Anthrōpos (Ἄνθρωπος) and the Bible: Gnostic “Perfect Man,” Adam, and the Son of Man in Pauline Perspective
1) What Gnostics Meant by Anthrōpos—and Why It Matters
In several gnostic systems, Anthrōpos (“Man,” ἄνθρωπος) designates the highest or primordial divine reality, a perfect heavenly Man whose image grounds human identity and the hope of redemption. Irenaeus summarizes the idea: the supreme virtue “which is above all and contains all” is called Anthrōpos. This title marks the supposed link between the supreme divinity and the “unwavering race,” the enlightened seed capable of escaping the world fashioned by the Archons. Because “God” is the prototype of man, the human is redeemed by recovering that archetypal image.
Modern scholarship has long tested—and largely abandoned—two oversimplifications: (1) that an “oriental Urmensch” myth lies behind the New Testament; and (2) that Paul’s Adam/Christ typology in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 is derived from such myths. The more secure result is that gnostic Anthrōpos speculation arose from creative (and often esoteric) exegesis of Genesis 1–2, later woven together with other mythic strands, rather than from a single ancient Near Eastern or Iranian “redeemed redeemer” pattern.
2) Two Gnostic Anthrōpos Myths: Reflection and Descent
Two related myth-forms illustrate how “Man” functions in gnostic anthropology:
Reflection-in-the-waters myth (Apocryphon of John, long recension).
The Archons of the demiurge see the reflection of the Perfect Man and model Adam’s material body on it. Adam’s psyche is likewise a product of the Archons, but his pneuma (divine spirit) comes from Sophia and pre-exists the bodily form. Salvation is the awakening and return of this pneuma to the higher light.Anthrōpos–Image–Man myth (Naassene exegesis).
To protect the transcendence of the highest deity, an intermediate hypostasis (the Image/eikōn) mediates between the Perfect Man and earthly man. The Archons craft Adam’s body after this Image; a descent of light vivifies him but becomes trapped and fragmented across generations. Redemption gathers the scattered light back to the Anthrōpos.
These myths are fluid: any emanation from the Perfect Man can be styled Anthrōpos (even Barbelo as the “image of the Father”), and some texts unfurl chains of titles—First Man, Immortal Man, Son of Man, Saviour. The system is self-expansive and syncretic.
3) How Nag Hammadi Corrected the Story We Tell
Early 20th-century proposals linked Anthrōpos to Iranian or broader “oriental” Urmensch traditions and then projected those onto Paul. But the Nag Hammadi discoveries allowed scholars to read gnostic sources directly. The trend since has been to root gnostic Anthrōpos primarily in Jewish scriptural exegesis (Genesis 1:26–27; 2:7, 21–24) rather than in extra-biblical Urmensch cults. The creative re-reading of creation texts, combined with macro/microcosm speculation, generated the “perfect Man” myth and its many emanations. In short, gnostic Anthrōpos is best explained as scriptural mythmaking within late antique religious discourse, not as the mother-source of Paul’s Christology.
4) Paul’s Adam–Christ Typology: Related Texts, Different Logic
Paul famously juxtaposes Adam and Christ (Rom 5:12–21; 1 Cor 15:21–22, 45–49). The vocabulary overlaps with gnostic interests (image, first/second man, spiritual/psychical), but the structure and aim differ.
Scriptural field. Paul’s matrix is biblical: Genesis 1–2, with echoes of Daniel 7’s “one like a son of man.” He is not importing a gnostic redeemer myth but expounding the canon’s own story of creation, fall, and new creation.
Historical solidarity. In Romans 5, Adam is the representative head under whom sin and death enter; Christ is the last Adam whose obedience constitutes many righteous. This is covenantal history, not ascent from matter.
Resurrection body. In 1 Corinthians 15, the “natural” (psychikos) body and the “spiritual” (pneumatikos) body contrast mortality with Spirit-empowered immortality. “Spiritual” means of the Spirit, not non-bodily. The climax is resurrection, not escape.
