Abstract
This article looks at the problem of the so-called “point of contact” between God and mankind, or more particularly, the relation between trinity and anthropology. Does Christian anthropology develop from the doctrine on creation, the human nature of Christ or the work of the Holy Spirit? In opposition to the current trinitarian perspectives on humanity, which mainly focus on relational similitude, the theology of the Dutch theologian, Oepke Noordmans critically resists any attempt at finding analogies between the trinity and humanity. According to him, creation is judgment of God, which has critical implications for any independent anthropology: There is no perpetuation of the incarnation in our humanity, church or liturgy after the resurrection, and the re-creative work of the Spirit does not have a point of contact with any constitutive element in our humanity. The judgment of the cross reaches from creation across history to recreation.
Highlights
Where would one find the point of contact between God and man? This question has troubled human kind for centuries
Does Christian anthropology develop from the doctrine on creation, the human nature of Christ or the work of the Holy Spirit? In opposition to the current trinitarian perspectives on humanity, which mainly focus on relational similitude, the theology of the Dutch theologian, Oepke Noordmans critically resists any attempt at finding analogies between the trinity and humanity
Creation is judgment of God, which has critical implications for any independent anthropology: There is no perpetuation of the incarnation in our humanity, church or liturgy after the resurrection, and the re-creative work of the Spirit does not have a point of contact with any constitutive element in our humanity
Summary
This question has troubled human kind for centuries Michelangelo proposes such a point in his artwork, the “Creation of Adam”, as a space between the finger of God and the finger of Adam. The point of contact between God and mankind is usually established by a discussion of Genesis 1:27 saying that mankind was created in the “image of God” This imago Dei has been related to the trinity to some degree in the past, mostly in an attempt to find some kind of analogy between the trinitarian being of God and the nature of mankind. In trying to find the point of contact in Christology, theologians attempt to extend the image of God to Christ as the true imago Dei for humans to imitate. Attempts to find the point of contact within Pneumatology often lead to many and varied forms of reducing the Holy Spirit to the human spirit
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