The Truth Project--Anthropology

PRAYER REQUESTS THIS MORNING: Kathleeen Gutierrez asked that we remember her mother who was laid off from her job of thirty years. Kathleen's mom will soon be seeking new employment and, after spending thirty years on the same job, will likely face challenges in adjusting to the expectations and requirements of the contemporary workplace. Please pray for Kathleen's mom as well as for many others who are seeking employment during this time of economic downturn. PRAISE: Marty Holmes reported that his grandmother turned 90 years old today. She is still a vibrant, active person who lives alone, drives her car, sells Stanley Home Products, and still mows her own yard. Wow! What a blessing she must be to her family. I suggested to Cindy that she should start mowing the grass if she wanted to live to be 90 years old, but she's not buying it.

Today, we began an in-depth examination of Biblical and contemporary ideas about the nature of the human race. The focus of the discussion is "anthropology", the study of man: Who is man? Where did he come from? What is the meaning and purpose of existence? In the course of this study, Dr. Tackett demonstrates that the answers we bring to these questions have a direct bearing upon our approach to another pressing problem, one of the thorniest and most challenging of all--"why is there evil in the world?"

Dr. Tackett begins to discuss basic assumptions about mankind in today's lesson. Here we again discover a fundamental conflict between Christianity and the perspective of contemporary culture. The Bible teaches that man consists of both body and spirit and is created in the image of God; our culture assumes that he is purely material, the product of mindless, purposeless forces.

Christianity represents evil as the product of the Cosmic Battle that rages within man--the conflict between humanity as it was meant to be and what it has actually become as a result of sin. Godless philosophy and psychology, on the other hand, can suggest only one possible solution to the problem of evil in the world; man must throw off the restraints of superimposed social conventions and institutions (i.e. any kind of moral standard) and pursue "self-fulfillment" to the fullest possible extent. This is what Dr. Tackett calls the "pernicious lie."

Some viewers--even those who consider themselves Christians--may have difficulty accepting the idea that "self-fulfillment" and the call to "follow your heart" are inconsistent with a Christian worldview. Others may object to Dr. Tackett's assertion that a great deal of the radical social and political activism we see in the world today is driven primarily by secular man's sinful desire to throw off the shackles of "God's social design." All will find it stimulating and profitable to wrestle with the question he poses: ""Why do non-believers and evolutionists find evil so troubling?"

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES FOR TOUR # 3:

Gal 5: 16-17 Gen 1:27 Rom 5:12 Gen 6:5
Rev 20:15 Heb 9:27 Rev 5:9 Rom 7: 14-20
Rom 6:12 Rom 8:5-14 1 Cor 15:42 Rom 8:13
Col. 3:5-10 Rom 7: 24-25
These verses refer to both the first half of Tour 3 which we viewed today and the second half which we will view next Sunday.
[Accessed: https://www.mytruthproject.org/small_group_support/tours/anthropology/lesson_guide_1...]

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR HELP IN SPONSORING THE MISSIONS LUNCHEON AFTER CHURCH TODAY. OUR CLASS PAID FOR THE FOOD AND DRINK FOR THIS LUNCHEON. IN A SMALL WAY, WE HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE SPREADING OF GOD'S WORD AROUND THE WORLD.