Anthropology
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
Anthropology is derived from the two Greek words (ἄνθροπος) meaning man and (λόγος) meaning word or study. Creation anthropology is an effort to study humans from the perspective that we are the result of divine creation. Like other fields of creation science, anthropology relies upon religious texts for insights into the origin and nature of man. It deals with the study of the revelation of the nature of man both before and after the fall, and both before and after the flood.
Contents |
Fundamental concepts
- Man was created in the image of God.
- Morality is real and objective.
- After the original creation, humanity rejected morality and reason, resulting in the decline of humanity.
The origin of humanity
Evolutionary paleoanthropology holds that humanity evolved from a common ancestor with the apes over millions of years, and that there is no inherent biological difference between humans and animals, plants, or fungi, because humanity is merely a particular variety of animal which developed a particular set of genetic characteristics in order to survive and reproduce successfully.
By contrast, creation anthropology holds that humanity was created from the dust of the ground by God, in the "image" of God:
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Genesis 1:1-31
The Image of God
The "Image of God" is interpreted by most creationists as being allegorical; that we are made in his "Spiritual Image." A few creationists, however, such as Extraterrestrial creationists believe that the phrase "Image of Elohim" was meant quite literally.
Nature of Man
Within creation anthropology, mankind is viewed as the special creation of God, endowed by God with dignity, honor, authority, and responsibility.
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: Psalm 8:4-6 (KJV)
I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. Psalm 82:6 (KJV)
Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Luke 20:36 (KJV)
Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? I_Corinthians 6:3 (KJV)
However, mankind is also subject to corruption and sin; the replacement of Truth with Deception, Light with Darkness, and Justice with Sin. It is this capacity for good and evil that brought about a variety of moral codes.
Evolutionary anthropology sees man as having evolved from previous forms of life to contemporary forms. During this process, humans have developed various behaviours which have given them advantages in surviving in their particular environment and culture. These behaviours depend on the circumstances and what is advantageous in one place may be detrimental in another.
Creation anthropology, however, sees man as having fallen from an original state of Innocence and Righteousness as created by God. After that fall, man developed a number of codes of morality (and often immorality) that deviated from True Morality, resulting in a deterioration of man's condition from that original State of Grace. Mankind is only able to improve his condition to the extent that he practises God's law, namely, to "Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God."
The nature of morality and immorality
Mainstream anthropology holds that moral codes are social constructs and conventions which were developed by early human society. These constructs do change over time; they are not immutable. For example, the practice of slavery was once accepted by many people as morally right and possibly beneficial to the slaves; now it is seen as an abomination by most cultures. These moral conventions spread because they effectively organized human society, thereby encouraging reproduction and the spread of those ideas. There is therefore nothing fundamental about these moral codes; they evolved and spread because they helped survival or improved the life of humans who lived under them.
By contrast, creation anthropology holds to the concept of Natural law, that is, that codes of morality are absolute, because they are established by God, and conform to Reason. Actions are not good or bad because of their effectiveness at permitting reproduction, but they are absolutely and objectively right or wrong.
While the moral law is absolute, human moral codes may or may not align themselves with God's law. Often, they do not. Occasionally, human moral codes may prohibit things which are permitted by God's law (for instance, exceeding the posted speed limit on a motorway). Other times, human moral codes may permit things that are prohibited by God's law (for instance, eugenics). Within Creation anthropology, human societies function only as well as they adhere to God's absolute law.
When a society falls away from God's law, reform becomes necessary. One example of a society returning to God's law would be the abolition of slavery in the United States. Abolition was largely driven by abolitionists, who were largely Christians. Abolitionists argued that it was immoral for one human to own another, because all humans were created in the image of God, and, in the words of the United States Declaration of Independence, "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights."
The Tao
In The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis argues in favor of the concept of natural law, and against the concept of subjective morality. He identified his concept of objective natural law as the Tao. The Tao, or Way, encompasses the principles and codes of behavior by which humans were intended to operate. They are encapsulated by Lewis in the Christian principle: "Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself."
