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This section is intended to support those who will attend the seminar, "A Biblical Theology of Human Nature," which will be offered January 30 and 31, 2026. This page provides links to most of the articles listed in the syllabus. 

Course Description

This course explores human identity through the lens of the image of God as presented in Genesis 1:26-27. The purpose of the course is to explore how the concept of the image of God can serve as a foundation to address the crisis of identity currently afflicting Western culture and provide a biblical foundation for the articulation of a theological discourse targeting the very foundation of the nihilistic and anti-human worldview that is currently dominating Western culture. 

The seminar is structured in five parts: 

  1. The Image of God in Context: We will explore the meaning of the image of God within the Genesis creation narrative and its ancient Near Eastern context to develop a biblical theology foundation for understanding human identity.

  2. The Fall and Its Consequences: We will examine the implications of the Fall in Genesis 2-3, analyzing how it disrupts the image of God and shapes human nature.

  3. Challenges to Human Identity: We will assess how the image of God speaks to pressing issues in Western society, including the loss of divine transcendence, meaning, and purpose, the elevation of sexuality as a primary marker of identity, widespread government overreach, the devaluation of human life (e.g., abortion and Medical Assistance in Dying), and the erosion of personal freedoms, freedom of speech, property rights, and the rule of law.

  4. Fulfillment in Christ and Christian Engagement: We will explore how the notion of the image of God finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

  5. We will consider the implications of the image of God for Christian proclamation, cultural engagement, and political involvement.

Essays on the Problem of Evil and Worldview

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“He Never Meant for Us to Die! An Incursion into Genesis 1-3.” Direction 41 (2012):42-56.

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​“The Mysterious Case of the Golden Apple.” MB Herald Digest. Vol. 60 (February 1, 2021):16-17.

“The Back Story: The Quest for a Free Creature.” MB Herald Digest. Vol. 60 (January 1, 2021):16-17.
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“Can’t Live with It. Can’t Live without It? The Perplexing Enigma of Evil in Human Existence.” MB Herald Digest. Vol. 59 (November 1, 2020):6-8.

Selections from: 

    Gooding, David and John Lennox. Being Truly Human (Belfast, Northern Ireland: Myrtlefield House, 2018).

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Essays on the Genesis Creation Account

Hebrew text

A Journey into the  Creation Account
Part 1: only one God
MB Herald (Nov. 2023)
The renowned Oxford mathematician and apologist, Professor John Lennox, often points out that the existence of God cannot be mathematically proven. This is not to say that such evidence does not exist. There is in fact a class of arguments, which taken together, make a powerful case for the existence of God. 

Hebrew text

A Journey into the Creation Account

Part 2: The Death of the Gods and the Rise of Science

MB Herald (Dec. 2023)

The belief in the existence of supernatural powers that can be manipulated for one’s benefit is nearly as old as humanity itself. And for most of human history, men and women have feared those who claimed to have such powers. Because such beliefs fundamentally distorted how humans were to relate to nature, they represented a critical threat to Israel’s survival as God’s people in the Promised Land. The Genesis creation account was, in great part, written to challenge the underlying worldview these beliefs reflected.

Hebrew text

A Journey into the Creation Account

Part 3: Transcendence

MB Herald (Jan 2024)

We owe the Jewish people a debt of gratitude that will forever remain unpaid...

Did you know that about 22 percent of all Nobel prizes given between 1901 and 2023 were awarded to Jewish people? In and of itself, this is remarkable. But what’s even more stunning is that the Jews represent only about 0.2 percent of the world’s population. 

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A Journey into the Creation Account

Part 4: Reassurance

MB Herald (March 2024)

Ruach, the Hebrew word for spirit can also denote the wind. That Moses would use a term that can refer both to the wind and a personal entity is not surprising. Ancient Near Eastern people were familiar with the wind as a primordial force. The winds of Babylonian mythology embodied the forces of violence and anarchy. [3] They announced humanity’s enslavement and symbolized terror and ill fortune.

A Journey into the Creation Account

Part 5: "And God said..."

MB Herald (April 2024)

The interview above brings together three eminent scholars: mathematician and Christian apologist John Lennox, philosopher of science and intelligent design proponent Stephen Meyer, and biochemist Michael Behe, Uncommon Knowledge host Peter Robinson asks a question few intellectuals would even privately contemplate, let alone formulate publicly.  

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A journey into the Genesis creation account

Part 6: "On Autopilot"

MB Herald (May 29, 2024)

Exodus 32:1-6 reports an incident that underlines the extent to which the Hebrews were ideologically infected by their neighbours. Some time after Moses went up Mount Sinai to confer with God, the people clamoured for Aaron to make a golden calf they could worship.
To add insult to injury, we learn that after they ate and drank, the Israelites got up to “play,” an expression which in this context carries a sexual connotation.For those who might wonder whether this burst of eroticism was caused by some wilderness aphrodisiac, it should be noted that as reprehensible as it may seem, there is more going on here than mere moral laxity.

A journey into the Genesis creation account

Part 7: "You are my Sunshine."
MB Herald (June 3, 2024)​

And God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light” (Gen 1:3).
In and of itself, there is nothing particularly outlandish about this verse. If God created the entire universe, surely turning the light on, as would a carpenter entering his shop, should not be cause for concern. But some readers get bent out of shape when they realize that light appears before the creation of the sun on the fourth day (vv. 14-19). For some, that is even reason enough to dismiss the entire account as a whole lot of nonsense, surmising that if the author was so smart, he would certainly have caught this glaring inconsistency. As with many other things in Scripture, there is more here than meets the eye.

A journey into the Genesis creation account Part 8: "In the Image of God"

MB Herald (June 19, 2024)

The biblical creation account is home to some of the most revolutionary concepts ever to emerge in human history. These “Big Ideas,” as I like to call them, represent the formal codification of the most basic building blocks of every life-giving belief the world has ever encountered. The notion of the image of God must certainly rank as one the most remarkable of these Big Ideas.

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The Three-Pound Brain
A Journey into the Genesis Creation

Part 9: "The Three-Pound Brain"

MB Herald (November 12, 2024)

In essence, in the Bible, human beings are viewed as assets (see Psalm 8).Tragically, the view of humans as liabilities has been the dominant position for most of human history. And that turns out to be particularly true in times of crisis...The creation account suggests a better way forward.

A Journey into the Genesis Creation Account

Part 10: "Freedom" MB Herald (November 12, 2024)

I conclude this 10-part series on the creation narrative by returning to its opening statement: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Even if history had only preserved these seven Hebrew words, this simple sentence could still ignite a revolution with respect to our understanding of God and, by extension, everything else. Without Genesis 1:1, for instance, we would likely still be sacrificing animals in some futile attempt to appease nature gods who have nothing but utter contempt for human beings. The very concept of empirical science would have remained a fleeting whisper in the dreams of ancient Greek philosophers.
But no exploration of the creation account would be complete without discussing one additional idea: Freedom.

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The Rational Theologian

pgilbert@cmu.ca

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