Restoring Apostolic Faith

A Quick Tour Through Theological Anthropology

Most people assume they know what a human is because, well… they are one. But Scripture, the early Church, and even ancient Judaism paint a far deeper, stranger, and more beautiful picture than “a soul stuck inside a body until heaven.” If you grew up in modern Christianity, that sentence alone might already start a small theological riot — which is exactly why theological anthropology matters.

Theological anthropology asks one deceptively simple question: What does God say a human is?

Not psychology’s version. Not culture’s version. Not Hallmark theology’s version.

God’s.

And the answer is layered — dust and breath, image and vocation, frailty and glory — all woven through a story that starts in Eden and ends with resurrection.

Let’s walk through it briefly. 

1. Dust and Breath: The Human Formula No One Can Improve

The Hebrew text of Genesis 2:7 hits like a hammer wrapped in velvet:

“Then the LORD God formed (yatzar – crafted like clay) man of dust (‘afar – powdered earth)

and breathed (naphach – to inflate, to animate)

into his nostrils the breath of life…”

Humans are not angels trapped in flesh.

Humans are not spirits wearing meat suits.

Humans are earth animated by God’s own breath.

This means:

• Your body is not disposable.

• Your soul is not the “real you.”

• You are one being, not two parts slapped together.

That’s Jewish anthropology. That’s early Christian anthropology.

Most modern Christians have never heard it.

2. The Image of God: Not What We Are — What We’re For

Second Temple Judaism and the early Fathers agreed:

The imago Dei isn’t a substance inside you. It’s a vocation placed upon you.

In the ancient world, the “image” of a deity was the visible representative of that deity’s rule. Think “royal statue,” not “inner sparkle.”

So Genesis is saying:

“Humans are the visible representatives of God’s reign on earth.”

In other words, God made humanity to extend His order, wisdom, justice, and presence into creation.

You were designed to govern, not merely to “exist.”

And that’s why sin is not just “breaking rules.”

It’s failing the vocation.

3. The Human Problem: Broken Image, Broken Vocation

When the Fathers talked about the Fall, they didn’t picture humans becoming spiritually dead zombies. They spoke of humanity as:

• still bearing the image,

• but the image is damaged,

• and our vocation is warped inward.

Instead of representing God’s reign, humans represent their own.

Instead of extending divine order, we multiply disorder.

Instead of subduing evil, we surrender to it.

In short:

We’re still dust and breath — just breath pointed in the wrong direction.

4. Christ the True Human: Anthropology’s North Star

If you want to know what a human is supposed to look like, don’t look in the mirror.

Look at Jesus.

The Fathers hammered this home:

“What He did not assume, He did not heal.” — Gregory of Nazianzus

Meaning:

Christ restores humanity by becoming fully human, not by bypassing humanity.

Jesus is:

• the true Image of God (Col 1:15),

• the faithful Son Adam failed to be,

• the human who finally fulfills the human vocation.

He doesn’t just save you.

He remakes you.

5. Resurrection: The Human Future We Forgot

Modern Christianity treats “going to heaven when you die” as the main event.

But the early church wasn’t looking forward to floating in clouds.

They were looking forward to embodied resurrection.

No disembodied souls.

No eternal harp concerts.

Just humans — restored, resurrected, ruling with God over a renewed creation.

If theological anthropology had a thesis statement, it would be this:

What God made in Genesis, He refuses to abandon.

What God breathed into dust, He fully intends to resurrect.

6. Why This Matters Today

Because humans are acting like humans without a script.

If we forget what humans are:

• we cheapen bodies,

• flatten souls,

• misunderstand sin,

• misread salvation,

• and trivialize resurrection.

We end up with a faith that’s Gnostic-lite — all “inner feelings” and zero creation, zero vocation, zero purpose.

The early church didn’t see it that way.

They believed God was building a renewed humanity.

And you’re part of that project.

Final Word

Theological anthropology isn’t a niche topic for seminary nerds.

It’s the foundation for understanding everything else — salvation, ethics, resurrection, vocation, sanctification, the Incarnation, the whole story.

Because at the end of the day, the gospel isn’t just that God saves souls.

It’s that God is restoring humans.

Dust and breath.

Image and glory.

Broken and being remade.

And that’s a story worth telling