George H. Warnock — Anthropology
b2 — Evening and Morning
The Human Will (WILL) and the Rejection of “Free Will Moral Agent”
In Chapter 1, Warnock explicitly rejects the concept of “free will moral agent” as a justification for retaining control of one’s own will (using the image of Saul keeping Agag, the Amalekite king, alive):
“We feel we just simply must keep the king of Amalek alive in order to honor God, because man is a ‘free will moral agent.’ The fact is that man is in no sense ‘free’ either as the seed of Adam or as the seed of Abraham. Jesus makes this abundantly clear. Only the Son can make one free, and this is the only true freedom that man can have (Jn. 8:32-36).” — Evening and Morning, chap. 1
Interpretation: Warnock directly asserts that the traditional notion of “free will moral agent” is a theological fallacy. Both the unbeliever (seed of Adam) and the believer (seed of Abraham) are by nature unfree. Freedom is not an innate property but a gift of the Son.
Bondage of the Will by Nature
Warnock describes human nature as fundamentally bound, driven by flesh and the spirit of disobedience:
“By natural birth we are impelled by the desires or the WILL of the flesh and of the mind, which leads only to bondage; and we are energized by the spirit of disobedience (Eph. 2:2, 3). It is only by the grace of God that this wall of rebellion is broken down, and we are called forth into the light by His creative voice.” — Evening and Morning, chap. 1
Interpretation: The human will by nature functions as an instrument of flesh and the spirit of disobedience (Eph. 2:2-3). There is no room for a neutral capacity for self-determination — nature is wholly oriented toward bondage until God’s grace breaks through.
The WILL as “King of Amalek” — the Last Stronghold of the Old Life
Warnock describes the surrender of the self-will as the decisive breakthrough to true freedom:
“One only knows true freedom when that last great stronghold of the old life is broken down, even the king of Amalek, the WILL—and the will of God takes its place. Then we may truly say, ‘I delight to do Thy will, O God’; and again, ‘My meat (my very food, my very life) is to do the will of Him that sent me, to finish His work’ (Jn. 4:34).” — Evening and Morning, chap. 1
Interpretation: The human will (WILL) represents for Warnock the last and most tenacious stronghold of the old life. Only when this is broken — not suppressed or crucified as a religious achievement, but broken by grace — does true freedom begin.
Man as Seed of Adam vs. Seed of Abraham: Both Unfree
Warnock makes an explicit distinction between two states of man, but asserts that both are unfree:
“The fact is that man is in no sense ‘free’ either as the seed of Adam or as the seed of Abraham.” — Evening and Morning, chap. 1
Interpretation: This is remarkable because Warnock also includes the believer (seed of Abraham) in this unfreedom. Freedom is not an automatic consequence of covenant membership or regeneration, but of the active presence of the Son.
Freedom Only in the Son (John 8:32-36)
Warnock repeats the principle in Chapter 4 in connection with law and grace:
“It is only as we become captives of the Son that we are really made free… ‘If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.’ And the Lord makes it very clear, He only makes free as He comes in to take possession of your household, and to ‘abide.’ (See John 8:32-36).” — Evening and Morning, chap. 4
“True liberty consists of vital union with the Son… in fact, in becoming bound to the Son with bonds of the Spirit which effectually and experimentally liberate one from the former bondage to sin and self.” — Evening and Morning, chap. 4
Interpretation: Freedom is paradoxical: one is made free by being captured by the Son. This is not a legal imputation but an experiential reality through indwelling and obedience.
Man Negative by Nature — No Hidden Potential
Warnock rejects the idea that fallen man possesses a hidden spiritual potential that can be activated:
“The fact is we are negative by nature, and victory is not ours by blindly refusing to acknowledge our own futility, and vainly attempting to arouse some secret potential of our character within.” — Evening and Morning, chap. 4
“God is consistently seeking to bring us to the place where we recognize the utter nothingness and futility of our whole being and way of life by nature.” — Evening and Morning, chap. 4
Interpretation: This stands in contrast to “positive thinking” theology. Warnock asserts that recognition of human nothingness is not defeatism but the required condition for divine breakthrough.
