THE IMAGO DEI: EVOLUTIONARY AND THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

This short article provides an introduction to a special section, consisting of six papers on human evolution and the imago Dei. These papers are the result of dialogue between theologians and philosophers of religion at the University of Oxford and the Catholic University of Leuven. All contributors focus on the imago Dei, and consider how this theological notion can be understood from an evolutionary perspective, looking at a variety of disciplines, including the psychology of reasoning, cognitive science of religion, paleoanthropology, evolutionary psychology, and evolutionary ethics.

After Fifty Full Years, It's Nice Not to Know

“…A third thematic section deals with the question of what characteristics might be specific to humans, to ourselves, a theme that recurs quite often when speaking about religion and science (e.g., De Cruz and De Maeseneer ; Uytterhoeven , and others in that issue). Paolo d'Ambrosio argues that we should accept science‐based methodological naturalism, at least as a heuristic strategy.…”

ZYGON @ 49: A CHILD OF THE SIXTIES?

“…Worthy reading for us human animals. Recently, Zygon had other reflections on humans as beings “in the image of God” (De Cruz and De Maeseneer , and others in the March 2014 issue; Deane‐Drummond and Paul Wason and others in the December 2012 issue, including Deane‐Drummond ; further papers from the same issue in the June 2013 issue).…”