by Justin Barnard - Professor at Union

1. JUSTIN D. BARNARD, PH.D.
A S S O C I A T E D E A N , I N S T I T U T E F O R I N T E L L E C T U A L D I S C I P L E S H I P
A S S O C I A T E P R O F E S S O R O F P H I L O S O P H Y
U N I O N U N I V E R S I T Y
S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 3
The New Adam:
Toward a Theology of Imago Dei

2. Ray Kurzweil
Author of The Singularity is Near (2005)
The Future of
Humanity
1. Slow down/reverse
aging and disease
process
2. Reprogram human
biology (through
both genetics and
nanotechnology)
3. Perfect digital-brain
interface capacities
for virtually
limitless possibilities

3. Being Human: Post-Enlightenment
Being Human = nothing more than
a materially-instantiated center of
consciousness.
„Consciousness‟ is understood entirely in
functional terms – i.e., instrumental
rationality (means/end reasoning) to
satisfy the will (where „will‟ is primarily
identified with appetites, wants, desires)

4. Instrumental
Rationality
Will
(wants, desires)
Conscious
Self

5. Post-Enlightenment Consequences
1. The solitary, individual „self‟ becomes the
central metaphysical unit of reality.
2. Autonomy becomes the chief value.
3. All relationships among selves become
structured networks of power grounded in
„rational self-interest‟.
4. Human beings are „persons‟ only for as
long as their consciousness exists/persists.

6. Consequences for Bioethics
• Articulates the powers of the selfAutonomy
• Protects the self and its powers
Non-
maleficence
• Concerns exchange of goods owedJustice
• Concerns transfer/dispersal of
goods not owedBeneficence

7. Ethical Robot
Do Good
Prevent Harm
Be Fair
Michael Anderson and Susan Leigh Anderson, “Robot Be Good,” Scientific American (October 2010): 72-77

8. C.S. Lewis: Abolition of Man “Men Without Chests”
“The head rules the belly
through the chest– stable
sentiments– these are
the indispensable liaison
offers between cerebral
man and visceral man. It
may even be said that it
is by this middle element
that man is man . . .”
Critique: Post-Enlightenment View

9. Limitations Imago Dei
 Unexplained
conversation
stopper
 Explained in
functional terms
 Ex: rationality,
creativity, capacity
for „dominion‟
Typical Christian Response

10. An Alternative Christian Reflection
Trinity
EschatologyIncarnation

11. Being Human: Eschatology
Thinking eschatologically . . .
1. Chastens reflection on what it means
to be human
2. Disabuses us of foolish, myopic
quests (e.g., immortality, unleashing
human potential)
3. Clarifies a Christian outlook on death

12. Being Human: Incarnation
 Thinking incarnationally . . .
1. Means more than mere physicality
2. Takes the organismal unity of the
human body as central to being human
3. Rejects any view that reduces being
human to mere possession of a
transferable consciousness (where the
„material‟ upon which it operates is a
matter of indifference)

13. Being Human: Trinity
Thinking in Trinitarian terms . . .
1. Removes the error of treating the
solitary self as the as the central unity of
reality
2. Relativizes the significance of autonomy
3. Signals the primacy of the loving
relationships in which we are embedded
as vital to being human

14. Conclusions
Being made Imago Dei means
being a creature whose intrinsic
communion with/for love of God
and neighbor and organismal unity
make it a candidate for an
eschatological existence in (partial)
continuity with its present one.

15. Conclusions
 Proposals to “reinvent humanity” in
ways that deny either . . .
1. The primacy of our intrinsic loving
communion, or
2. The significance of organismal unity, or
3. The necessity of our eschatological
existence
. . . should be regarded as sub-human