Lewis argued that although the Tao is absolute and objective, it is not natural to most men. Most men will not follow the Tao unless they were taught to value what is right and hate what is wrong from a very young age. He argued that the purpose of schooling was to inculcate the values of natural law within students, and referenced several other thinkers who supported the idea:
Aristotle wrote that the aim of education is to make the pupil like and dislike what he ought, so that when the age of reflective thought comes, the pupil who has been thus trained in 'ordinate affections' or 'just sentiments' will easily find the first principles in Ethics: but to the corrupt man they will never be visible at all and he can make no progress in that science. Eth. Nic. 1104, 1095.
In Plato's Republic, the well-nurtured youth is one 'who would see most clearly whatever was amiss in ill-made works of man or ill-grown works of nature, and with a just distate would blame and hate the ugly even from his earliest years and would give delighted praise to beauty, receiving it into his soul and being nourished by it, so that he becomes a man of gentle heart. All this before he is of the age of reason; that when Reason at length comes to him, then, bred as he has been, he will hold out his hands in welcome and recognize her because of the affinity he bears to her.' Republic 402a.
The early Hindu concept of the Rta corresponds to the pattern of nature and supernature which is revealed alike in the cosmic order and the moral virtues. Righteousness, correctness, order—the Rta—is constantly identified with satya, or truth, corresponding to Reality.
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)
Lewis argues that the mainstream view of human morality will ultimately create "Men without chests"—that is, men who have no courage or moral virtue, because they will take no pleasure in the Objectively Good, nor hate the Objectively Bad. Having no fundamental values upon which to base their virtue, they will degenerate into animals capable only of following their instincts.
From the creationist point of view, when human societies deviate far from God's law, we decay. When we enact and practice God's law, we thrive.
Codes of morality and immorality
The original sin occurred in the garden of Eden, at a time when Adam and Eve were innocent. They had no knowledge of good or evil; they were naked, and were not ashamed. They were vegetarians. They did not labor. God's only command was that they not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because it would result in their death. This command they violated.
Adam and Eve violated God's command, and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Instantly, they experienced shame for the first time -- they realized they were naked and covered themselves to hide it. They also hid from God. As a result, God removed them from the garden, and cursed them. Specifically, Adam was forced to work to provide for himself and his family, and Eve was given pain in childbirth.
Within a single generation, humanity degenerated from life in Eden to envy and murder. Cain, the son of Adam and Eve, killed his brother Abel.
Genesis reports that during the next 1600 years, humanity degenerated, and became totally corrupt and violent. During this period, only two men are recorded as being just: Enoch, whom God saved from death because of his righteousness, and Noah, whom God saved from the flood.
By contrast, mainstream anthropologists consider that clothing is a necessity in some environments for survival and in others it is adopted for decorative or ritual purposes. Humans may also ascribe characteristics of morality or immorality to various types of dress within their own society but these are not universal around the world. A woman in a strict Islamic society would be considered to be behaving immorally if dressed in conservative Western clothing.
One method of enforcing moral behavior is to develop the concept of a God or gods who can reward or punish humans for their behavior. Almost all human societies consider murder, rape and incest to be morally wrong. They are also likely to cause the destruction or disintegration of the society if they become widespread. So morality can be seen as an adaptation by humans to discourage behaviors that are detrimental.
Noahic covenant
After the flood, God established the Noahide laws. These are interpreted in the Sanhedren as:
- Do not murder.
- Do not steal.
- Do not worship false gods.
- Do not be sexually immoral (forbidden sexual acts are traditionally interpreted to include incest, sodomy, male homosexual sex acts and adultery)
- Do not eat anything of the body of an unslaughtered animal (This is a humanitarian command; in many regions the practice was to cut meat from animals still alive, despite the suffering caused. See Kosher).
- Do not blaspheme.
- Set up righteous and honest courts and apply fair justice in judging offenders.
These laws are to apply to all the descendents of Noah, meaning all of humanity. The Talmud says: "Righteous people of all nations have a share in the world to come" (Sanhedrin 105a). Any person who lives according to these laws is known as "the righteous among the gentiles". Maimonides states that this refers to those who have acquired knowledge of God and act in accordance with the Noahide laws.
Law of Moses
When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, God gave them the ten commandments on tablets of stone. Additionally, the book of Leviticus recounts many more laws which apply only to Israelites. God gave these commands to the Israelites that "He might be their God and they might be His people." However, these laws applied only to the Jews. All non-Jews remained under the covenant of Noah.
Jesus
- Main Article: Jesus Christ
Jesus stated that he came not to replace the law of Moses, but to fulfill it.Matthew 5:17 He instructed people to continue to follow the Law of Moses, but also challenged many other laws developed by the Pharisees, such as laws of the Sabbath. He also reinforced and restated the law of Moses by declaring the Greatest Commandment to be: "Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself", two commands taken from Deuteronomy, and he gave his own disciples a new commandment, to love one another as he loved them.
Christianity
After Jesus, Christian views of morality diverged greatly from traditional Jewish views.
Jews continued under the Mosaic and Levitical law, and held that non-Jews remained under the law of Noah.
Within Christianity and the subsequent fusion of Hebrew and Hellenic thought, however, views of morality began to change a great deal. The tradition of St. Augustine developed the doctrine of Original sin, that is, the idea that Man is born evil due to the curse of Adam, and can only be reconciled to God through the blood of Christ. The tradition of Pelagianism, however, held that Man was born good, and remained capable of choosing God and Truth on his own right. Subsequently, an almost infinite variety of doctrines and codes of morality all developed under the title of "Christianity."
Muhammad
- Main Article: Muhammad
In the 6th century AD, Muhammad established Islam, which holds that the Five pillars of Islam are the proper means by which all men are to attain righteousness and be reconciled to God.
Determinism and Free Will
Mainstream anthropologists hold a spectrum of views regarding the degree to which human behavior is determined.
- Social Darwinism, a minority opinion among anthropologists today, holds that human behavior is determined by genetics.
- The majority position today holds that human behavior is determined primarily by environment, and secondarily by genetics.
- Creationists hold a spectrum of views regarding the degree to which mankind's actions are determined, as opposed to being free choice.
- The tradition of Pelagianism holds that mankind is born with the full capacity to choose.
- The tradition of Molinism holds that man's free choice and God's predestination are compatible, because God arranges circumstances knowing how mankind will choose to respond, so that the result of both God's plan and Man's choice is the same.
- The tradition of Augustinian theology holds that mankind's fate is determined, and mankind has no free choice.
Mankind as good or evil
Creationists hold a spectrum of views regarding the degree to which mankind's nature as "good" or "evil."
- The tradition of Pelagianism holds that mankind is born good, and free to choose to remain in the good, or choose sin and death.
- The tradition of Arminianism holds that man is born corrupt, but capable of choosing God's grace.
- The tradition of Augustinian theology holds that mankind is born into Original sin, and is therefore incapable of redemption without salvation by God.
Mainstream anthropology does not divide human nature into "good" or "evil." Human societies exhibit a wide range of behaviours, some of which, such as cannibalism, may be morally abhorrent to members of other cultures while others are almost universally acceptable. These behaviours evolve due to the particular circumstances of a society and should not be judged by scientists as good or evil.
News
- Anthropologist resigns in 'dating disaster' - Panel says professor of human origins made up data, plagiarized works. WorldNetDaily February 19, 2005
 Browse |
Related References
- “Reasonable Science” and the Antiquity of Man
- Anthropology, Questions and Answers
- Which Came First, the Pyramids or the Flood? by Alden Bass
See Also
| |||||||||||
Categories: Human | Science | Anthropology | History
