The fundamental category in the Biblical doctrine of man is the category creature. Whatever else Christian theology may have to say about the nature and destiny of man, it says in the limits described by that category. Its picture of man as sinner, therefore, must portray him as a fallen creature. It must not make him a creature of Satan because of his sin. Nor dare theology forget that it is precisely man\u27s creaturely derivation from God that makes his sin so calamitous. Because the category creature is so fundamental, orthodox Christian theology has always felt compelled to draw a line beyond which mysticism is not permitted to go. In a manner reminiscent of mysticism, it promises that its adherents become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). But, unlike classical mysticism, it insists that such participation does not abolish but rather confirms the creaturely character of the participant. From these and similar relationships it would appear that for Biblical theology man is fundamentally man the creature, be he innocent, fallen, or saved