Image restored. Bearing “the image of the man of dust” yields to bearing “the image of the man of heaven.” For Paul, the imago Dei is fulfilled in Christ’s risen humanity, not in a return to an undeveloped celestial Anthrōpos myth.
Thus Paul stands near some of the same texts gnostics exploited, but he reads them along the grain of Scripture’s plotline, not against it.
5) The Gospel Trajectory (Delgado’s Emphasis): From Image to Incarnation to New Humanity
Anthony Delgado’s Gospel focus highlights how Scripture’s “Man” theme culminates: not in secret gnosis, but in the public advent, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah.
Image and Incarnation. Humanity was created “in our image, after our likeness.” Christ, the true image, becomes man—not to liberate sparks from flesh, but to heal and elevate flesh through atonement and resurrection. The Son does not merely reveal a heavenly Man; He is the Man who fulfills human vocation.
Cross and headship. Where Adam’s disobedience spread death, Christ’s obedience brings justification and life (Rom 5). Redemption is not recognizing an inner shard of Anthrōpos; it is union with the last Adam by faith, sealed by the Spirit.
Eschatology now and not yet. The resurrection of the Man from heaven inaugurates the age to come in the middle of this age. Believers already bear His image by the Spirit and await bodily transformation at His appearing (1 Cor 15). Hope is not flight from creation but creation’s renewal.
From this vantage, gnostic Anthrōpos is a mirror that distorts the biblical face. It sees “man” as a cipher for divine essence to be recollected; the Gospel sees the Man Christ Jesus as God-with-us, crucified and risen, the cornerstone of a renewed human family.
6) Discernment: Where Anthrōpos Speculation Collides with Scripture
Creation’s goodness. Gnostic myths cast matter as a prison of inferior makers; Scripture declares the world “very good,” ruined by sin but destined for renewal.
Revelation vs. secret knowledge. Gnostic salvation leans on esoteric recognition; apostolic proclamation centers on a public cross and empty tomb.
Embodiment. The Bible promises resurrection, not disembodied ascent. Christ is “the firstfruits,” not a disembodied Anthrōpos-type.
Covenant history. Paul interprets Adam and Christ within a single, unfolding story—promise, Torah, Messiah, Spirit, consummation—rather than a timeless cycle of emanations and returns.
7) Pastoral Takeaways: Human Dignity, Holy Vocation, Concrete Hope
Dignity. Every human bears the image; in Christ, renewed humanity is already dawning. Racism, exploitation, and contempt contradict the Image and the Gospel.
Vocation. The last Adam restores royal-priestly calling: worship, wisdom, and sacrificial love in ordinary life (Rom 12).
Hope. Our future is not absorption into the All, but resurrection likeness to Christ—the Man of heaven—when He appears in glory (1 Cor 15; Phil 3:20–21).
Conclusion
Anthrōpos, in gnostic hands, names a perfect cosmic Man whose fractured image humanity must recover by esoteric ascent. The Bible names Jesus Christ as the true Man from heaven, the last Adam, whose cross and resurrection accomplish openly what no gnosis can: justification, new birth, and the promise of a transformed, embodied life in a renewed creation. The church lives between firstfruits and harvest, already being conformed to His image—and awaiting the day when we shall bear it in full.
Bible Verses on Anthrōpos, Adam, the Image, and the Man from Heaven
Genesis 1:26–27 — “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’… So God created man in his own image… male and female he created them.”
Genesis 2:7 — “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
Psalm 8:4–5 — “What is man that you are mindful of him… Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.”
Daniel 7:13–14 — “Behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man… And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom… an everlasting dominion.”
Romans 5:18–19 — “As one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men… by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”
1 Corinthians 15:21–22 — “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”
1 Corinthians 15:45–49 — “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit… “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.”
Philippians 2:6–8 — “Though he was in the form of God… he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Colossians 1:15 — “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
1 John 3:2 — “We know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”
