Beyond the Book with Dr. Hammett: “Humanity”
Chad Burchett | August 28, 2023
The biblical doctrine of humanity offers the Church a robust answer to some of the most pressing contemporary questions concerning life and death, gender, marriage and singleness, transhumanism, and artificial intelligence. The Bible is not silent on how God designed humanity or how he intends for them to live, which is why the Church must not be content with offering a less-than-biblical response to culture’s pressing questions about human nature, identity, and purpose.
Providing a rich biblical and theological account of the doctrine of humanity, “Humanity” aims to help the Church develop a biblically informed vision of God’s design for people. “Humanity” represents the best of evangelical scholarship and is coauthored by Katie McCoy, director of women’s ministry at the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and John Hammett, senior professor of systematic theology (retired) and former John Leadley Dagg Chair of systematic theology at Southeastern Seminary.
In the following Q&A, Hammett takes time to answer a few questions about this new book:
What is the book about?
How God has designed humans. We devoted a chapter each to the 8 main affirmations about our design we find in Gen 1-3: (1) we are created, (2) in God’s image, (3) created male and female, (4) created to work, (5) created for community, (6) created with a complex constitution, (7) not today as we were originally created (we are fallen), and (8) not today as we will one day be (we are and are being sanctified and will be glorified).
Who is the target audience, and how do you hope readers will benefit from this volume in the Theology for the People of God series?
College and seminary students; pastors and counselors; all those who work with and need to understand and guide people; as well as those who want to understand themselves. I hope readers will understand what God has designed humans to be and can help themselves and others live in accordance with that design.
What motivated you to write the book?
Initially, a colleague suggested he and his fellow counselors needed a theologically sound book on humans to guide them in their counseling. As I began to get into the issue of theological anthropology, it increasingly seemed to me that the questions we address in this doctrine are at the heart of the major cultural struggles of our time.
In the introduction, you mention that this book has been a long time in the making. How have the issues changed over the last 20 years as you have taught and researched the doctrine of humanity?
When I began studying and teaching on this topic, I had never heard of transhumanism or transgender. We have increasingly abandoned historic Christian views on sex. Sex before marriage is assumed; even professing Christians openly live together before marriage and often have children without thinking of marriage as important. The legalization of same sex marriage and Christian defenses of same sex marriage has developed in the past twenty years. There has been a good deal of discussion of human creation in the creation-evolution conversation and a lot of discussion of connecting faith and work; continuing discussion of dualism and the human constitution; not as much on the other main affirmations.
How is the Church currently engaging well on these issues, and in what ways has the Church poorly discipled Christians to think about and respond to these issues?
I think we’ve made good progress in connecting faith and work. There has been some progress on community; some on the creation issue (but still a work in progress on that); some good work on human constitution with defenses of dualism. There has been some surprising movement toward a consensus on what it means to be created in the image of God. By far, the biggest and most multi-faceted issue to address is what it means to be created male and female. We have made some progress on dealing with sexual abuse, but we still need a lot of work in how to speak the truth in love to the LGBTQ+ community.
What is at stake if the Church’s doctrine of humanity is less than biblical? How does this deficiency affect other doctrines as well as the Church’s witness?
If we do not understand how God has designed us, we will lead lives based on what seems right to us or what seems to work and will not lead lives that honor God by appreciating and living in accordance with his design. We will also teach and lead others to live not according to God’s design. Our doctrine of humanity is interwoven with and affects our doctrines of creation, fall, sin, salvation, sanctification, and ecclesiology.
How does the book equip readers to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission?
The Church is composed of people; the Great Commission calls us to disciple people. Unless we understand what God has designed people to be and do, we will not serve them well or make disciples that honor God by living according to his design.
How has researching and writing the book shaped you spiritually?
Appreciation for the beauty of God’s design; awareness of the importance of living in accordance with that design as I see all the brokenness in my life and those around me.
Humanity (Theology for the People of God)
In “Humanity,” John Hammett and Katie McCoy examine the subject of humanity, a topic of perpetual interest to human beings. Most people at one time or another pause to consider the enigma of human nature, and the authors ask the reader to consider three major questions: “Who are we? Why are we here? How should we live?”
John Hammett’s and Katie McCoy’s “Humanity” is built on four assumptions: that humans are creatures, that they can only be understood in light of the intentions of their Creator, that the Creator’s intentions are revealed in the pages of Scripture, and that humans enjoy a truly and fully human life only when they live in accordance with their created nature. Thus, this work seeks to offer a biblical perspective on human nature as designed by God.
