Alone in the World? Human Uniqueness in Science and Theology
About: This article is published in Journal of Reformed Theology.The article was published on 2009-02-01. It has received 55 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: History of religions.
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Dissertation•
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: In this paper, it is shown that the distinction between image and likeness is not applicable to the human, who is created in the "image...likeness" of the divine creator.
Abstract: it defines and limits the meaning of selem. Second, the two words are interchangeable; no distinction is discoverable between them. Third, both words are included in Genesis 1:26. However, only selem is used in Genesis 1:27, but the omission of d§mu®t does not diminish the meaning. Preuss, noting the occurrence and semantic field of the verb and noun forms for t...wm√;d defines it as a “copy,” “reproduction” or “image” (Preuss 1997:3.259). The eighth century prophet Isaiah warns the nation of Israel not to pursue lRs‹RÚpAh “the idol” (Is 40:19), since wáøl ...wk√rAo¶A;tt...wäm√;d_hAm...w l¡Ea N...wâyV;mådV;t yTMIm_lRa◊w “to whom will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?” (Is 40:18). Idols, which are creations of human hands, lack the “likeness” of the divine creator. Isaiah’s comparison is not applicable to the human, who is created in the “image...likeness” of God. The context of Isaiah 40 expresses comfort for God’s people (40:1), whose Lord has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand (40:12), sits enthroned above the circle of the earth (Is 40:22), and is the Everlasting God, Creator of the ends of the earth who does not grow weary or tired (40:28b). Idols do not compare. Feinberg (1972:236) notes the difference between sΩelem, which refers to human essence, and d§mu®t as the aspect of the person that changes. Both concepts evolve from the Greek and Latin father’s distinction between sΩelem, as the physical condition of the human, and d§mu®t which refers to the ethical expression of the divine image emanating from God. Although distinctions between image and likeness are noted, Kidner (2008:55) deduces that the words reinforce one another in Genesis 1:26, since the conjunction is absent
100 citations
01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: It is argued that the sacramental-liturgical practices of the Christian faith enable healthcare practitioners and patients to renegotiate an understanding of health, death, and life and preserves the practice of medicine from succumbing to medicalized dying.
Abstract: PALLIATIVE CARE’S SACRAMENTAL AND LITURGICAL FOUNDATIONS: HEALTHCARE FORMED BY FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE Darren M. Henson, B.B.A, M.Div., S.T.B., S.T.L. Marquette University, 2014 Medical history identifies Dame Cicely Saunders as the founder of modern hospice and palliative care for the unique care she gave to the incurably and terminally ill. Less known is how her Christian faith, combined with her knowledge of medicine, influenced her vision. This work retrieves the Christian roots of palliative care and asserts that the practice of faith preserves the practice of medicine from succumbing to medicalized dying—a phenomenon that excessively relies on technology with the implied hope that it will ultimately conquer illnesses and even death. Efficiency and effectiveness ground modern medicine’s epistemology. These concepts follow the philosophical ideals of the essence of technology asserting that it can and ought to use and control nature to ameliorate problems, including the progression of human illness, frailty, and death. Scholars observe how this forms a medical environment that almost exclusively views death as failure. Christianity, however, forms believers in the paschal mystery of Christ Jesus whose resurrection redeems death. I argue that the sacramental-liturgical practices of the Christian faith enable healthcare practitioners and patients to renegotiate an understanding of health, death, and life. The celebrations of baptism and Eucharist give the gifts of faith, hope, and love. These rituals form the believer in the pattern of the paschal mystery—the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and the believer is sent forth to live this in the world. This means that Christians ought to engage medicine differently, in ways that stymie medicalized dying. The practice of faith remains evermore important especially for Catholic healthcare as it increasingly relies less on the women religious who founded these ministries and more on lay professionals whose commitments to living the paschal mystery are less certain. By encountering God’s gratuitous love in the sacraments, one learns to lovingly bear the burdens of illness and also how to create healthcare systems that benefit the common good. The result of this vision of care necessitates the cooperation of both local parishes and large healthcare systems to fully enact the gospel call to lovingly care for the vulnerably ill and dying.
59 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: The authors argue that the ancient Jewish and Christian notion of resurrection cannot be restricted within a re-animated body but includes a broad spectrum of eschatological hope, particularly the renewal of relationship with YHWH, the dispensation of justice, and the transformation of creation as a whole.
