Creating in Our Own Image: Artificial Intelligence and the Image of God

There is remarkable convergence between twentieth-century interpretations of the image of God ( imago Dei ), what it means for human beings to be created in God's image, and approaches toward creating in our own image in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Both fields have viewed the intersection between God and humanity or humanity and computers in terms of either (1) a property or set of properties such as intelligence, (2) the functions we engage in or are capable of, or (3) the relationships we establish and maintain. Each of these three approaches reflects a different understanding of what stands at the core of our humanity. Functional and relational approaches were common in the late twentieth century, with a functional understanding the one most accepted by society at large. A relational view, however, gives new insights into human dignity in a computer age as well as new approaches to AI research.     

话说灵魂转世和上帝造人

灵魂转世这一说法由来已久,在神话传说、宗教故事中可以见到这样的例子,如投胎转世、生死轮回.在现代一些伪科学、伪气功、邪教的理论中,也有灵魂转世这一说法,如"转世、前世是一个事情的两个方面,一个意识体附于一个新的生命,对于前者是转世,对于后者是前世."又如"人通过修炼以后,体内存在着一种灵性,这种灵性又是以一种无形的集成电路方式存在的,所以,当人死了以后,这种灵性物质便离开了人体,有的在宇宙中游荡,成为一种信息,有的又附着在一个载体上,也就是现在所说的投胎转世."有的邪教宣扬"得了病是前世欠的债,今生要还债,吃了药就还不了."     

Touching God in his Image

The essay defends praying with images (icons) against those who claim this type of prayer is objectionable. The hermeneutical defence consists of three arguments. (a) First I observe that people relate to ordinary photos in ways that cannot be explained in terms of the image's sign‐value (or similitude) alone. (b) Second, I develop an account of praying with images as a form of symbolic practice. (c) Finally, in order to bolster my account, I compare icons with a particular class of symbolic objects, viz. relics. The general idea I put forward is that icons have to be understood as expressions of the reality they represent, and not simply as accurate or inaccurate visual representations of that reality. Icons are not created by human hands; instead, the hand of the painter is the instrumental cause of God's self‐expression, via the painter, on the canvas.     

“神“是人造出来的

魔由心生,神由人造.有时一些怪异不可解释的传言,实是人们以常理解释所为,实不知常理之外有偶然,这偶然事人们不知其缘故则目为神奇,一旦澈然知之,那么偶然事也在常理中.更有一些迷信的流行,是由于人们局于时地的限制,难以窥见它产生的全过程,断见之识以为真知,见豹尾摇则谓豹至,岂不知人持豹尾摇以骇人.还有一批愚昧之人,思想中先有神鬼观念,不能明辨是非,盲目从众,人云亦云,为捕风捉影事推波助澜,这样狗生双翅,寻常之事变为神怪.……     

召唤与职业:驳韦伯对基督教职业观的理解——从克尔恺郭尔的基督教思想出发

韦伯在《新教伦理与资本主义精神》中,将职业与天职联系起来,并从这一角度指出,新教伦理促进了资本主义精神的兴起。该文认为这种直接的联系的基础是自然神论。通过引入克尔恺郭尔对西方理性形而上学的批判,笔者将论证,一方面,由自然神论衍生的基督教职业观在克尔恺郭尔的视野下是错误的,因为职业只是一个人生存的偶然性境遇之一,因此不是上帝的“召唤”。根据克尔恺郭尔对基督教的阐释,上帝的召唤是超越性的,这决定了它不可能直接地被人的理性理解,它以一种独特的———我称之为“否定性的”、“间接的”———方式被领会,召唤超越于职业,前者超越了人的理性,而后者是理性分工体系的产物;另一方面,上帝的召唤又与职业有关系。偶然性境遇恰恰是上帝进行召唤以及人作出回应的“场合”(occassion),一个基督徒如果占据某一职业,那么他(她)就必须辛勤劳动,甘愿“受苦”(suffering),韦伯正确地看到了基督徒对职业的重视、在职业上吃苦耐劳的表现,但未能正确地解释其原因。总之,依据克尔恺郭尔的思想,存在着一种有别于韦伯的基督教职业观,从而将基督教与资本主义精神联系起来是值得疑问的。     

一个残疾人的心理自我分析

本文全面地系统地分析了作为一名残疾人的自己心理的各个方面,旨在完善自己的心理,发展自己的心理,使自己成为一名心理健康的人。     

The Image of God in Pastoral Counseling

This paper is a study of the God image as the concept has developed in the study of psychology and the psychology of religion. Pastoral counselors obviously have had a long-standing interest in these phenomena. A renewed interest in the subject is indicated by the fact that two books have been published recently on the subject.     

Can a Young Person Write His Own Obituary?

ABSTRACT: A definition of an obituary—what it is and what it is not—is given. The criteria for a New York Times obituary are reported. From a sample of over 100 obituaries elicited from college students at Harvard in 1969 some typical examples and reactions are cited. In general, it is concluded that young people have difficulty objectifying themselves or seeing themselves as dead. “Only the young are immortal” is the main theme of this brief paper.     

Plague God Image in the Clinic1

This paper selects four dreams before and during COVID-19 which constellated the Plague God image in Chinese culture. The author argues that this shows evidence that the origins of the modern psyche, although hidden, are preserved and living within the ancient anima mundi.     

"算命先生"算不准自身命

据<重庆法制报>刊登了一则"算命先生难自算,一次被骗二千三"的消息,引起了广大读者对算命职业者悲哀命运的一种辛辣地讽刺.说的是某县九龙乡乐民村算命先生牟星,多年以为人算命为业,其妻6年前病故后,一直都是单身汉孤独维生,在鼠年12月19日,他在盘石场赶场结识了一位姓李的女友,交谈中得知李某现年30岁,两年前离婚.于是这两个单身人一见钟情,互相"体贴如微、关心备至",一同赶了几天场以后,牟星首先提出与李某结为夫妻,李某见牟真心相爱,也满口答应成婚.12月28日,两人赶完魏家场后便一起回到乐民村牟家,确定元旦佳节吉日完婚.     

To Each His God: an Upanishadic Approach to Religion

Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research - Vedanta refrains from giving God any name, singular or plural. If ever Vedanta has to refer to the God, it refers to it as Tat, meaning...     

The Image of God as Techno Sapiens

Suppose there comes a day when Homo sapiens has evolved into or been overtaken by techno sapiens. Will it then still make sense to speak of human beings as created in the image of God? What is the relevance of asking such a question today? I offer a sketch of the present state of development and discussion in artificial intelligence (AI) and artificial life (AL) and discuss some implications for the human condition. Taking into account both reality and fiction in AI and AL, I hold that, regardless of the degree of realization, issues related to technological evolution inform the cultural agenda—at least the European–American one. I comment on antireductionist arguments and on arguments from philosophy and (history of) culture. I argue in favor of a consonance between neurotechnology and the Christian gospel in terms of realizing the marks of messianic life. However, issues of justice, reason versus nature, and perfection and finitude versus imperfection and immortality call for further illumination. Even though no principal opposition seems to exist between technological evolution and possible interpretations of the concept of the image of God (imago dei), a number of significant dissimilarities need to be addressed, such as the differences between technical improvement and forgiveness or transformation and between immortality and resurrection. The role of irregularity, disturbance, and error for creative processes in nature and culture is an exciting topic in science and technology as well as in theology.     

In the Image of the Triune God

This programmatic article addresses the question of how the creation of human beings in the image of God can be made specifically trinitarian. It does this by considering the ways in which human life can image forth the particular personal characteristics of each of the divine persons, and by examining how that imaging forth is distorted by the reality of sin.