Missio Dei Trinitatis and Missio Ecclesiae: A Public Theological Perspective

In this article I address the mission of the triune God (missio Dei trinitatis) and the mission of the church (missio ecclesiae) that participates in the mission of God the Trinity, particularly from the perspective of public theology. First, I investigate that the concept of the missio Dei trinitatis so expanded our understanding of mission that the church‐centred view of mission was replaced by the public mission taking place in the midst of the world. Second, from the public theological perspective I argue for the need of the diakonia mission in order to realize the reign of God in the world. Third, I insist that the mission of the church participating in the mission of the triune God ought to appropriate the post‐colonial hermeneutics of suspicion and develop a post‐post‐colonial public mission theology for the sake of a mature democratic civil society. Fourth, I suggest that the mission of the church participating in God's mission should develop a transcultural‐indigenous public hermeneutics of mission in such a way as to encourage different stories through transcultural‐indigenous interpretations of the biblical narrative.     

Human Agency in the Missio Dei and the Problem of Discipleship

At the heart of this article is an inquiry into the relationship between human and divine agency in the doctrine of the missio Dei and a critique of the turn to the language of discipleship in looking to articulate this agency. Taking the World Council of Churches’ Commission of World Mission and Evangelism's two recent documents, Together towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes (TTL) and the “Arusha Call to Discipleship,” as a case study, this article will seek to articulate an account of human participation in the missio Dei which maintains the emphasis on spirituality in TTL. Through a close reading of TTL and the Arusha Call, the article will demonstrate that the introduction of discipleship language has not solved the issue of agency but rather has changed the account of agency and, as a result, the missiology. By turning to accounts of faithful participation from qualitative research into British Methodism, to John V. Taylor's Go-between God, and to Pope Francis’ Evangelii gaudium, I will suggest that a better account of human agency in the missio Dei can be developed by emphasizing the pneumatology of TTL and by turning to language of attentiveness, accompaniment, and discernment.     

Human Becoming: Cognitive and Moral Enhancement Inside the Imago Dei Narrative

Abstract

With advancements in human enhancement technologies and sciences, the reality of moral/cognitive enhancements is close upon us. In light of recent advances in the fields of cognitive science of religion (CSR), neurotheology and philosophy of technology this paper follows the contemporary neuroethics debate on the subject of moral bioenhancement and engages it inside an imago Dei narrative. To explore this possibility we first establish some major points in the contemporary imago Dei debate, especially the substantial and relational aspect and some of its important interpretations. We then move to an exploration of the very possibility of moral/cognitive bioenhancement, as well as some concrete pitfalls and opportunities, inside the imago Dei narrative. Lastly, we try to portray a wider theological picture in which we engage humanity as both sacred and technological being living in a dynamic cosmic environment we are called to sanctify through the election offered to us by the Reedemer. To establish this we contemplate on the relationship between our eschatological fulfillment, the process of theosis, and the being and role of technology itself.     

Theology of the Heart and Cognitio Dei Experimentalis (Experiential Knowledge of God)

The first meeting of the official Lutheran‐Pentecostal Dialogue took place in September 2016 and focused on introductions and our identity in Christ. This article sets out a narrative of a Russian Pentecostal with Lutheran roots, a specialization in Jewish studies, and an interest in cognitive studies. A basic challenge for the dialogue partners lies in understanding the crucial role of experience to our knowledge of the divine and the formulation of theology.     

Imago Dei and human rights protections of forced migrants: A North Korean case study

In this article, I examine the significance of the theological concept of Imago Dei in recognizing the dignity of North Koreans and in necessitating socio-structural transformation for their human rights protections in South Korean society. North Koreans residing in South Korea are an example case of forced migrants who experience mistreatment and discrimination in their destination country. In this reality, the concept of Imago Dei can call South Koreans to recognize North Koreans’ dignity. It can further criticize South Korea's social structure that intensifies North Koreas’ maladjustment in South Korean society, and necessitate institutional levels of transformation.     

Imago Dei,DNA, and the Transhuman Way

Might genetic engineering or cyborgization turn mortal humans into immortal gods? How transformable are we? A proleptic model of the imago Dei signifies that a transformation is coming, that who we are as human beings is yet to be determined by our future. Of five theological models of the imago Dei—(1) rationality; (2) morality; (3) relationality; (4) prolepsis; and (5) created co-creator—the proleptic and co-creator models are particularly open to an alliance with technological transformation. However, even biological enhancement or intelligence amplification will not turn sinners into saints. Only divine grace can accomplish redemption; only divine grace can insure that we become who we truly are.     

Performing the imago Dei: human enhancement,artificial intelligence and optative image-bearing

If the imago Dei is not a taxonomic definition but rather something that is performed in context, what are the implications for questions of human enhancement and the development of artificial intelligence (AI)? The author considers Alistair McFadyen’s performative vision of the imago Dei, one that actively seeks humanity in concrete situations, in the context of human enhancement and AI, asking the questions, ‘Does becoming cyborg through human enhancement make us less bearers of the divine image?’ And, ‘Can AI ever be considered to be in the image of God?’ Briefly tracing the shift in perspectives on the imago Dei, before considering what a performance of the image might look like, the author proposes three performances that have significant implications for questions about what it means to be human. To be an image-bearer is not dependent upon human DNA or species membership, but on an optative performance of the imago Dei.     