Abstract: Jesus’ resurrection has long been a central tenet of Christian theology, and the focus of extensive debate and curiosity. Scholars have defended a physical resurrection; interpreted it as metaphor, hallucination, or deception; removed it entirely from the scope of historical inquiry; and have denied it outright. However, belying this scholarship is the propensity to assume that the language of ‘resurrection’ envisages the reanimation of a corporeal and personal body (and then defended, re-interpreted, or denied). Therein lies the problem. This thesis argues that the ancient Jewish and Christian notion of resurrection cannot be restricted within a re-animated body but includes a broad spectrum of eschatological hope, particularly the renewal of relationship with YHWH, the dispensation of justice, and the transformation of creation as a whole. Jesus’ resurrection is the fulfilment of these broader eschatological hopes and cannot be reduced to the return to life of a personal body. Connected to this is the corollary assertion that Jesus’ resurrection is characterised by a unification of elements that bear both continuity and discontinuity with empirical reality, echoing the hope for a renewed and transformed reality. As a result of its limited understanding of ‘resurrection,’ scholarship has often emphasized either the continuity or discontinuity at the expense of the other, where this thesis contends that the two must be upheld in a dialectic tension. This reframing of resurrection necessitates a re-evaluation of methodology, proposing a ‘Postfoundationalist Constructive Realism,’ a framework built upon a dialogue with Wolfhart Pannenberg and N.T. Wright. PCR upholds the external event or object, with its inherent meaning, and its subjective interpretation by an interpreter who imbues that event with contextually conditioned meaning, according to the interpreter’s presupposed categories of understanding. Though this thesis is primarily a project within the discipline of systematic theology, it is significantly informed by, and engages with, New Testament scholarship.
44 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that there is a need for a robust and dynamic theoretical toolkit in order to develop a richer, and more nuanced, understanding of the cognitively sophisticated genus Homo and the diverse sorts of niches humans constructed and occupied across the Pleistocene, Holocene, and into the Anthropocene.
Abstract: The concept of a 'human nature' or 'human natures' retains a central role in theorizing about the human experience. In Homo sapiens it is clear that we have a suite of capacities generated via our evolutionary past, and present, and a flexible capacity to create and sustain particular kinds of cultures and to be shaped by them. Regardless of whether we label these capacities 'human natures' or not, humans occupy a distinctive niche and an evolutionary approach to examining it is critical. At present we are faced with a few different narratives as to exactly what such an evolutionary approach entails. There is a need for a robust and dynamic theoretical toolkit in order to develop a richer, and more nuanced, understanding of the cognitively sophisticated genus Homo and the diverse sorts of niches humans constructed and occupied across the Pleistocene, Holocene, and into the Anthropocene. Here I review current evolutionary approaches to 'human nature', arguing that we benefit from re-framing our investigations via the concept of the human niche and in the context of the extended evolutionary synthesis (EES). While not a replacement of standard evolutionary approaches, this is an expansion and enhancement of our toolkit. I offer brief examples from human evolution in support of these assertions.
41 citations
TL;DR: The quest for understanding the human propensity for religious imagination can be aided by investigating more fully the core role of the evolutionary transition between becoming and being human, as well as the role of cooperation in human evolution.
Abstract: The quest for understanding the human propensity for religious imagination can be aided by investigating more fully the core role of the evolutionary transition between becoming and being human. A distinctively human imagination is part of the explanation for human evolutionary success. Significant factors can be found in the evolutionary patterns and processes in the genus Homo during the Pleistocene, especially the later part of that epoch approximately 400–100,000 years ago. The combination of a niche construction perspective with fossil and archeological evidence, highlighting the role of cooperation in human evolution, adds to our understanding of a wholly human way of being, our socio-cognitive niche. This is a niche wherein experiences in, and perceptions of, of the world exist in a particular semiotic context: social relationships, landscapes, and biotic and abiotic elements are embedded in an experiential reality that is infused with a potential for symbolic meaning derived from more than the mat...
35 citations
Cites background or result from "Alone in the World? Human Uniquenes..."
...(Van Huyssteen 2006, 312) [A]daptationist analyses must focus on the functional effects of the religious system, the coalescence of independent parts that constitute the fabric of religion … these traits derive from pre-human ritual systems and were selected for in early hominin populations … By…...
[...]
...Many authors imply some causal link between the theory of mind, intentionality, and consciousness present in modern humans, along with full-blown language, and the ubiquitous presence of religiosity (Barnard 2012; Dunbar 2003; King 2007; Jeeves 2011; Rappaport 1999; van Huyssteen 2006)....
[...]