The Nature of Man: Frail, Weak, Helpless — Dust and Ashes
Warnock formulates human nothingness in Chapter 5 as an axiom for believers’ self-knowledge:
“After all is said and done, man is frail and weak and helpless and futile—regardless who he is. The sooner we come to this realization, the better it will be… David said, ‘I am a worm, and no man.’ He was not just trying to be humble, but he said that in full recognition of what he was by nature.” — Evening and Morning, chap. 5
“we must become utterly weak, that He might be All-glorious in power… helpless in ourselves, that He might be the All-sufficient One. In fact, we are to live the Life of Another.” — Evening and Morning, chap. 5
Interpretation: Human nature is not improved or neutralized by regeneration — the believer must live out of acknowledged weakness. “The Life of Another” (Christ’s life) does not replace human nature but dwells within it.
Trichotomy: Spirit, Soul, Body (1 Thess. 5:23)
Warnock implicitly employs a trichotomous schema in Chapter 2 with a clear order of priority:
“The warfare in the ‘heavenlies’ has for its battleground the body, soul, and spirit of man. As we grow up ‘unto Him’ in all things, we must also come to that place where there is no standing-room for Satan, no ground on which he can take his position.” — Evening and Morning, chap. 2
“This is God’s order: ‘your whole spirit and soul and body…’ (1 Thess. 5:23).” — Evening and Morning, chap. 2
Interpretation: Warnock names spirit, soul, and body as the three battlegrounds of the heavenly warfare, with God’s order: spirit first, then soul, then body — in line with 1 Thess. 5:23.
The Spirit: First Darkened at the Fall, First Restored
Warnock establishes in Chapter 2 a sequence in the fall and in restoration:
“The spirit or mind of man was first to become darkened and lost by the fall, and it is the first to become enlightened and restored. This is the realm of this great spiritual warfare, the warfare of ‘the heavenlies.’ As victory is attained here, that will bring ultimate victory to soul, and body.” — Evening and Morning, chap. 2
Interpretation: The human spirit is both the primary victim of the fall and the primary point of contact for restoration. This implies a layered anthropological restoration process: spirit → soul → body.
Renewal of Man: Transformation to “The Mind of Christ”
Warnock describes in Chapter 5 the radical transformation wrought by the New Covenant as a re-creation of the inner person:
“It is not merely in the mind being activated to enjoy an intellectual concept of Truth… It is rather in the mind being ‘renewed’ and renovated so completely and so drastically that it verily becomes ‘the mind of Christ.’ There is a complete TRANSFORMATION, a complete change, out of the natural and into the spiritual, out of the soulish and into the realm of the Spirit of God.” — Evening and Morning, chap. 5
Interpretation: Restoration of man for Warnock is not a partial improvement but a total transformation: from the “soulish” (psychic) to the spiritual. The concept “mind of Christ” points to a concrete ontological change, not merely a religious qualification.
The Law of Sin and Death — Adam’s Inheritance
Warnock describes the consequences of Adam’s fall as a law that reigns over all humanity and comes to full expression:
“The law of sin and death which came to the throne when Adam walked in the pathway of disobedience and fell off from his Creator. So far-reaching and devastating has been the sway and lordship of the kingdom of death, that today humanity stands on the brink of extinction!” — Evening and Morning, chap. 2
“‘After all, I’m only human…’ Call it what we will: a mistake, or Irish, or human, it is not Christ; and God cannot be satisfied with anything less than the living Christ abiding within your life and mine, in all His glorious fulness.” — Evening and Morning, chap. 2
Interpretation: “Being human” is not an acceptable excuse for the continued presence of sin for Warnock. The standard is not fallen humanity but the indwelling Christ.