II The idea of man

LP’s writings do not present any overall conception of man, so the term »idea of man« is used instead of the more ambitious »anthropology«. A particular idea of man underlies discussion of other specific subjects, so it will be my task to present it as a systematic pattern. There are two basic features of his view of man which become apparent in the material. The first emphasizes that man is more than matter. Focus is directed to that which distinguishes man from animals and the rest of creation. Man is open to eternity. LP is critical of the attempts to reduce man to an empirically observable phenomenon. The other feature emphasizes man as an active agent, as the subject of actions, with the possibility of changing his situation both coram Deo and coram hominibus. The view which sees reality as a closed, causal system, i.e. determinism, is rejected. The first feature focusses on man’s spirit and can be described as »idealism«, whilst the second focusses on man’s will and is termed »voluntarism« in this study.

1 Man as open to eternity This section tries to describe various aspects of the idealistic concepttion. Firstly, the divine side of man is identified as »the spiritual aspect of man«, where the statement »the spirit of man emanated from God’s being«, plays an important part. Even if the texts can be said to express a metaphysical idealism, it cannot be claimed that they advocate a metaphysical dualism. Consequently, what LP understands by the phrase »immortal man« is investigated. Immortality is understood from a threefold perspective. Firstly, immortality is not identified with »eternal life«. Secondly, it is a question of a quantitative view of eternity: eternity lies ahead of man and is primarily aimed at safeguarding the idea of judgment. Thirdly, eternity is something in man, that is, it refers to his ability for transcendence. Closely connected with this aspect of are the ideas of religion and conscience. The third element in the view of man as open to eternity consists of the idea of ethically determined man. First and foremost, his fight against ethical nihilism and the connection with his political activity are here discussed. A political philosophy in nuce is contained in ethical idealism.

2 »The central aspect of man is the will« Voluntarism is studied from five points of view. Firstly, LP’s statement that he »has never believed in the bondage of the will« results in an investigation of his understanding of free will. It here becomes clear that this view is related to the idea of man’s right to determine his own life, but that his ideal is that this right is surrendered to God. A theology of surrender is the second point of view. This is an extremely central theme in LP’s writings. Surrender leads namely to God’s acquiring power over man, but this can only happen as man’s own reaction to what God had done and continues to do for him. This understanding is supported by an analysis of what LP considers the essential aspect of »baptism in the Spirit«. When man surrenders his right to self-determination, God acquires power over him and in tum gives him the strength he needs. The third perspective on this question concerns man’s responsibility; this concept acts in fact as a driving force in his conception. His interpretation of responsible man results in a characterization of the type of individualism which LP considers to be the category with which the Christian faith stands or falls. In my analysis, I discuss both the religious and instrumentalist individualism, and introduce the essential distinction between individual and person. LP’s individualism is centred on man as an individual rather than as a unique person. Several elements betray tendencies towards a numerical view. Finally, the question as to whether there are any indications in his writings of a reduction of voluntarism is investigated, but it is concluded that the few identifiable attempts are still subordinated to the general, dominating, voluntarist scheme.

3 »Man is God’s instrument« Individualism was predicated among other things as instrumental. This aspect is here further analysed. Man is essentially created to be usable and useful, not necessarily interpreted within a restricted perspective. In principle, three things are discussed in this section. Firstly, there is the very concept of man as instrument and co-operator. Several models are offered and LP’s view is related to one of them, in which it is stressed that man never becomes the instrument of God, in a true sense, against his own will or without being conscious of his relationship with God. Man is an agent and is understood as having both con-

sciousness and the ability to act. This idea is developed in the second section, where different theories of action are given, and I try to show that LP sees action as rational, that is, as intentional. He is reserved in his attitude towards both the rational, value-orientated and the affecttive theories of action. Stress is laid on the efficacy of the instrument, that is, on an action’s function. This is confirmed in the third section, which pursues the theme of power. On the one hand, psychological aspects which can explain this need, are indicated; on the other, the theme of the relationship between power and holiness/purity in classical Pentecostalism is developed.

4 »Neither sinner nor enthusiast« Hamartology has made its presences felt in different ways in the discussion so far, and is now analysed in two central sections. The first deals with sin as guilt and as a power, whilst the second is interested in the theology of possibility which his writings indicate. By theology of possibility I mean the ambition to overcome the discrepancy between ideal and reality. Initially, three perspective on the idea of sin are sketched, and this forms the necessary presupposition for understanding the further analysis. The first is a rejection of Lutheran theology with its idea of bondage of the will; the second is the tension between conscious and unconscious sin; the third is the idea of sin as including intentionality and thereby man’s relationship to himself and to God.

The section on sin as guilt and as a power examines in the first place the problem of a pure heart. LP is here clearly influenced by T.B. Barratt. A pure heart is here seen as an undivided heart, and is a necessary precondition for a man to be able to experience »baptism in the Spirit«. In addition to the idea that sin as guilt can be destroyed, the idea that sin can be overcome is found. Then I discuss whether LP advocates a theory of sinlessness, in the light of the question whether man’s nature is incorrupt.

The second section on the theology of possibility looks at the following: the premises for idealist thinking, the theory that »ought« implies »can«, and the »more-syndrome«. Finally the question of whether sin is God’s problem or man’s is discussed. From these investigations it is concluded that man is not seen as being totally corrupt and that the view of sin is essentially optimistic.