...(Van Huyssteen 2006, 312) [A]daptationist analyses must focus on the functional effects of the religious system, the coalescence of independent parts that constitute the fabric of religion … these traits derive from pre-human ritual systems and were selected for in early hominin populations … By fostering cooperation and extending the communication and coordination of social relations across time and space … The religious system … is an exquisite, complex adaptation that serves to support extensive human cooperation and coordination, and social life as we know it....
[...]
...…have proposed that the origin of religion and religious belief are either an adaptation/ exaptation, or a by-product of our cognitive complexity, others also suggest that it is more complicated than that (e.g., Barnard 2012; Donald 2001; Norenzayan 2013; Rappaport 1999; Van Huyssteen 2006)....
[...]
...While many researchers have proposed that the origin of religion and religious belief are either an adaptation/ exaptation, or a by-product of our cognitive complexity, others also suggest that it is more complicated than that (e.g., Barnard 2012; Donald 2001; Norenzayan 2013; Rappaport 1999; Van Huyssteen 2006)....
[...]
References
More filters
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: In this paper, it is shown that the distinction between image and likeness is not applicable to the human, who is created in the "image...likeness" of the divine creator.
Abstract: it defines and limits the meaning of selem. Second, the two words are interchangeable; no distinction is discoverable between them. Third, both words are included in Genesis 1:26. However, only selem is used in Genesis 1:27, but the omission of d§mu®t does not diminish the meaning. Preuss, noting the occurrence and semantic field of the verb and noun forms for t...wm√;d defines it as a “copy,” “reproduction” or “image” (Preuss 1997:3.259). The eighth century prophet Isaiah warns the nation of Israel not to pursue lRs‹RÚpAh “the idol” (Is 40:19), since wáøl ...wk√rAo¶A;tt...wäm√;d_hAm...w l¡Ea N...wâyV;mådV;t yTMIm_lRa◊w “to whom will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?” (Is 40:18). Idols, which are creations of human hands, lack the “likeness” of the divine creator. Isaiah’s comparison is not applicable to the human, who is created in the “image...likeness” of God. The context of Isaiah 40 expresses comfort for God’s people (40:1), whose Lord has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand (40:12), sits enthroned above the circle of the earth (Is 40:22), and is the Everlasting God, Creator of the ends of the earth who does not grow weary or tired (40:28b). Idols do not compare. Feinberg (1972:236) notes the difference between sΩelem, which refers to human essence, and d§mu®t as the aspect of the person that changes. Both concepts evolve from the Greek and Latin father’s distinction between sΩelem, as the physical condition of the human, and d§mu®t which refers to the ethical expression of the divine image emanating from God. Although distinctions between image and likeness are noted, Kidner (2008:55) deduces that the words reinforce one another in Genesis 1:26, since the conjunction is absent
100 citations
01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: It is argued that the sacramental-liturgical practices of the Christian faith enable healthcare practitioners and patients to renegotiate an understanding of health, death, and life and preserves the practice of medicine from succumbing to medicalized dying.
Abstract: PALLIATIVE CARE’S SACRAMENTAL AND LITURGICAL FOUNDATIONS: HEALTHCARE FORMED BY FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE Darren M. Henson, B.B.A, M.Div., S.T.B., S.T.L. Marquette University, 2014 Medical history identifies Dame Cicely Saunders as the founder of modern hospice and palliative care for the unique care she gave to the incurably and terminally ill. Less known is how her Christian faith, combined with her knowledge of medicine, influenced her vision. This work retrieves the Christian roots of palliative care and asserts that the practice of faith preserves the practice of medicine from succumbing to medicalized dying—a phenomenon that excessively relies on technology with the implied hope that it will ultimately conquer illnesses and even death. Efficiency and effectiveness ground modern medicine’s epistemology. These concepts follow the philosophical ideals of the essence of technology asserting that it can and ought to use and control nature to ameliorate problems, including the progression of human illness, frailty, and death. Scholars observe how this forms a medical environment that almost exclusively views death as failure. Christianity, however, forms believers in the paschal mystery of Christ Jesus whose resurrection redeems death. I argue that the sacramental-liturgical practices of the Christian faith enable healthcare practitioners and patients to renegotiate an understanding of health, death, and life. The celebrations of baptism and Eucharist give the gifts of faith, hope, and love. These rituals form the believer in the pattern of the paschal mystery—the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and the believer is sent forth to live this in the world. This means that Christians ought to engage medicine differently, in ways that stymie medicalized dying. The practice of faith remains evermore important especially for Catholic healthcare as it increasingly relies less on the women religious who founded these ministries and more on lay professionals whose commitments to living the paschal mystery are less certain. By encountering God’s gratuitous love in the sacraments, one learns to lovingly bear the burdens of illness and also how to create healthcare systems that benefit the common good. The result of this vision of care necessitates the cooperation of both local parishes and large healthcare systems to fully enact the gospel call to lovingly care for the vulnerably ill and dying.
59 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: The authors argue that the ancient Jewish and Christian notion of resurrection cannot be restricted within a re-animated body but includes a broad spectrum of eschatological hope, particularly the renewal of relationship with YHWH, the dispensation of justice, and the transformation of creation as a whole.
Abstract: Jesus’ resurrection has long been a central tenet of Christian theology, and the focus of extensive debate and curiosity. Scholars have defended a physical resurrection; interpreted it as metaphor, hallucination, or deception; removed it entirely from the scope of historical inquiry; and have denied it outright. However, belying this scholarship is the propensity to assume that the language of ‘resurrection’ envisages the reanimation of a corporeal and personal body (and then defended, re-interpreted, or denied). Therein lies the problem. This thesis argues that the ancient Jewish and Christian notion of resurrection cannot be restricted within a re-animated body but includes a broad spectrum of eschatological hope, particularly the renewal of relationship with YHWH, the dispensation of justice, and the transformation of creation as a whole. Jesus’ resurrection is the fulfilment of these broader eschatological hopes and cannot be reduced to the return to life of a personal body. Connected to this is the corollary assertion that Jesus’ resurrection is characterised by a unification of elements that bear both continuity and discontinuity with empirical reality, echoing the hope for a renewed and transformed reality. As a result of its limited understanding of ‘resurrection,’ scholarship has often emphasized either the continuity or discontinuity at the expense of the other, where this thesis contends that the two must be upheld in a dialectic tension. This reframing of resurrection necessitates a re-evaluation of methodology, proposing a ‘Postfoundationalist Constructive Realism,’ a framework built upon a dialogue with Wolfhart Pannenberg and N.T. Wright. PCR upholds the external event or object, with its inherent meaning, and its subjective interpretation by an interpreter who imbues that event with contextually conditioned meaning, according to the interpreter’s presupposed categories of understanding. Though this thesis is primarily a project within the discipline of systematic theology, it is significantly informed by, and engages with, New Testament scholarship.
44 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that there is a need for a robust and dynamic theoretical toolkit in order to develop a richer, and more nuanced, understanding of the cognitively sophisticated genus Homo and the diverse sorts of niches humans constructed and occupied across the Pleistocene, Holocene, and into the Anthropocene.
Abstract: The concept of a 'human nature' or 'human natures' retains a central role in theorizing about the human experience. In Homo sapiens it is clear that we have a suite of capacities generated via our evolutionary past, and present, and a flexible capacity to create and sustain particular kinds of cultures and to be shaped by them. Regardless of whether we label these capacities 'human natures' or not, humans occupy a distinctive niche and an evolutionary approach to examining it is critical. At present we are faced with a few different narratives as to exactly what such an evolutionary approach entails. There is a need for a robust and dynamic theoretical toolkit in order to develop a richer, and more nuanced, understanding of the cognitively sophisticated genus Homo and the diverse sorts of niches humans constructed and occupied across the Pleistocene, Holocene, and into the Anthropocene. Here I review current evolutionary approaches to 'human nature', arguing that we benefit from re-framing our investigations via the concept of the human niche and in the context of the extended evolutionary synthesis (EES). While not a replacement of standard evolutionary approaches, this is an expansion and enhancement of our toolkit. I offer brief examples from human evolution in support of these assertions.
41 citations
TL;DR: The quest for understanding the human propensity for religious imagination can be aided by investigating more fully the core role of the evolutionary transition between becoming and being human, as well as the role of cooperation in human evolution.
Abstract: The quest for understanding the human propensity for religious imagination can be aided by investigating more fully the core role of the evolutionary transition between becoming and being human. A distinctively human imagination is part of the explanation for human evolutionary success. Significant factors can be found in the evolutionary patterns and processes in the genus Homo during the Pleistocene, especially the later part of that epoch approximately 400–100,000 years ago. The combination of a niche construction perspective with fossil and archeological evidence, highlighting the role of cooperation in human evolution, adds to our understanding of a wholly human way of being, our socio-cognitive niche. This is a niche wherein experiences in, and perceptions of, of the world exist in a particular semiotic context: social relationships, landscapes, and biotic and abiotic elements are embedded in an experiential reality that is infused with a potential for symbolic meaning derived from more than the mat...
35 citations