What is Man?

In 1906 American humorist Mark Twain published a sixty-page essay entitled What is man? Consisting of an interminable dialogue between a senior citizen (who believes that man is just a machine) and a young man (who believes nothing in particular but is open to persuasion) it wasnt one of his finest books. But at least he tried. Authors since then seem to have avoided the subject like the plague often tackling the respective roles of men and women in society but seldom asking deeper questions about what it means to be human. When the psalmist asked What is man? (Psalm 8 v.4) he was I think seeking an altogether more profound answer.Avoidance of the subject is all the more strange because there has never been a time like our own when curiosity about human origins and destiny has been greater or the answers on offer more hotly disputed. Its a safe bet that any attempt to give the big picture on the origin nature and specialness of mankind will be contentious which might explain why writers have generally fought shy of it. Yet at heart it is the question most of us really do want answered because the answer defines that precious thing we call our identity both personally and as a race.The Psalmist did of course offer his own answer three millennia ago. Man he claimed was created by God for a clearly defined purpose to exercise dominion over planet earth and (by implication) to ultimately share something of the glory of the divine nature. The rest as they say is history but its not a happy tale. As Mark Twain says in another essay; I cant help being disappointed with Adam and Eve. Not surprisingly then a large proportion of humanity today are looking for alternative solutions accepting the challenge of the Psalmists question without embracing the optimism of his answer this book we are going to consider the alternative solutions on offer by considering what it means to be human against the backgrounds of cosmology (mans place in the universe) biology (mans place in the animal kingdom) and psychology (mans consciousness and mind). Finally we return to the biblical context arguing that the Psalmist got it right after all.Dont let the science-sounding stuff put you off. Like its popular prequel Who made God? Searching for a theory of everything this book is written with a light touch in a reader-friendly and often humorous style. It is intended specifically for the non-expert with homely verbal illustrations designed to explain and unpack the technicalities for the lay-person. As Dr. Paul Copan (Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics Palm Beach Atlantic University) says Edgar Andrews has a way of making the profound accessible. His scholarship informs the reader about key questions of our time offering wise guidance and illumination.