Introduction:
The classic formulation of
theological anthropology was largely based on the story of the creation and
fall of Adam in Gen.1-3. The focus was
on Adam, who was understood in a double way.
On the one hand, he was taken to be the historically first individual
human being. On the other hand, he was
taken to be the scriptural ideal type or paradigm of ‘human nature’ as such
(after all, the Hebrew word from which ‘Adam’ comes is the generic term for
mankind). The view of human nature
generated by this story has two major themes: (1) a picture of the place that
human nature has in the structure of cosmos God created, and (2) a picture of
humankind’s unique capacity for communion with God-what has traditionally been
called the imago Dei (Image of God). We
will attempt to explore these two themes in brief:
