Forget the title.  It's just to get some attention - for some very
important thoughts on Christian anthropology -  the
Christian doctrine of man.

Recently, I posted to Christian Newsgroups some of my own
thoughts on the question "What is Man?" (Psalm 8)  Of course,
my views are not often congruent with classical, orthodox
Christianity.  And my attempts to see homo sapiens in the light
of evolutionary (neo-Darwinism)  earned me some severe
criticism from more conservative Christians.  One accused me
of trying to destroy belief in man as made in the image of God,
a very important Christian doctrine.

This charge was  driven home to me this morning as I read Bishop
Spong's latest letter to the World Wide Web, on the subject of
Christianity's teachings re man.  It's very plain  Spong, too, thinks
our view of man is all important - to culture and to religion.
 

       Anthropology is the name of the academic discipline that studies
human nature,   human institutions and the interpretive myths of human beings. It seeks to  understand the operative definitions by which people live.
Christian anthropology  would, therefore, be an attempt to state the Christian
understanding of human   nature which inevitably would constitute the primary building block upon which  Christian theology would be built. If this primal definition is ever challenged or if it  ever proves to be either inadequate or false, the very foundation of Christian  thought begins to totter. If that challenge is not addressed, or if one concludes that it cannot be addressed, then the whole traditional Christian enterprise will collapse   before our eyes. This, in my opinion, is the reality faced by Christian believers at the  dawn of the third millennium. To speak to this crisis was the purpose for which I  wrote my most recent book, Why Christianity Must Change or Die. That is also why  I have called for a new reformation.   J.S. Spong     Document
 

     QBaal Continues...
 

     Now, is man is a glorified ape, an monkey's uncle, a killere ape  or just  a little lower than the angels are questions Christianity must now address anew.  As Spong makes clear in his address on Christian  anthropology, the new discussion will surely take place against the   backdrop of Darwin's evolutionary thinking.  And, at the same time,  involve a thorough rejection of the Adam and Eve premiss that we are  all fallen creatures (hurled out of paradise) and consigned to death for  our primeval parents fatal rebellion against God.  In fact, the whole overly negative assessment of human nature posited by the Church  since the beginning is now, we hope, passing away. It may be  interesting to note as Tom Harpur and many other modern theologians  love to point out - Jesus was primarily dedicated to the fight
against   anxiety (angst) and not sin!