Hi Joshua,
Back again. You suggest that “God could have endowed us as a community with His Image in one of several ways:”
For reasons outlined in my previous post, we can rule out option 4. It makes no sense to ascribe a rational soul to a creature which, even when mature and healthy, is incapable of manifesting rationality. If it did make sense to do so, then we might as well say that the very first living thing had a latent rational soul, since it was the ancestor of rational human beings (among other organisms). I take it nobody would want to argue for that position.
Option 1 is certainly theologically possible. The only question is whether it is biologically plausible. Much as I’d like to believe it, I have to say that there’s absolutely no evidence that hominins suddenly acquired any set of genes during the past 7 million-odd years, let alone the genetic scaffolding required by a rational soul.
The leaves options 2 and 3. What both of them presuppose is that two creatures can exist which are atom-for-atom duplicates of one another, where one possesses a rational soul, while the other does not. I find that view unacceptable, because it would seem to imply that the rational soul is not essentially the form of the human body, as decreed by the ecumenical council of Vienne in 1311. Instead, it would mean that the human body can have either a rational human soul or a non-rational bestial soul as its form.
I’m also not sure what you mean by “partially visible” in option 3.
You also mention another option, proposed by Catholic philosopher Antoine Suarez:
- God would infuse rational souls into the neighbors of Adam and Eve’s offspring as they interbred together. Of course, in present day, everyone has a rational soul, so this is not relevant any more. It would have only been important in the distant past, for a season, and may have been entirely invisible to those at that time.
I find this objectionable for the same reason as I object to 2 and 3: it seems to be at odds with the Council of Vienne’s declaration that the rational soul is essentially the form of the human body.
What my interpretation of the teaching of the council of Vienne implies is that if God infused any hominins with a rational soul in the distant past, then (a) they must have been genetically distinct from other hominins which were not infused with a rational soul, and (b) the infusion must have been occurred at their conception.
Another probable corollary is that (c ) the mutations which would have endowed these hominins with the genetic prerequisites for rationality were probably divinely engineered, as it is unlikely that one or two mutations would have sufficed: presumably a suite of mutations would have been needed to transform a hominin from a clever creature which did not require rationality in order to eke out a living into a sapient creature which could not have survived without the capacity for rational thought.
One might speculate that a set of mutations leading to a sudden increase in the size of the human brain in a small population of hominins - perhaps even a primordial couple (genetic Adam and Eve?) - would make the energetic requirements of feeding and raising an infant so costly that the long-term commitment of fathers would have been absolutely essential in order for these hominins to survive. Long-term commitment, of course, requires rationality. (Life-long monogamy would have been required for the rearing of children whose prolonged infancy and whose large, energy-demanding brains would have made it impossible for their mothers to feed them alone, without a committed husband who would provide for the family.) The mutations that led to a sudden enlargement of the human brain might also have led to a reorganization of the brain, endowing our ancestors with the neurological wherewithal for autobiographical memory (which, as far as we know, is unique to human beings) and a full-blooded theory of mind (and hence, genuine empathy).
I could of course be wrong here, but I think it’s a scenario worth discussing. Evolutionists won’t like it much because it requires tinkering on God’s part. Creationists won’t like it either because it frankly acknowledges that humans and apes share a common ancestor.
The timing of this set of mutations is critical. Certainly, by 400,000 years ago, the largest brained hominins had cranial capacities considerably greater than the 850 cubic centimeters associated with the Turkana boy (Homo ergaster), 1.5 to 1.6 million years ago. It would be tempting to suggest that this sudden increase coincided with the appearance of Homo sapiens, but probably wrong. It seems that Heidelberg man (if that taxon is valid) already had a brain size of 1250 cubic centimeters, compared to an average of just about 1000 cubic centimeters for Peking man, who was roughly contemporaneous. The mutations permitting the development of higher cognition and social networking appear to have arisen at a later date, with the arrival of Homo sapiens. On the other hand, there is also evidence suggesting that Neandertals did not practice pair bonding, which may have been one of the factors giving Homo sapiens a competitive advantage.
I’d now like to address a couple of incidental points you raised.
@swamidass
I do not think, for example, that this is a claim that God never made aliens in his Image on some other planet or universe. Is it? Is God not free to make people when ever he likes in His Image? Of course, Scripture and doctrine would be silent about these people, not denying their status as rational souls, but just not giving this information.
I quite agree that if God wished to create aliens on other planets, or even another race of rational creatures on this planet, He could certainly have done so. What He cannot do, however, is endow a being which is inherently incapable of manifesting rationality with a rational soul. Were that possible, then one might as well say that clouds may turn out to have rational souls.
@swamidass
My atheist colleagues certainly see a concept of God being contained in material brains. I am not sure why they would be wrong.
It’s difficult to see how a material entity could store a representation something utterly immaterial, let alone transcendent. But if you have any ideas, then I’m all ears.
Anyway, I think that’s enough for now. Over to you.