Man Defined: Dictionary (world view) vs. Biblical (Gods view)
There are many out there that have told me how to be a man that have never been a man. There is also that faction out there that can give you all types of advice about being a man that do not line up with God’s word on what a man is truly. Before I get ahead of myself, let’s start with the ongoing battle of “World view vs Gods view”. As I was researching this topic of “man” I combed through many worldly books including the dictionary and encyclopedia and the internet, looking for a definition of man and this is what I found. Mr. Kenneth Burke wrote an essay and in this essay he gave us, “Definition of Man” Burke's definition of man states: "Man is the symbol-using (symbol-making, symbol-misusing) animal, inventor of the negative (or moralized by the negative), separated from his natural condition by instruments of his own making, goaded by the spirit of hierarchy (or moved by the sense of order), and rotten with perfection"(1). Huh? I am confused. Mr. Burke states the obvious by essentially saying that man is distinct from animals because of a use of symbols to communicate and that technology has separated man from nature. Not saying that Mr. Burke did not do a good job of defining his definition but, I am so lost after that explanation because this still does not tell me what a man is. It only tells me the characteristics, in my opinion, of man. Aristotle’s definition of man, “Man is the rational animal;” Mark Twain has his idea, “Man is the moral animal;” and anthropologist’s state that, “Humans [man] are the tool-using animal. Animals? Rational, tool using, moral animals? I don’t think so. Again, these are all traits of man not what a man is and we are not animals. We may act like it, and look like it in some cases, but we are not animals.
Click Follow to receive emails when this author adds content on Bublish
Comment on this Bubble
Your comment and a link to this bubble will also appear in your Facebook feed.