trying to witness to people. This knowledge does come in
handy though because you can detect people’s worldviews. I am blessed to be
surrounded by Christians who for the most part believe what I believe. The bad
thing about this is I cannot witness to people as much as I want to.
Going back to the different views on man, you start to
wonder who is in authority in these different views of man. Your authority can
change over time due to what you believe in, but one thing is always true, “…we
are all ruled by something or someone when making decisions.” (A Clear View, Keith Ogorek, pg 61) This
could mean that you are ruled by yourself, others, gods, or God. Now I believe what Ogorek means by this
statement is that something is always influencing your decisions, whether it’s
yourself or God. I also think he is saying that how you view authority lays
your foundation for what you believe. Sometimes people don’t want someone else
to have power over them so they rely on themselves. With this belief comes consequences
because we are human and are imperfect. We cannot rely on ourselves because of
our imperfection. This is why it is sometimes hard for nonbelievers to give all
of themselves to God because they want to be in control. This is why where you place your authority is
so important.
The last thing I want to talk about is the statement man is free. This is a tricky statement and I don’t know if I agree with it or not. For one, man is free, free to do what he wants because he has freewill. God does have a plan for us but we have a choice to follow him or not. The reason why I don’t agree with this statement is man is not “free” necessarily. We have an authority and things we need to do and we are held accountable to those things. So we are not necessarily free. If you have any opinions on this statement please comment because I would love to get different views on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment