The West has undergone two

cataclysmic religious Reforma-

tions. The Second Reformation
began in the Sixteenth Century
and was a rediscovery of the
Biblical doctrine of grace. The
First Reformation began over
one thousand years earlier and
was a rediscovery of the Biblical
doctrine of creation.
This rediscovery of the
Biblical doctrine of creation had
the effect of a nuclear bomb on
the West, bringing to an end the
dominance of a Classical ap-
proach to man and nature. This
Classical approach origi-
nated with ancient, pagan
Greek and Roman philoso-
phies. Early medieval
Christendom inherited and
absorbed this worldview as
the Classical world itself
collapsed. But as the centu-
ries past, the medieval world,
largely rooted as it was in
Christianity, could not escape the
Biblical doctrine of creation that
had been suppressed by Greek
and Latin thought. Eventually
that doctrine broke free from its
chains and totally reoriented the
thinking and activities of man
with reference to the true
character of creation and the
true role of man within that
creation.
The Classical worldview of
nature and man was built upon
four basic presuppositions, which
are antichristian to the core, and
which continue to be held by
many today. They are: (1).
Knowledge is by observation;
(2). Meaning is based on reason;
(3). Life is ultimately meaning-
less; and (4). Man's goalis
flight.
(1). Knowledge of man and
nature is obtained by observa- _
tion. What man observes is true.
!fit cannot be observed, it
cannot be said to be true. Thus
human experiences were re-
duced to the level of momentary
tasting and unexhilarating feel-
ing. Thus while the human
senses were stimulated, the
deepest levels of the human
heart remained uritouched and
unfulfilled. "Consequently the
self itself can feel only boredom.
Meaninglessness here is due to
an incapacity ofthe self to find
and antithetical to meaning,
"because they represent the
powers in man's existence that
seem to upset the cool, ordering
self-control of the, mind." - p.
197.
The result was that in Classi-
cal thought physical, material,
emotional, bodily "things" were
shunned and abhorred as de-
scriptions of the meaningless
"tomb" of the physical and
emotional in which the soul was
imprisoned. The goal of human
life was "a rigid rational self-
control, involving on the one hand
The Impact of the Doctrine of
the Image of God on
Western Civilization
a state of total indifference
to bodily needs and feel-
ings, and on the other an
emotional passionlessness
and withdrawal." p.197.
Furthermore, there is no
basis in history or experi-
ence, as interpreted by
Rev. Joe Morecraft
anything in life significant, be it
pleasant or unpleasant, success-
fu1 or unsuccessful. What is
lacking here is a purpose beyond
the self that can grasp the whole
self, a purpose that would give to
the whole self the power of
enthusiasm, of enjoyment, and
therefore a basis for creative
effort." - p. 175.
(2). The meaning oflife is
founded on the power of human
observation and reason to impose
a "logical" order on the un-
formed stuff and inherently
meaningless facts of man's
existence. Rational order is the
only source of meaning, there-
fore anything that negates or
resists that" order is antithetical to
meaning. This means that all the
non-rational aspects oflife - the
dynamic, emotional, and material
- are to be viewed as negative
man's "autonomous" reason, for
believing that these powerful
non-rational forces in nature will
not continually or eternally
defeat creative human purposes.
(3). Since all knowledge of
nature and man is obtained by
observation and reason; and
since meaning in nature is that
usefulness which reason "finds"
in things, no ultimate meaning
and purpose for the non-rational
- dynamic, emotional, material-
elements oflife exists. There-
fore, the essence of human life
became anxiety, restlessness and
. uneasiness, because of the
"tear" in man's being between
that nonrational part of him and
his reason. !f no ultimate ratio-
nality exists in the universe, if no
infinite, intelligent and personal
God governs the universe, then
life is ultimately meaningless and
October/November, 1998 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - 29
man is trapped in the chaotic
whirlwinds of blind fate.
"Conscious of the continual
buffeting of an irrational fortune,
of the sorrow that befalls every
man who loves, and above all of
the uncontrollability of our llmer
spirits, thoughtful pre-Christian
men found creaturely life liot a
gift to be prized but a burden to
be bome or a cage to be evacu-
ated. The "natural" man is not
the carefree, life-affirming pagan
that ,secularism has palllted hinl.
He is, in fact, a frightened
creature, conscious of his owu
weakuess and terrified of the
massive powers and fates that
determllle his life. p. 179.
(4). The goal of man must be
either cynicism or flight from
humanity into the void of the
intellectual, contemplative,
"spiritual," and heavenly, be-
cause human life is always
threatened by meaningless
disaster from without and by
emptiness and dissension from
within. "As a consequence, the
only answer to life's essential
meaningless is resignation,
renunciation, or flight. Cleave not
to finite things, leave people and
the world behi.tld, move within or
upward to the One, or cease to
care. These are the repeated
pleas of the [Classical] writ-
ers .... " - p. 184.
