Abstract
For some Christian theologians, the prospect of human germline genetic engineering poses a threat to human uniqueness. This paper demonstrates that such views arise when human uniqueness is equated with the human genome, and challenges those who would make such a claim. Rather, what it means to be human is bound up with our use of technology. I briefly examine several thinkers who address the relationship between human nature and technological use, before turning my attention to Philip Hefner’s model of the ‘created co-creator’ and its interpretation in the work of Ronald Cole-Turner. In considering the creative activity of humans, particularly with respect to their own enhancement, I ask whether Hefner’s model is sufficiently nuanced, suggesting that it does not provide a strong enough sense of limits to human co-creation, or a means by which we could discern such limits. Finally I suggest that co-creation accounts may be improved through greater attention to the role of the imagination in constructing a theological anthropology that encompasses human creativity.
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Lorrimar, V. (2017). Human Uniqueness and Technology: Are We Co-creators with God?. In: Fuller, M., Evers, D., Runehov, A., Sæther, KW. (eds) Issues in Science and Theology: Are We Special?. Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62124-1_12
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