Essay on God, Humans, and the Four Parts of the Canon

Introduction

A canon is a series of books that a particular religion follows through its beliefs to carry out its duties to the people and God. They mostly set the rules and regulations to be developed and guide the religious community in performing their activities; towards both themselves and the Almighty. There are various cannons, such as Christian and Jewish Canons. Canons are from the ancient Greek persons (Gallagher et al. 40). The essay will discuss how God and humans relate to the four parts of the Christian canon. The Christian canons mostly revolve around humans as being created in God’s image, the human redemption, the pain of suffering, and t resurrection of the body.

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Humans as Being Created in God’s Image

This aspect is empowered by the works of Plato, a great philosopher. The Christian theologians reflected on the image of the Lord in humans owing to their much knowledge and understanding bestowed upon them. This is seen in comparison to the other creatures which God made. The humans are created superior to the beings, as is depicted in Genesis Chapter one story of creation. In his works, Plato shows the divine trinity through human integrity (Thomas, 15). The image of God is demonstrated through the physical nature of man. The creation of human beings is solely based on the form of the Lord. Plato considers humans as the universal form of being who have been issued with the powers to rule over the earth and the other creatures of the Lord in the states of the three states that is spirit, soul, and body.

Christians’ view of evil is highly linked to the notion that man was created in accordance with the image and likeliness of God. Christians feel that the evil in society has taken root because of the great desires of the flesh over the wishes of the spirit. This notion has significantly been taken into account because of the rising cases of sin throughout the universe over the years. However, the understanding of sin has been pushed forward by the various teachings of the scholars and church leaders. The Christians have understood the root cause of sin as not only linked to the body and soul but rather other worldly issues (Thomas, 20). Therefore, it was found that freedom was the root cause of sin. This is because of the reason that a human is a person because God is considered to be manly. The Christian understanding that humans are "persons" portrays that human beings are "image of God" that differentiates them from the other creatures on earth. The Christian religion is different from the other religions as it believes that God is a person and results in the belief that a human is a person as well.

Equally, in the same measure, the Lord takes higher risk of creating humans as people. The indication that God is a “human being” is through the freedom offered that is offered to the humans as well as the nobility that the other creatures don't have. This clearly shows that humans are given the freedom that the other animals don't have and show the great love that the Lord has for them. Through freedom does the human combat in the partnership with the Lord and offer free love to the Lord (Thomas, 25). This freedom provides a chance for the love of God to be described through the agape’s love. This results in the understanding of love and can offer love amongst themselves and God, their creator.

The freedom offered to human beings puts down the chance for them to turn away from God and lift themselves to the ultimate divine love. This drives human beings apart from the Lord and acts in actions that don't please Him. This is clearly described in the tale of the “fall of man” in Genesis, chapter three when Adam and Eve are seen to take the freedom issued to them to the extreme and do what they have been asked to desist from. They take the seed from the tree located in the middle of the garden of Eden (Thomas, 30). This occurs because of the freedom that they had been given to take and eat the fruits from the trees inside the garden. They portray that freedom leads to the desire of divine love that the two humans wished to be "like God." This shows the willingness of mankind to act against God.

Human Redemption

The understanding of sin by the Christians results in the human redemption that is indicated by the view of the redeemer – Jesus Christ. God comes in the form of a human as Jesus and brings into account the understanding of the holy trinity. The Christian understanding of redemption is brought out clearly through the Gospel (Vorster, 45). This is indicated in John 1:14 that says, "the Word became flesh." In the Christian religion, redemption is free from the worldly materialistic expectations but is significantly manifested in the resemblance of the body of Christ.

The redemption of human beings takes different forms of matter, soul, and mind. The recovery takes a tool on history, suffering for the sin of humankind to bring redemption to them (Vorster, 45). This leads to the realization that brought about the understanding that love is transformed, renewed, elevated in the human form, and opened a new chapter of love to God and neighbor that ensures that calmness and peace are restored.

The Problem of Suffering

This presents the beginning of the Christian's understanding of the time of Jesus. This is shown by the temptation and lifting to the power of Jesus "the Messiah." This is described in the Book of Matthew's gospel that describes Jesus' temptation by the devil in the wilderness. The devil tempts Jesus to take up the worldly power and leave Christ's ways (Gallagher et al. 40). Jesus is very disappointed by his disciples’ actions that significantly aims at gaining earthly power. Jesus teaches them that suffering does not define human destiny; however, it is the gate pass to the resurrection, reclamation, and the new creation of humankind.

This describes freedom as the reason that drives to the occurrence of sin amongst humankind. This results in the taking of redemption by returning to the ways of the Lord and returning to God through the use of prayer. The early church after Christ's resurrection describes the cross as a symbol of triumph rather than the suffering (Gallagher et al. 40). The Christian understanding of pain is indifferent to other religions such as Buddhism. Pain is termed to take the form of Christ's body to carry the suffering of Christ, death, and resurrection. The church defines Christians to be the custodians of Christ. Therefore, terming pain as both a policy of both freedom and redemption.

The Resurrection of the Body

The Christian understanding of resurrection assumes that there is a difference between the spiritual and physical form of the human body's existence. This drives the notion of the immorality of the soul. The expectation of the Christian religion drives in the resurrection of the body rather than the immorality of the soul (O'donovan, 15). The religion describes that spiritual nature is indifferent to the physical form of the human body. However, every religious item is linked to the tangible way of the body.

The ultimate objective of redemption is to achieve a new being in all the states and not just separate the spirit and the body. Christianity views humans as being very holistic. Therefore, the Christian religion portrays the mankind has a significant materialistic form that wholly relies on the notion of humanity. This results in the best expression of the notion of resurrection globally (O'donovan, 15). This has helped define the understanding of how God and mankind relate. This clearly shows that God and man relate, and each one affects one's activities.

The essay has successfully discussed how God and humans relate in accordance with the four parts of the Christian canon that are detailed through the following headings: how mankind is created in the image and likeliness of God, human redemption, the pain of suffering, and resurrection of the body. This shows that humans are created greater to the other beings through God's love. This leads to them being in freedom of attaining the goals given to them. However, freedom results in a desire to achieve divine love. This drives human beings away from God, and he moves in to save them through redemption.

References

Gallagher, Edmon L., and John D. Meade. The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity: Texts and Analysis. Oxford University Press, 2017.

O'donovan, Oliver. Resurrection and moral order: An outline of evangelical ethics. Inter-Varsity Press, 2020.

Thomas, Gabrielle. The image of God in the theology of Gregory of Nazianzus. Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Vorster, Nico. "The Concept of Freedom in Christianity." The Concept of Freedom in Judaism, Christianity and Islam 3 (2019): 45.