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A Theology of Dependence Applied to Parental Care
Cubas, Pamela Dawn
Cubas, Pamela Dawn
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Abstract
The general agreement among professing, practicing evangelicals is that God created everything that has life and breath, and human beings are utterly dependent on him for all things. Yet when attempting to understand human development, the inclination is to consign the research and explanations to developmental psychologists. The overall psychological assumption is that childhood development is an evolutionary, biological, systematic process intended primarily for the maturation of psychological, social, and mental abilities enabling survival and empowering autonomy and proper adult functioning. While young children depend entirely on their caregivers during the developmental process, the question is “Is there any other function for dependence other than survival and support for development?” The reality is that God’s Word says almost nothing about the developmental stages and functions in early childhood. While there are many inferences to dependence and the impressionability and weaknesses of young children, there is no information on the ultimate purpose of dependence, especially in early childhood. So, when attempting understand dependence in early childhood development from a theological perspective, the question becomes, “Is there a telos for dependence that includes but goes beyond early childhood?” In this dissertation, I argue that God’s ultimate plan or destination for human beings is tied to their origin. Human beings are made in God’s image to represent him in his world. Yet because of sin, humans do not rightly represent him because, without Christ, they exist and function less than his design. They do not experience optimal humanness. This conclusion is based on the premise that God’s blueprint for human beings is not completed at imago Dei. Rather, his plan includes a final destination of optimal humanness, and arriving at it requires each person to move from dependence on their initial caregivers to intentional dependence on the Lord and to interdependence within the body of Christ. In this dissertation, I offer a theology of dependence based on the biblical understanding that humanity’s ultimate destination is optimal humanness, which is “mature manhood, to the measure and the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13). The theological anthropological truths gained in this dissertation from chapters 2 and 3 will provide a foundation for parenting young children toward optimal humanness.
Description
Ph.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2026
Date
2026-05
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The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary