-----Original Message-----
From: Bjoern Moeller [mailto:dj_mic20@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2000 10:42 AM
To: allenroy@peoplepc.com; asa@calvin.edu
Subject: re: TE-man
But this does not at all solve my problem. Still we
have to ask; what makes man unique (compared to all
other animals from which he has descended, and from
which he has life/soul)? Even worse to explain; what
makes it possible for man to communicate with God?
It seems to me that Allen's view (or the view he
presents) does not answer my question, rather it makes
it even more hard to answer.
====================
Bjorn,
The question of what makes humans unique is a question that I have been
exploring for the past few years. I don't think that "soul" is a thing. It
is a word to denote the entirety of the living being. We do not have souls -
we are souls. But what makes us unique cannot rest on assumptions about
certain characteristics or qualities that we possess (e.g. language, moral
sense, reason), because we will always find some people who do not have
those. Then are we willing to say that these people no longer bear the image
of God? No, the image has to mean something more, and there are two
possibilities. One is the notion of dominion - the image refers to an office
that we hold, and the responsibilities that we have to take care of
creation. This also raises problems such as when a person rejects that
special authority or no longer have the capacity to fufill the role. Again,
do these people no longer bear the image? The most satisfying option is the
last one - that the image, which is what makes us unique, is a special
relationship between God, the Father, and humans, His children. Theologians
have used the term "sonship", but the gender bias makes some people
uncomfortable. However, the point is that this akin to a parent-child
relationship that no other creatures share, and this can never be taken away
or destroyed. And we are able to communicate in a special way with God
because of that - we are not made after our own kinds (like the animals),
but on the image and likeness of God.
Blessings,
Adrian.
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