Bible Doctrines 2 – Study Guide

Bible Doctrines 2 – Spring 2026

Instructor: Mr. Warren Haughton

I. Why Study the Bible

  • A. To discern God’s truth
    • Chronologically – Following the timeline of biblical history.
    • Expositionally – Understanding the teaching of scripture in-depth.
    • Systematically – Organizing God’s revelation into component parts.
  • B. To mature spiritually
    • Ephesians 4:11-16 – Discusses the growth and maturity of believers into Christ-likeness.
    • I Timothy 4:15 – Encourages believers to meditate on and give themselves wholly to their studies in order to progress spiritually.
    • 2 Peter 1:4-8 – Talks about growing in faith and virtue along with other Christian qualities.

  • #### C. To share our faith

    • Recognition that many Christians know what they believe but few understand why they believe it.
    • 1 Peter 3:15 – Encourages always being ready to give a defense for the hope we have in Christ.

II. Why Study Bible Doctrines?

  • #### A. Key Doctrines of Humanity
    • Anthropology – The study of man.
    • Hamartiology – The doctrine of sin; understanding that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.
    • Soteriology – The doctrine of salvation; examining how individuals are saved.
    • Ecclesiology – The study of the church; understanding the purpose and function of the church.
    • Eschatology – The doctrine of last things; exploring views on the end times.

III. Anthropology – The Study of Man

  • A. The Origin of Man
    • What is Man? – Two perspectives:
    1. Biblical perspective
      • a. Created by God – Implies that man has inherent value and worth.
      • b. Sinful nature – Man has an inherent predisposition toward sin as indicated in Genesis 6:5.
    2. Evolutionary perspective
      • a. Man is viewed as having evolved from lower life forms due to refusal to accept an Intelligent Designer (God).
      • b. Various views within evolutionary thought include:
        1) Theistic evolutionists – Combine the idea of evolution with belief in God, suggesting God used evolution.
        2) Threshold evolutionists – Believe God intervened at crucial points in evolution, specifically to create man.
        3) Biblical Creationists – Hold the view that God created everything from nothing.
      • c. Implications of belief in evolution include justifications for:
      • i. Abortion
      • ii. Euthanasia
      • iii. Violence in society.

  • #### B. Characteristics of Man’s Creation

    • 1. Mediate creation – Created from pre-existing materials, as found in Genesis 1:26-27 and 2:7.
    • Immediate creation – Creation from nothing (ex nihilo).
    • 2. Created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26)
    • a. Not a physical likeness (as clarified in Deut. 4:15-19; John 4:24).
      • “Image” represented as a shadow/outline and “likeness” suggesting resemblance.
    • b. Involves personality and moral likeness:
      • i. Personality includes mind, emotion, and will.
      • ii. Mental likeness and social likeness also represent the image of God.
    • c. Application: The image of God in man is the basis for our treatment of others; everyone has worth due to their connection to their Creator.
    • 3. Created with a partner for completion
    • a. Both genders symbolize the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and are equal in value.
    • b. Shows how men and women complement each other (Genesis 2:18-24).
    • c. God established only two genders (Genesis 1:27, Matthew 19:4).
    • d. Designed to reproduce (Genesis 1:28).

IV. The Nature of Man

  • #### A. Composition of Man
    • 1. Dichotomy vs. Trichotomy
    • a. Dichotomy (two parts): Body and Soul/Spirit (Genesis 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:45).
    • b. Trichotomy (three parts): Body, Soul, Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12).
    • 2. God-consciousness – Only mankind has the potential and capacity for both relationship and fellowship with God.
    • 3. Immortality – Refers to the belief in the eternal existence of the immaterial part of man (Ecclesiastes 3:19-20).
    • 4. Views on the origin of the immaterial part:
    • a. Pre-existence – Souls created by God before being planted in Adam.
    • b. Creationism – God creates the soul for each person and places it in the body.
    • c. Traducianism – The soul is formed through procreation by parents.
  • #### B. Man's Intelligence
    • Genesis 2:19-20 – Man shows remarkable intelligence in naming animals and engaging in creation.
  • #### C. Responsibility and Authority
    • Genesis 1:26; 2:7-8, 15 – Man is given dominion over creation (stewardship).
  • #### D. Free Will
    • Free moral agency – The ability to make genuine choices, but these are not always unrestricted.
    • a. Sovereignty of God
    • b. While God has control, He allows man to choose cooperation with His divine plan (seen in Joshua 24:2, 13-16, 20-24).
    • c. Limits on Free Will – Choices might be restricted by circumstances, past decisions, or divine intervention.

