Academy for Christian ThoughtThinking Things Through in a Theological Safe Space

Imago Dei“What is Man that thou art mindful of Him?” Psalm 8:5

We are made in the image of God,called to privileges and responsibilities

We are called to be a human being (biological), being human (theological)

It is possible to exist as a person and yet not live and behave as one worthy of having been made in the image of God.

1. Related to God - theology biblical anthropology

2. Related to other minds - philosophy Theory of Mind & God consciousness

3. Related to nature - science paleoanthropology, genomics & cognitive neuroscience

4. Privilege of ChoiceLove

5. Responsibility of StewardshipKindness

Sep 08

 

Related to God’s mind - theologyBiblical anthropology

What is Man that thou art mindful of Him? Psalm 8:5

The psalmist marvels that God bothers to be mindful of mankind.

We are the only life form we know of that considers the existence of our creator.

We are Homo spiritualis, called to live the beyond our biologies.

The Biblical Image & Likeness of God

Gen 1:26-27 – relationship

Gen 3:5 – knowledge of good and evil

Gen. 3:22 –birth & agriculture

Gen 9:6 – God regulates human dominion.

Gen 1:26-27

Relationship with God

Functionally like God, with dominion & rule over the rest of creation

Gen 3:5

Knowledge of good and evil

Like God, when they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they achieved moral cognition

Gen. 3:22

Birth and Agriculture

Knowledge gave humans the powers to create life (birth) and produce agriculture (till the land).

Humans were not made to be immortal.

Gen 9:6

God regulates human dominion.

Abuse of dominion brought the execution of divine justice (Flood) because humans are the image of God.

Life belongs to God.

We are not entirely at the mercy of nature

Like God, they possess the mind to have some measure of control over their circumstances.

Think of our collective mastery of and over the land, water, air, under the ground and surface of the water. Although they are not total masteries, it remains amazing what we can do compared to the rest of nature.

Land, Sea, Air & Space (Inner & Outer) 1

We can resist gravity in building tall structures, survive anywhere on earth, build vehicles to push us over 200 mph at sea, over 700 mph on land, and over 25,000 mph in the air, reach from 1400 feet below sea level to 18,029 feet above, float on the oceans, lakes and rivers, fly in the air up to outer space, and the Moon.

Land, Sea, Air & Space (Inner & Outer) 2

We can descend into the deep cave systems of the world, resist the pressures of ocean depths, traverse at high speed under the surface for months at a time (nuclear submarines). Apart from geographic achievements, we also possess scalar achievements.

Land, Sea, Air & Space (Inner & Outer) 3

With our scopes, we can ‘see’ into the distant past as light from distant stars reach us billions of years after they began sending electromagnetic signals. We can see the very small with our electron microscopes. We can detect the living functions of the brain with fMRI, PROSCAN, CAT scan, etc.

History of the Imago Dei 1

In the long history of Christian theological doctrine, biblical anthropology can be traced back to the earliest biblical books of the Bible.

Indeed, the writer of Psalm 8:5 marvels that God bothers to be mindful of mankind.

Augustine stated that our heart is not at rest till we find rest in God. What makes a human a human rests with our natural desire to relate to God.

History of the Imago Dei 2

Irenaeus: image (rationality & freedom) & likeness (ethics)Augustine: memory, intellect and will plus rationality & freedomAquinas: man’s power of reason.Luther: original righteousness with ethical relationality.Calvin: adopted Irenaeus, Aquina & with Luther (rationality,

reason, righteousness, relational).Barth: Relationality rather than rationality.Wolterstorff: Responsibility or ethical relationality.

Each theologian was dealing with the existential challenges of his day, often ignoring the context of the bible passages.

Marks of the imago Dei

Reason (Logic)Faith (Future apprehension)Emotional empathy (ToM)Relationship (Imagination)Co-creators (creativity and dexterity)

Conclusion

The theological interpretations of the imago Dei have rarely been exegetically biblical as they shifted between rationality and relationality, often prompted by the existential concerns of the spiritual leaders within their geohistorical contexts.

Next week – the imago Dei related to other minds

Sep 15

Related to other minds – philosophyToM & God consciousness

Philosophical anthropology

Philosophical ideas of what makes humans uniquely different from animals have ranged from

- morphologies (their body structures) to - capacities (how the structures are used) to - mental abilities (how the mind works).

The Mental abilities of the Brain functioning as the Mind

The two most important mental abilities are called

- Theory of Mind (ToM) and - God consciousness.

Theory of Mind

ToM, with up to 6 levels of intentionality.

All animals are capable of consciousness.

Some of self-consciousness.

But humans alone have achieved up to six levels of intentionality.

God-consciousness 1

God-consciousness is a major new field of study in the philosophy of religion.

It is sometimes called the cognitive science of religion (CSR).

But its conclusions are basically philosophical rather than purely scientific in nature.

God-consciousness 2 (HADD)

Justin Barrett claims that the human mind evolved HADD (Hypersensitive Agent Detection Device) and ToM in order to

detect and assume the existence of divine agency.

Thus, the default nature of the human mind is theistic rather than atheistic.

In this view, God consciousness evolved from HADD.

God-consciousness 3 (Consciousness)

Until another species can be shown to possess a qualitatively similar capacity of consciousness that we display, it remains a live claim that humans are cognitively unique – and therein

lies our imago Dei.

Mirror Neurons & Reflective Love

In order to evolve HADD and God consciousness, we are required to imaginatively think beyond ourselves (ToM) and to

empathize (mirror neurons), so that we may reflectively love (as opposed to reciprocitively/responsively love).

Conclusion

The philosophical speculation into what makes a human a human rests with our capacity to relate to other minds.

Sep 22

Related to nature – science paleoanthropology and genomics

a) Paleoanthropology: From fossil evidence, we find that modern humans are unique in 5 ways – We

-stand upright full-time and can run on two feet for long-distances-evolved large brains with an architecture that permits a wide range of capacities-evolved to speak languages with symbolic thought (comparative linguistics show that languages

evolve over time just as biological specimens).-learned to control fire and cook our food b) Human genomics: Our genome is not very different from other animal genome. While only 3%

of our DNA is used, much of the 97% of so-called junk DNA is used in regulating and switching on other active genes.

c) Cognitive psychology: The combination of symbolic thought and intuition gives rise to our

powers of reasoning and creativity respectively. This powerful combination of rationality and emotive capacities permit us to dream, to fantasize and to imagine beyond the scope of the perceptibles, such as what can be seen visually, heard audibly, smelt olfactorilly, felt tactilly or tasted gustorilly.

Our advanced cognitive powers are liberated beyond the biological boundaries set by our bodies and range wherever our minds can take us. It is this realm of consciousness that we can perceive the presence of God in ways that language fails to describe.

speech of symbolic language. Individual words change in its meanings so rapidly that in less than 10,000 years, its impossible to trace relationships between them. But this deficit is the very character of language that allows us to trace the movement of peoples around the Earth. Cognitive psycholists investigate individual sound components rather than individual words to trace relationships. These phonemes are more bound to biology than ideas are. The further away from Africa and hence the more recently colonized by Homo sapiens, the fewer phonemes exist in a language, e.g., the ‘click’ languages of Africa (over 100), English (45), Hawaii languages (13).

It appears that the biological structures evolve in anticipation of subsequent functional

uses – feathers, legs and symbolic speech.

Adam & Eve

Note: The Apostles’ Creed does not mention of Adam & Eve

1. Recent ancestors (Created imago Dei 10 tya)2. Recent representatives (Selected imago Dei 10 tya)3. Ancient ancestors (Evolved and marked imago Dei 150 tya)4. Ancient representatives (Selected imago Dei 150 tya)5. Symbolic (Evolved 150 tya and gradually developed into the

imago Dei)

1. Recent ancestors (Created imago Dei 10 tya)

2. Recent representatives (Selected imago Dei 10 tya)

3. Ancient ancestors (Evolved and marked imago Dei 150 tya)

4. Ancient representatives (Selected imago Dei 150 tya)

5. Symbolic (Evolved 150 tya and gradually developed into the imago Dei)

Conclusion: The scientific investigation into what makes a human a human seems to rest with our capacity to imagine the unimaginable.

What makes modern humans different from all other primates is the cultural

trigger that allows us to relate to God. Candidates include the Theory of Mind (ToM, a personal possession) and speech of symbolic language (a community experience).

The cognitive transformation of Homo sapiens from a nonlinguistic nonsymbolic primate to a symbolic linguistic one is the most mysterious and dramatic makeover in the history of life.

Thus, theology, philosophy and science together converge in their 

understanding of the human mind as uniquely capable to think about God.

How are we different from other animals?

1. We are the only surviving hominids today. Our symbolic species, able to pass on vital information over time, possess insight, and contemplate our future, has become the supreme global predator, able to destroy life as we know it.

2. Our minds function beyond the need for survival. We alone appear to wonder, philosophize and worship.

How are we different from other animals?

3. Man is the praying animal. God addresses us by his moral word and we respond in prayer and worship, as creatures made in His image.

4. Prayer demands moral cognition, transcends linguistic expressions, and include gestures and objects.

How are we different from other animals?

5. The image of God is NOT an individual possession. Human

prayer is communal, for we were made in a corporate creation. God created man (Heb: adam, mankind) in his own image.

6. From a Christian viewpoint, what makes a human a human is our natural desire to relate to God.

Made in the image of God (imago Dei)

Our biological brains give rise to our moral minds. But what drives our drives?

Using symbolic thought, we are able to pass on vital information over time, possess insight, and contemplate our future.

We have become the supreme global predator, able to adapt to our environments or change our environments to our needs.

ConclusionScience describes human existence as a marvel of fortuitous

chance. However, life is harsh and its end is unknown. Life is an existential accident.

Theology describes human life as the result of a generous divine will. Although all life forms face suffering and death, we are morally cognitive beings answerable to God.

Sep 29

Privilege of ChoiceLove

Oct 06

Responsibility of stewardshipKindness

Alone among known creation, human beings possess the greatest powers of choice, both mental and physical.

We have learned to - control our immediate environment (pressure, air, water, access to food and shelter)- accommodate our cyborg-bodies to different weather conditions- correct any deficits and even enhance our sensory perceptions (spectacles, hearing aids, - create leisure time- prolong our lives and health through pharmacology and medicine a) Ecotheology b) Life, death and renewal

How to be a human being, being human in the fullest sense of the word.

1. Be mindful of God even as God is mindful of us2. Be kind to fellow humans (especially those who suffer from the

indignities of physical hardships caused by ….) and other creatures that God has created (ecological awareness).

3. Be resourceful (space travel, deep ocean navigation) while respecting the gifts of life

4. Celebrate the joy of life, health and experience5. Prepare for the next phase of existence

Conclusion

We anticipate an everlasting existence in a renewed universe. Christ’s presence among humanity anticipated the dwelling of God with us in the ‘new heaven and new earth.’

The privilege of being God's children authorizes and empowers us to love and offer kindness with confidence and compassion, reaching out to those who suffer.

Academy for Christian Thought

A resource for both believer and skeptic seeking an informed approach to how history, the sciences & philosophy may enrich our understanding of reality.

1. We provide a theological safe space to learn about the Christian faith.2. We initiated a ‘copyleft’ program to distribute our materials royalty-free in the Two-

Thirds World.3. We engage the academy through international conferences on religion and the

natural sciences - to bridge mutual suspicion between the academy and the church.4. We bridge the cognitive gap between the pulpit and the pew and serve as a

clearing house of ideas and a trusted resource.