Reenchanting Humanity

Having lost our vision for God in previous generations, our vision for humanity is up for grabs. Consequently, the doctrine of humanity needs fresh and clear articulation in the church and in the culture. It is heartening to see young scholars like Owen Strachan take up this challenge in his book ‘Reenchanting Humanity’.

-- Donald W. Sweeting (President & Professor of Church History, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida)

This book is a deep well issuing forth a fountain of biblical insight about what it means to be a human being created in the image of God. Drink deeply from this wonderful book.

-- Denny Burk (Professor of Biblical Studies, Boyce College, Louisville, Kentucky)

Not only is Strachan enjoyable to read, but I find that he helps me communicate traditional systematic assertions in arresting and memorable ways. I commend this volume to scholars, seminarians, and pastors as we seek to reflect faithfully on and teach clearly about all that God says in the Scriptures about man.

-- Ligon Duncan (Chancellor and CEO, Reformed Theological Seminary)

There is a desperate need for Christians to have a clear, comprehensive, biblically grounded, God–centered, definition of humanity, and for that definition to transform the way we live, love, and minister. Owen Strachan has wonderfully met this need in ‘Reenchanting Humanity’. I hope that this important book has the deep and wide influence it deserves!

-- Erik Thoennes (Professor and Chair of Theology, Talbot School of Theology and Pastor, Grace Evangelical Free Church of La Mirada, California)

If you want to know who you are in light of Scripture, and learn how to speak good news to our poor lost world, this book is must reading. From Scripture and faithful theological reasoning, Strachan carefully and wisely answers some of the most significant questions of our day. In this book we have the antidote to the diseased thinking of our day: a sound theological and Christocentric anthropology.

-- Stephen J. Wellum (Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky)

In this ‘humble attempt to see humanity afresh through biblical eyes,’ Owen Strachan asks, and brilliantly answers, questions such as ‘Does the human person live in an ordered cosmos and have an appointed identity, or does he make his own identity in a world without God?’ Reenchanting Humanity could not be more timely. In this Christological anthropology, Strachan offers a holistic vision of humanity for our disenchanted age. Who says anthropology has to be boring?

-- Andreas Köstenberger (Founder of Biblical Foundations and co–author of ‘Equipping for Life’ and ‘God’s Design for Man & Woman’)

Strachan effectively argues that we rightly reenchant humanity, and thus come to see the truth, goodness, and beauty of humanity, only when we view it in relation to the end for which it was created: conformity to Jesus Christ, the meaning of life made flesh.

-- Kevin J. Vanhoozer (Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois)

… a biblically grounded, theologically rich, thoroughly researched, and holistic account of the human person. As new challenges continue to arise in the twenty–first century, evangelicals need to have a theological framework that can speak to all aspects of the human condition. This book is a giant leap in that direction.

-- David Talcott (Assistant Professor of Philosophy, The King’s College, New York City)

Strachan uses the Bible as a magnifying lens and looks at mankind in the context of this anthropocentric, narcissistic, sin–ridden, self–sufficient, self–defined, and high–tech generation and has given us, not only his analysis of the problem, but also its cause and its cure. I love the way the author begins with the image of God and ends with Christ, as the God–man who reenchants our humanity. This is a must–read.

-- Miguel Nuñez (Senior Pastor, International Baptist Church, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)

This book supplies a doctrine of mankind that is derived from God’s Word, that is both Christological and covenantal, and that celebrates that our chief end is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. ‘Reenchanting Humanity’ is a gift to the church in the twenty–first century.

-- Jason S. DeRouchie (Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology, Bethlehem College and Seminary, Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Every book Owen Strachan writes is worth the cover price, but ‘Reenchanting Humanity’ doubly so. Strachan tackles the pressing biblical, theological, and cultural issues pertaining to human existence and experience. As he does, Strachan is resolutely orthodox, helpfully prescient, and unmistakably clear. Strachan offers the reader a guided tour through biblical anthropology, and any who desires to engage these issues owes it to himself to buy and read this book.

-- Jason K. Allen (President, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)

This book is filled with rich, scripturally grounded insight that will give every reader an increased appreciation for the great honor and significance of existing as a human being made in the image of God.

-- Wayne Grudem (Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies, Phoenix Seminary, Phoenix, Ariz