Revolt Against Maturity: A Biblical Psychology of Man

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“In speaking of the permanent in man, we must thus avoid the second myth about the nature of man, namely, that which sees him only in terms of the fall. The fall of man is an historical not an absolute reality. Man’s history has seen a fourfold condition: first, the state of innocence, before the fall; second, the state of depravity, after the fall; third, the state of grace, with and after redemption; and fourth, the state of glory, in heaven, and then in the new creation. The state of glory (and the state of reprobation) will be permanent, but in an historical sense, whereas the permanence of the image of God in man is ontological.” (Page 3)

“The unbeliever seeks gnosis, not epignosis; he seeks ‘knowledge in the abstract’, not knowledge in relationship to the object known. Abstract knowledge is the attempt to interpret all things without reference to God. God is abstracted from reality, and things are interpreted, not in terms of God, but in terms of themselves.” (Page 23)

“Thus, the real enticement is not a particular sin but the principle of sin, the desire for autonomy from God. Each man then, according to his taste, picks an area in which to assert an already claimed autonomy. The particular sins will be more readily surrendered than the principle of autonomy.” (Page 14)

“Fifth, man was created a mature being in terms of the sovereign purpose of God, so that the meaning of man’s life transcends man. Man can never be understood in terms of himself but only by reference to the sovereign purpose of God.” (Page 7)

“Third, by virtue of the fact of creation according to a pattern, the eternal purpose and counsel of God, (and in His image), man’s psychology is not an evolving fact but a fixed reality.” (Page 5)