What was the effect of these
Classical presuppositions on
Western Civilization? Religious,
intellectual, social, moral, scien-
tific stagnation and darkness
coupled with the sense of dread
as that worldview and the world
it created began to collapse.
What brought about the
eventual demise of the Classical
approach to man and nature was
the rise and development of the
Christian doctrines of creation
and providence. In the place of
the old pessimism and cynicism
of Greece and Rome, Christian-
ity brought hope, light, certainty,
justice and intellectual ad vance.
What was it about her doctrllles
that laid the basis for such a
reconstruction of culture? (1).
The relation of creation and
predestination; (2). The relation
of providence and calling; and
(3). The significance of man as
the image of God.
(1). Ultimate order, coher-
ence, meanlllg and purpose in the
universe and III man's existence
are possible only because of the
fact that the universe a s a whole
and all its parts, were created on
purpose by an lllfinite:personal
Creator, who created everything
according to His eternal, rational
plan, which plan gave to every-
thlllg its place, purpose, meaning
and value.
"It is in this affirmation of
life's fundamental coherence and
meanlllg because it has an
ultimate origin in a transcendent
God that we see perhaps the
most striking contrast between
the Christian view of existence
and that of secularism or natural-
ism [Classicalism]." p. 189.
Unless human belllgs can
answer the questions - Who am
I? Why am I here? - on an
ultinlate level, no confidence in
or affirmation of any meaning to
life, small or large, is possible.
"If, however, the meanlllg of
life is founded up on a transcen-
dent principle, and so is known
by faith, then courage and
significance are possible even
30 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - October/November, 1998
within apparent meaninglessness.
If all that is is created and upheld
by the sovereign will of God,
then existence has a coherence
and a meaning far beyond the
balance of its momentary lllterre-
lationships. For its belllg as a
whole is related, beyond itself
and beyond all its finite relations,
to the very fount of order and
meaning through its creation by
God. - p. 194.
"A man or a culture that
knows this by faith can have
confidence, whatever his situa-
tion amid the flllite factors of
life .... His courage is not depen-
dent upon the ups and downs of
history, or the variability of his
own small aims, hopes and
prospects. He knows the Creator
of all and thus he knows that,
whatever life may look like to his
inlmediate observation, life is
good, for God has made it. And
he knows that his own life and
works, if related to this deeper
purpose of God, can participate
in an ultimate significance which
can give continuing value to his
own small ends.
"Because [Classicalism]
scorns the idea of a transcendent
Creator, [it] has divested itself of
the sole intelligible basis for its
won faith that process can
involve fulfillment and signifi-
cance. Only if existence as a
whole comes under the purposive
will of God is there the slightest
ground for confidence in its
ultimate meaning. And only if we
can grasp some assurance of
life's ultimate coherence and
purpose can we affirm the
immediate meanings of our day-
to-day life." - p. 195.
Classical thought, along with
all fOnDS of humanism and
naturalism, based solely on the
finite powers of human thought
and observation, had absolutely
no basis to believe that the
terrifying, irrational forces of
nature, inexplicable and uncon-
trollable by man, will notin time
obliterate man and all his
dreams.
All aspects of man's exist-
ence were created by God on
purpose- spiritual, physical,
emotional, rational, social.
Therefore every facet and ever
factor of "man's life is potentially
creative and involved essentially
in any real human fulfIllment.-
God had created matter as well
as form .. . hence material being is
not in itself meaningless, since its
existence is a result of the divine
will
"Christians insisted that the
whole man included body as well
as soul, and would be "saved"
only within the body and not by.
its loss. And they also declared
that human fulfillment included a
reorientation of the emotions and
the mind alike, rather than the
denial ofthe one and the su-
premacy of the other. The basic
problem of life, therefore, was no
longer the achievement of the
victory of one factor of man's
nature over another. Rather the
central issne of life hinged on the
relation of every aspect of man's
being, "heart, soul, and mind," to
his Creator. In a positive relation
of creature and Creator, all the
aspects of life, including even the
physical and emotional, became
essential parts of human fulfill-
ment and human meaning.
Having come from God, they
could, if used in the service of
God, become contributing factors
in a meaningful life.
"Western man was thus
pointed toward the discovery of
a meaningful historical existence:
for under god he could now learn
to accept, to appreciate, and to
improve his own bodily life in
material nature, and his emo-
tionallife in human community."
-p.198-99.
(2). Man's spiritual-physical-
social existence in history has a
direct link with the divinely
ordained and ultimate meaning of
the whole universe. His goal is
not flight from the natural and
human. Rather, it was for life
and purpose in this creation and
in history that God created him.
