Lord, What is Man?

ABSTRACT: In this essay, philosophical anthropology is considered from the viewpoint of biblical exegesis. Our summons to self-knowledge is discussed in the light of immanence of the Kingdom of God in the human being. Humanity is argued to consist of a three-fold structure: outer, inner, and divine.

Psalms 144:3

The theme of my paper is philosophical anthropology in its proper sense, i.e., the understanding of human nature. Philosophy is a speculative discipline and we have to choose a basis for our reasoning. Let us consider the human being from the viewpoint of the Holy Bible. I chose the Bible, but I am sure that any Scripture of the world's religions might be such a source.

It is superfluous to point out that using the Bible as the ground for reasoning of philosophical anthropology should not imply any theological bias. Otherwise it would be not philosophy but something else.

Let us determine the association among the following sayings, which I select to juxtapose by their clear references to the Kingdom of God. "The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which ... when it is grown ... is the greatest among herbs" (Mt 13:31). "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field" (Mt 13:44).

These sayings I put on one side, and the following ones on the other:

"Behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (Lk 17:21). "Seek ye first the kingdom of God ... and all ... things shall be added unto you" (Mt 6:33).

From all the above said we emerge with the following idea. Inside a human being there is something little and hidden, a treasure, which may be found in spite of its small measure. But when it is discovered it may and must become unimaginably great.

This conclusion is probab...

... middle of paper ...

...ed by the hands of people for meetings and the Divine service, is dashed into little pieces by the testimony of the Bible.

"God ... dwelleth not in temples made with hands " (Acts 17:24). The passages just cited do not at all contradict the proposition that "the Lord [is] in his holy temple" (Hab 2:20). On the contrary, this statement is one more evidence that God's abode is specifically within man. We just must strictly distinguish between the temple made with hands and the true holy temple not of human making, which is the human being. The final emphasis is easy to place, again with Paul's help. Of course, the Lord [is] in his holy temple, "which [temple] ye are" (1 Cor 3:17).

Work Cited

The New Oxford Annotated Bible: With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, New Revised Standard Version. Michael D. Coogan, editor. New York: Oxford UP, 2012. Print.