V. Hamartiology — The Doctrine of Sin

  • Definition of Sin: Missing the mark of God’s holiness; departing from His righteousness; rebellion against commandments.
  • The sin nature originated with Adam and is inherited by all members of humanity.

VI. The Fall of Man

  • #### A. Adam’s Probation (God's test in Genesis 2)

    • Describes man’s original state before the Fall.
    1. Command of obedience
      • a. Responsible to follow God’s commands (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:5, 15).
      • b. Enjoying privileges as God's creation (Genesis 1:29; 2:8-9, 16).
      • c. Had a restriction to obey (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:3).
    2. Consequences of Disobedience
      • a. Physical death – Separation of body and soul (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:19; 5:5).
      • b. Spiritual death – Separation of soul from God (Genesis 3:7-10, 22-24; Ephesians 2:1-5,12).
      • c. Eternal death – Eternal separation from God, referred to as the “second death” (Revelation 20:14-15; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; Matthew 25:46).
    • Note: The Bible does NOT teach:
      1) Probation: A second chance after death.
      2) Purgatory: A payment for sin after death.
      3) Annihilation: Ceasing to exist after death.
      4) Universalism: The belief that all will ultimately be saved.
    1. Representation of Adam
      • Adam’s actions are seen as representing all of mankind (Romans 5:12). This reflects the theological concepts of:
      • - Headship – Understanding individual actions can account for collective consequences, encompassing:
        1) Realistic theories of consequence.
        2) Seminal theories of progenitive accountability.
        3) Federal theories emphasizing legal representation.
  • B. Adam’s Temptation
    1. Satan’s Approach
    • a. Challenges God’s Word (Genesis 3:1).
    • b. Corruption of God-given desire (Genesis 3:6).
    • c. Satan's methods remain unchanged today (Luke 4; 1 John 2:15-17).

  • #### C. Adam’s Sin

    1. Eve deceived while Adam chose to rebel (Genesis 3:13; 1 Timothy 2:14).

VII. Effects of the Fall

  • #### A. Curse on the Serpent/Satan (Genesis 3:14-15)
    • Summary of consequences include:
    • - Difficulty of movement; crawling on the belly and eating dust.
    • - Ultimate defeat as foretold (Hebrews 2:14; Revelation 20:10).
  • #### B. Condemnation of Man (Genesis 3:17-19)
    • Immediate spiritual and physical death, introduction of cursed ground, and burden of labor.
    • Adam’s actions bear full responsibility for origin of mankind’s sinfulness (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:22).
  • #### C. Inherited Sin Nature
    1. All humanity is condemned in Adam due to original sin.
    2. The nature of sinfulness includes depravity but does not imply that man acts with the worst capability or lacks conscience.
    3. Children are viewed as inheritors of this sin nature (Psalms 51:5; Job 14:4; Romans 5:12, 19; Ephesians 2:3).
  • #### D. Nature of Sin
    1. Biblical Definitions:
    • Sin – Missing the mark (Romans 3:23; James 4:17, Greek term: hamartia).
    • Iniquity – Departure from righteousness and lawlessness (Psalms 66:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12).
    • Transgression – Going beyond a boundary and rebellion (1 John 3:4; Psalms 19:13-14).
    1. God's Perspective on Sin
    • a. The wrath against sin can be accumulated (Romans 2:3-6; 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16).
    • b. Good deeds done for God’s favor are seen as sinful (Isaiah 64:6; Proverbs 21:4).
    • c. Unbelief leads to condemnation, yet the degree of punishment reflects works (John 3:18; Matthew 11:20-24; Revelation 20:12).
    1. God’s View of the Christian
    • a. In Christ, believers have their sins covered by His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).
    • b. They possess imputed righteousness (Romans 3:21-26).
    • c. Believers are called to live consistent with how God defines them (Ephesians 4:1; Romans 6:11-13).

End of Notes.