And it is in this life that God calls
him to serve Him with all his
physical-spiritual-social powers,
and with all our unique individual
gifts. .
Because created on purpose
by God, in the providence of
God, by which He govems,
directs and sustains His creation,
man's life must be seen in terms
of a calling, faithfulness in which
calling brings fulfillment, meaning
and a sense of purpose, with the
loss of dread, restlessness, and
the desire for flight.
Classicalism's cyclical and
repetitive view of history coupled
with its pessimistic view of the
world, made man appear to be
engulfed in his natural environ-
ment uncreated by God, com-
pletely dominated by natural
forces, incapable of self-direc-
tion, meaning and of actions of
true and lasting significance. In
such a worldview, "history
disappears within the cycles of
nature, and the unique freedom
of historical existence, with its
significant and unrepeatable
events, never appears in penna-
nent strength." - p. 203.
"History takes on meaning,
then, when man not only sees
himself as a creature ... [ofGodl,
but also, more Jrnportantly, has
distinguished himself from
nature. He must realize that he
alone among God's creatures is
. not completely dominated by
nature; he must become con-
scious of his own unique capac-
ity for self-direction and
meaning ... Only then does an
awareness of those elements of
purpose, freedom, uniqueness,
and individuality, which are the
stuff of history, arise.
"Hence man' s goal is not to
escape a meaningless natural
and temporal environment and to
flee from the world. Rather he
has been placed by God here in
this concrete moment for a
particular historical "calling" as a
part of the divine plan. Obedient
service, not flight is thus the
mark of piety, and such service is
an historical enterprise involving
material, emotional, purposive
and communal action." - p. 203-
204.
(3). The most fundamental
reorientation which the Biblical
doctrine of creation brought on
the West was in giving a new
status and value to man's exist-
ence within history as the image
of God. Because of the influence
of Christianity, the West came to
understand man as more than
nature, although certainly a part
of it. He stands in the creation as
the image of God. The funda-
mental orientation ofhis life is to
his Creator and to his Creator's
October/November, 1998 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - 31
revealed will, rather than to the
natural world around him.
The tension in his life is not
between the bondage and mean-
inglessness of the natural and the
desire to flee into the eternally
rational. Rather it is that tension
he feels before God's judgment,
and the real hope of his life is in
God's grace and salvation in
Christ.
Therefore, although man
began to see himself as a crea-
ture with inescapable natural
needs (give us this day our daily
bread), nevertheless, he under-
stood himself as being related
more fundamentally to God than
to the nature that surrounded
him.
"As a creature of God related
in faith and obedience beyond
nature to the transcendent Lord
of nature, he distinguished
himself from all other natural
creatures (be shall have domin-
ion overtb.e creatures), he had
no ultimate fear of natural
powers (the rear of the LORD is
the beginning of wisdom), and he
regarded the alm of his life to be
his fidelity in historical action to
[bis] covenant . .. with the Lord.
Under God he had been freed
from ultimate subservience to
natural forces, and had become a
conscious, creative participant in
history.
"Biblical man is historical
man; a creature of the Lord of
history, man is both a part of a
good nature and also transcen-
dent in spirit, in freedom and so
in creativity to the order of the
natural world. When mim has
this sense <if a meaningful
participation in the natural world,
plus a sense of transcendence
over it, then there is possible a
complete understanding of the
full dimensions of human exist-
ence. Only when man sees his
life as coming from a source
beyond nature, and yet creative
of it, does man live as man,
embedded in nature and yet at
the same time a creative partici-
pant in history.
"Finally, since he now saw
himself as a finite creature
whose central relation is to God
his Lord and Maker [in Christ],
man discovered a new meaning
and dignity to his historical
existence. Tempted neither to
submerge his existence in nature
nor to flee to eternity, he found
himself called by Godto discover
the meaning of his life in histori-
cal service in the. here and now.
Thus through the Christian faith,
and especially through its belief
in creation, Western man was led
to affirm the potential goodness
offinite historical life [in
Christ]." - p. 203-206.
What were the effects on the
West of the rediscovery of these
Biblical doctrines of predestina-
32 - THE COUNSEL of Cha1cedon - October/November, 1998
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tion,creation, providence, calling
aI)d man as the image of God?
The rise of science learning,
technology, invention, literature,
and the eventual development of
institutions that protected liberty
and justice for all. In fact, the
Second Reformation with its
rediscovery of grace was built by
God on the foundation of the
earlier First Reformation with its
rediscovery of creation; Why so?
Because as the Protestant
Reformers understood: ONLY
THE CREATOR CAl'! BE THE
REDEEMER!
* This eSsay is based largely
on Langdon Gilkey's book,
Maker of Heaven and Earth:
The Christian Doctrine of
Creation in the Light Of Mod-
ern Knowledge, (New York: .
Anchor Books, 1965).