>However, to bring up a side issue, I would also argue that our physicalness
>is an essential expression of imaging God. This is not to say that God is
>physical, but to say that our bodies communicate the essence of who we are.
>The only way that I know you truly exist as a person is through your
>physical form. If (as I assume) the person is a unified body and soul, then
>both body and soul TOGETHER image God. In fact, I would go further to say
>(as Barth argued also, I think) that in some sense, being created male and
>female TOGETHER images God. And only our physical bodies expresses our
>maleness or femaleness. Furthermore, both the Incarnation and the
>Resurrection (of Christ and of our bodies) attest to the significance of the
>physical body. Therefore, I do think that the image is necessarily tied to
>our physical nature.
Of course our being in the image of God involves us as whole
physical/spiritual beings. Below is a quote from an article I wrote for
Perspectives:
"An inseparable part of being created as images of God in the world is the
authority delegated to us by God. We have been chosen out of creation as
God's representatives, His stewards. God commissioned us to "Be fruitful
and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish
of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that
moves on the ground" (Genesis 1:28). Adam was placed in the garden "to
work it and take care of it" (Genesis 2:15). Our ability to exercise this
divine commission to rule and care for creation is, I believe, based on our
dual nature. Our physical unity with the natural world is as vital to our
appointed role as image bearers as is our spiritual apprehension of the
divine." (Keith B. Miller, 1993, Theological implications of an evolving
creation: Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, vol. 45, p.150-160)
What was at issue was whether an evolutionary understanding of the manner
in which God created our physical form undermines the Biblical claim that
we are made in the image of God. I do not see that it does, in fact, I
believe that an evolutionary perspective gives added meaning to the
Biblical claim.
>All of which I don't deny. I am NOT saying that Christian evolutionists are
>necessarily any less orthodox in their theology than others. But at this
>point, I fail to see how the doctrine of original sin can be reconciled with
>a purely evolutionary framework that denies the special creation of humans.
>The reason is because there is no satisfactory account of how physical
>processes can lead to the emergence of our moral capacity and
>self-determination, which are necessary for Adam to have sinned.
Your first two sentences seem to be in conflict. You first say that those
who accept human evolution are not less orthodox, and then you say that
such a view cannot be reconciled with the doctrine of original sin. What
are you trying to say? Why is the evolutionary origin of our physical form
irreconcilable with original sin?
I have been exclusively addressing the claim that acceptance of an
evolutionary origin of our PHYSICAL FORM is not in any way in conflict with
our being in the image of God, with the doctrine of original sin, or with
any other central historical doctrine of the Christian faith. Nothing you
have said would argue against this.
Keith
Keith B. Miller
Department of Geology
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506
kbmill@ksu.edu
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~kbmill/
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