Milk for babes: Erasmus and Calvin on the Problem of Christian Eloquence

Abstract

This article examines how Erasmus and Calvin received Paul’s rejection of human eloquence in Christian teaching, and how this rejection forms their understanding of the relationship between language and revelation. It consists of a close reading of Erasmus’s and Calvin’s exegetical works on 1 Corinthians in order, first, to understand their reception of Paul’s negative assessment of human rhetoric, and second, their exhortations to employ a more appropriately Christian rhetoric. It is concluded that W. Bouwsma was correct in suggesting that one ought to imagine Erasmus and Calvin as practitioners of a similar theological methodology, a theologia rhetorica. Charles Trinkhaus first employed this heuristic category to describe certain theological and methodological tendencies among Italian humanist theologians that separates them from their scholastic contemporaries.     

Compatibility due to the coding of the relative position of the effectors

Response latencies emitted with the hands crossed are slower than those emitted with the hands uncrossed. Two explanations are available for the so-called crossed-hand effect. One attributes it to the non-natural posture of the arms in the crossed position, whereas the other is in terms of a conflict between the code describing the hand and the code describing its position. Experiment 1 disproved the postural hypothesis by showing that crossing the hands has no effect on response latencies in a simple reaction time task. Experiments 2 and 3 replicated the crossed-hand effect in a choice reaction time task and showed that it depends on the relative position of the two hands. In other words, responses are slower when the hand is located in the “wrong” position with respect to the other (e.g., the right hand is located to the left of the left hand), whereas the absolute position, that is the side of the body where the responding hand is located, does not seem to effect the speed of response.     

Forgiveness and Reconciliation in the Life and Work of Desmond Tutu

This article explores how mission, forgiveness, and reconciliation have shaped the ministry and work of Desmond Tutu. As much as space permits, it tries to glean the ways in which Tutu has lived out his understanding of mission, forgiveness, and reconciliation in his various roles as lecturer of theology, as Africa director of the Theological Education Fund of the World Council of Churches, as the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches, as president of the All Africa Conference of Churches, as archbishop of Cape Town, and more recently as chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Through a close reading of seminal publications, the article will attempt to draw as complete a picture as possible of his views on forgiveness and reconciliation. To conclude, the essay shall refer to the work of Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice.     

Does Jesus Save the Neanderthals? Theological Perspectives on the Evolutionary Origins and Boundaries of Human Nature

Does Jesus save the Neanderthals? Do the Neanderthals need saving? Are they worth saving? And what about other non‐human animals? What theological sense can be made of the boundaries of human nature when considered in light of contemporary evolutionary biology and paleoanthropology? This article explores how theologians can begin to approach such questions by looking at four key areas where theological anthropology, evolutionary biology, and paleoanthropology intersect—1) human nature, 2) human uniqueness, 3) the imago Dei, and 4) the incarnation.     

Redeeming the image

This article questions conventional assumptions concerning the nature and function of formal theological anthropology and its place in the doctrinal corpus. Taking the image of God as its focus, the discussion begins by interrogating the assumption that understanding of the image (and the task of theological anthropology more generally) be framed primarily within the context of a doctrine of creation, often narrowly construed. Where a static understanding of creation operates, the image becomes a tool for what is consequently regarded the primary task of theological anthropology – defining human nature, often in essentialist and universal terms. Alternative possibilities are opened through conscious connection with soteriology. Following engagement with black theology, feminist theologies and the post-9/11 discussion of torture, the argument moves towards a performative, particular and contingent understanding of the image and of theological anthropology, drawing both into much closer connection with theological ethics than is conventionally the case.     

"上帝之城"与"地上之城":奥古斯丁思想中的两分倾向

文章旨在探讨奥古斯丁的“两座城”学说。首先,简要地讨论了《上帝之城》的写作背景与主要结构;其次,在宗教信仰与现世生活这两个层面上分析了《上帝之城》关于“两座城”的主要观点;再次,分三个角度探讨了“两座城”学说的历史与思想背景。虽然“两座城”的学说体现了一种以两分的形式来思考问题的倾向,但它既不同于存在论的二元论和灵与肉的二元论,又避免了对复杂的现实社会作过于绝对的两分。     

On the role of the anterior cingulate cortex in phonation: A case report

A 41-year-old male patient is presented with a lesion in the anterior cingulate cortex, medial orbital cortex, and rostral striatum bilaterally and supplementary motor area on the left side. The patient first exhibited a state of akinetic mutism which lasted about 6 weeks. During this state, no volitional vocal utterances were made; there were, however, occasional groans of pain. During recovery, the mute phase was replaced by a state in which the patient could whisper but not phonate verbal utterances. About 10 weeks after the accident, phonation was restored. The speech was characterized, however, by monotonous intonation and a very low frequency of spontaneous utterances. While the frequency of spontaneous speech improved noticeably during the following months, emotional intonation remained permanently defective. A comparison of the present case with other cases from the literature as well as experimental monkey data suggest that the anterior cingulate cortex is involved in the volitional control of emotional vocal utterances.     

When the analyst is physically ill: Vicissitudes in the analytical relationship

Something that happened to one of the authors recently led them to refl ect upon what the analyst's falling ill may represent and the problems it may give rise to in the analytic relationship. Such an eventuality injects a massive dose of the analyst's personal reality into the analytic space, thereby allowing the patient a glimpse of images of vulnerability, frailty and loss, and mobilizing emotions, fantasies and defences in both the analyst and the patient. The authors' survey of the literature ranges between two different theoretical perspectives intrapsychic and intersubjective that, in their most radical formulations on technique, call for maintaining either the strictest neutrality and anonymity or symmetrical relationality. In both cases, that which is denied is the unconscious communication that enables the analyst, irrespective of his conscious intentions, to allow either parts of himself or inner objects of the patient to act in the relationship. In closing, the authors shall illustrate the concept discussed through three clinical vignettes.     

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.