Last time we saw that Carl Henry’s view of humanity rested ultimately in his view of creation. Without the Triune God creating humanity with his own imprint, his Imago Dei, humanity’s dignity is but dust in the wind. With it we have a purpose, a place, and a person-ness which can be neither denied nor revoked.

Nu. 9: The New Image of Man

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This week’s sermon was given at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in April of 1976 and entwines both John 1 and I John 1. Here we find Dr. Henry’s suggestion for the best pattern for the perfect human being in the life of Christ. People today are confronted by a host of images for what makes the ideal human being. The voices in the media find it in the accrual of sexual appeal and material goods. Socio-political revolutionaries seek it through a full dedication to the overthrow of the present world system and the establishment of a human-centered utopia. Technocratic science looks to genetic manipulation and eugenics, in a world made safe through human ingenuity. In contrast Carl Henry here shows us a different path. Here we are presented with Christ as the ideal man. It is by imitating his obedience to the Father and life in the Spirit that we can have an answer for those who come to question us and put forward alternatives.