Christian Anthropology in an Age of Science: Between Anthropocentrism and Non-Anthropocentrism

Abstract

Is Christianity so incurably anthropocentric that the demise of anthropocentrism would be tantamount to the falsification of the Christian faith? Would Christianity be able to survive modern scientific challenges to the long-held anthropocentric world picture? Responding to these questions, I claim that the Christian doctrine of incarnation strongly supports the Christian belief in humanity’s special position in God’s created world, whereas it is not only possible but also mandatory to reconstruct a non-anthropocentric Christian doctrine of creation and humanity. First, as regards the non-anthropocentric idea of creation, I propose that creation, instead of redemption, should the overarching framework of Christian theology, the goal of creation is much greater than human redemption, and our human species is a companion to other creatures on the way to the eschatological consummation. With this non-anthropocentric Christian doctrine of creation in mind, however, I even more strongly maintain that humanity has a special position in God’s created world. Even if the traditional doctrine of imago Dei may not successfully convince us of the idea of human uniqueness in the face of scientific challenges, I argue, the authentic Christian affirmation of the incarnation of God in the specifically human form lays a firm foundation for the Christian belief in God’s special concern with our human species.