Human Origins and the Image of God: Essays in Honor of J. Wentzel van Huyssteen

by Daniel Pedersen (Editor), Christopher Lilley (Editor)

Overview

How did human beings originate? What, if anything, makes us unique? These questions have long been central to philosophers, theologians, and scientists. This book continues that robust interdisciplinary conversation with contributions from an international team of scholars whose expertise ranges from biology and anthropology to philosophical theology and ethics.

The fourteen chapters in this volume are organized around Wentzel van Huyssteen's pioneering work in human rationality, embodiment, and evolutionary history. Bringing a variety of diverse perspectives to bear on a hotly debated issue, Human Origins and the Image of God showcases new research by some of today's finest scholars working on questions regarding human origins and human uniqueness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467447010
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	04/24/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	671 KB

About the Author

Christopher Lilley is a PhD candidate in systematic theology and philosophy at Marquette University.

Daniel J. Pederson holds a PhD in theology from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Table of Contents

Foreword M. Craig Barnes x

Preface Christopher Lilley Daniel J. Pedersen xii

Introduction: J. Wentzel van Huyssteen and Interdisciplinary Theology Niels Henrik Gregersen 1

Part 1 Natural Scientists

1 The Acquisition of Human Uniqueness: How We Got from There to Here, and How We Did It So Fast Ian Tattersall 25

2 Religion as a Technology of Entanglement: Dealing with the Beyond of Entanglements Ian Hodder 43

3 Imago Dei and Animal Domestication: Cognitive-Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Uniqueness and the Imago Dei Justin L. Barrett Tyler S. Greenway 64

4 The Emergence of Religion: What Evolution, the Human Niche, and Imagination Can Tell Us Agustín Fuentes 82

5 The Religious Sense: Human Uniqueness, Human Evolution, and the Origins of Symbolism and Culture Richard Potts 95

Part 2 Philosophers and Historians

6 Persons and Humans: The Dignity and Distinctiveness of the Human Person Keith Ward 113

7 Axiological Sensitivity: Its Origins, Dynamic Structures, and Significance for Theological Anthropology Wesley J. Wildman 132

8 Human Evolution: Some Tough Questions for the Christian Michael Ruse 156

9 Science, Technology, and Aesthetics: The Manifestation of Adaptive Cognitive Fluidity in Humans John Hedley Brooke 174

Part 3 Theologians

10 Moral Origins and Evolutionary Ethics: Navigating the Maze in Conversation with J. Wentzel van Huyssteen Celia Deane-Drummond 201

11 What Makes Theology Theology?: Conviction, Communicability, and Comprehensibility Michael Welker 225

12 Are We Alone? And Does It Matter?: The Narrative of Human Particularity David Fergusson 236

13 Postfoundationalism and the Ethic of Responsibility: Duet or Duel? D. Etienne De villiers 250

14 Living with Strangers?: On Constructing Ethical Discourses Dirk J. Smit 273

Contributors 314

Index of Authors 317

Index of Subjects 320