Is it “mankind” or “peoplekind”? Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s attempt to humorously shut down a questioner backfired virally. Trudeau was subsequently mocked internationally for his presumption when he said, “We like to say peoplekind, not necessarily mankind. It’s more inclusive.”[1]
We can’t know Trudeau’s motives, but we can see that he was wishing to highlight inclusivity. His conclusion was that the term ‘mankind’ was not inclusive enough.
What is ironic in Trudeau’s exchange during that Edmonton town hall, is that the female questioner which Trudeau responded to was making an inclusive, pro-woman point. She said, “Maternal love is the love that’s going to change the future of mankind.”[2] Such a statement was affirming a unique contribution which women can make to all society, namely the ability to bring life into the world.
Now Justin Trudeau is being teased for his replacement of “mankind” with “peoplekind.” But there is much more to this joke/non-joke than a silly use of ‘people’ in place of ‘man’. It’s not just swapping manholes for “peopleholes” or living in “Peoplehattan.” The issue moves us back to the term “man” and the term “mankind.”
The First Man
For Christian believers the use of the term “mankind” is rooted in God’s creation of the universe and all of its decorative furnishings. Within this vivacious habitat, God created Adam. Now Adam is a name that God gave to the first human being, a man (Genesis 2:7). He was created “of dust” yet by a biologically poetic act, was given “the breath of life.”
Mankind as Male and Female
So chronologically, Adam, that is the single man, was created first (1 Timothy 2:13). But Adam is also the term used to describe collective humanity. In the first chapter of Genesis, God expressed his intention to create “Adam”(v.26) in “his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them”(v.27). In this sense, the male name for the first singular human being, stands in place for all of collective humanity. This is what happens by the fifth chapter of Genesis when the creation narrative is summarized again in verse 2, “Male and female he created them and he blessed them and named them Man.” Here again, after the Fall, the singular name (“Adam”in Hebrew) is used collectively. So later on, when God’s judgement comes to the earth in Noah’s day, it was all of “mankind” or all “Adam” who was destroyed (Gen 7:21).
Adam’s Federal Government
Now Justin Trudeau may understand quite a bit about Canada’s federal government, but he may not know as much about Adam’s. When God created Adam, he made Adam (singular) the federal head of all of Adam (collective). Adam is the head of the government of humanity. That ‘federal head’ idea meant that each of Adam’s actions would involve all of his dynastic relationships, including his wife, Eve, and all of his lineage after him. Adam was the head of humanity’s federal government, and everyone else was constitutionally bound to his decisions.
Did you ever wonder why it seems that Eve sins first, but Adam is the one whose sin implicates everyone? The big issue is that Adam’s sin was a federal action. Eve was acting privately as it were, and she was deceived while Adam was clear-eyed about his rebellion (1 Timothy 2:14). By his silence, Adam abdicated his federal responsibility. In his choice to listen to the serpent and his wife, he became a traitor to his God. More than that, Adam willingly plunged his dynasty into war against God too. The result was, as Paul could say, that “in Adam, all die” (1 Cor 15:22).
The Last Adam
Recent scholarly debates have highlighted the importance of confessing the historicity of the biblical record and an historical Adam [3]. Confessing evangelicals see that a denial of the historical Adam would undermine the logic for the true incarnate manhood of Jesus Christ. Jesus is called the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45).
If there is no such thing as “mankind”, then there is no Adam as a federal head. If there is no Adam, then there is no last Adam. And if gendered language is forbidden, then the human gender of Jesus Christ, the personal property of God the Father, and the entire structure of the gospel is dismantled with a word. “Peoplekind” may have been a joke on the Prime Minister’s part, but sadly, the error that it expresses is not.
Mankind or Humanity?
Now there ought to be an awareness that we can use the term “humanity,” not just “mankind” to express all people everywhere. We are all human beings. However, we need to be aware also that the term “mankind” is not inaccurate or oppressive. The term does not denigrate the value of women or children. It is simply affirming God’s creation order of image bearers who are equal, though not interchangeable. All of humanity is Adamic, even as Eve is the mother of all living (Gen 3:20). So we can use general terms like “humanity” and the plural “they” or “their” in nondescript contexts. But we also need to affirm the biblical parallels of terms like “mankind”, the collective “Man” and the gendered language of “he/she.” Our union with Christ supersedes our gender (Gal 3:28) but doesn’t deny it as we look to the resurrection of our bodies (1 Cor 15:35-49), and to the “man of heaven” (1Cor 15:48).
The Citizenship Prayer
Christian believers in Canada continue to pray for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (1 Tim 2:1-2). He is our federal head in our earthly citizenship (Romans 13:1-7). And we pray that the Prime Minister, along with sinners throughout Canada and beyond will be transferred into a heavenly citizenship (Phil 3:20) through faith in the last Adam, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
In this funny “peoplekind” v. “mankind” discussion, we are prompted to look forward to the day when men and women from “every tribe, tongue and nation” among mankind will be standing before the Lamb (Rev 7:9). That will be an inclusion that is truly blessed.
[1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-peoplekind-bad-joke-1.4524233
[2] Ibid.
