What Is the “Image of God” in the Human? A Place for Christians to Begin Thinking about the “Transhuman”

Last updated on: March 19, 2015 at 8:45 am by Roger E. Olson

What Is the “Image of God” in the Human? A Place for Christians to Begin Thinking about the “Transhuman” 2015-03-19T08:45:47-05:00 Roger E. Olson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In my most recent post here I raised ethical questions about the idea of “transhumanity” or “posthumanity”—technology being used to transcend normal humanity into “humanity plus.” So far as I can tell there are no examples of this yet; only ideas that seem possible to some people given the tremendous technological enhancements created and offered to persons with physical disabilities and disadvantages. An example is cochlear implants. Another example is prosthetic limbs manipulable by mind power. These are not examples of transhumanity; they are technological creations that some people take as encouragement to believe in further technological advancements that would essentially take persons from being “merely human” to “human plus.”

I am a Christian ethicists, so my first concern in such questions is to advise Christians and churches how to think about them. My first piece of advice is not to panic just because someone calls a technological innovation a step toward the creation of the posthuman or humanity plus. No doubt some people will tout some scientific innovation as such when, in fact, it isn’t that at all. Advertising, especially of technological innovations, often exaggerates. My second piece of advice is to develop sound thinking about “the human” based on Christian theological reasoning. That shouldn’t be taken for granted.

A place to begin is with the biblical and Christian traditional doctrine of human beings as created in “God’s image and likeness.” Scripture mentions it several times including Genesis 1:27. However, nowhere does the Bible precisely define what it means. As I often remind my students “The Bible is not always as clear as we wish it were.” That’s why theology is necessary. In theological reflection we develop a model, a complex metaphor, based on Scripture, tradition, reason and experience.

That serious communal Christian reflection on the “image and likeness of God” in humanity is lacking is demonstrated by the wildly conflicting theories of what such a model should look like. What we need is trans-denominational theological reflection aimed at developing a consensus Christian view of the “image and likeness of God.”

Most Christians will argue that the doctrine that human beings are created in God’s image and likeness is the foundation of unique human dignity among animals. But so long as we radically disagree about it our words are likely to fall on deaf ears. Our efforts to promote the continuing special treatment of humans above other animals are threatened when we cannot even agree about the doctrine that underlies them.

On the one hand we see among many Christians a folk religious view of the image of God. I recently saw a slogan posted on Facebook that said “God created man in his image. You are God’s ‘selfie!’” No Christian theologian I know of would ever claim that the image and likeness of God doctrine means human beings look like God. Profounder reflection on the doctrine is needed.

My experience of teaching theology for thirty-four years is that very few young Christians, including those who grew up in church and even in pastor’s homes, can even begin to explain what “the image and likeness of God” means. I doubt their elders are much better prepared to explain it.

On the other hand we see Christian theologians developing and promoting radically different meanings of the image and likeness of God in humanity. Some explain it as reason or capacity for reason while others explain it as community or capacity for community. Other theories (models) are dominion-having, responsible freedom, conscience, having an immortal soul, etc. Very little consensus exists among Christians about what being created in the image and likeness of God means. And that means, since this doctrine is crucial to the Christian view of what it means to be “human,” very little consensus exists among Christians about what it means to be human (beyond being homo sapiens biologically).

Modern (or postmodern) visions of scientifically altered homo sapiens should cause Christians of all denominations and traditions to think very hard together about what we mean by “the human” and “humanity”—beyond DNA. Without such a consensus we will find it very difficult to identify the needed and called for identification of that “line not to be crossed” by technology in fundamentally altering the human species.

I will dare to step forward and into this needed but so far lacking conversation with this suggestion: We theologians have too often argued for one particular idea of what being in God’s image and likeness means. I think those make a mistake who insist it means only or even primarily reason or conscience or having an immortal soul or dominion or community. What I suspect we need is a more eclectic and inclusive vision of what the doctrine means. Unfortunately, theologians often fall prey to a mentality where they feel it important to promote a unique angle or insight—which leads to what I call “either-or” thinking in theology. The result is that the “image and likeness of God” means “either this or that” and not both.

Having a consensual Christian definition of the image and likeness of God, and therefore of what makes humans unique and special among animals, would go far toward identifying lines that Christians, anyway, must not cross in endorsing and practicing biomedical-technological innovations that have the potential fundamentally to alter the human.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

March 17, 2015

"Transhumanism" and Ethics: An Invitation to Discussion of a Cultural "Cutting Edge"

Next Post

March 21, 2015 Why Are We (in the U.S.A.) Headed toward a Police State?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Against Liberal Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Revelation, what is the correct sequence of events in the End Times?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Dragon cast to earth, beast rises from sea, false prophet rises from earth, mark of the beast given False prophet rises, dragon cast to earth, beast rises from sea, mark of the beast given Mark of the beast given, dragon cast to earth, beast rises, false prophet rises Beast rises from sea, dragon cast to earth, mark of the beast given, false prophet rises