From God’s Image and Homo Sapiens to Homo Dei: Struggling with People with Intellectual Disabilities

This paper aims to examine the position of people with intellectual disabilities in two areas of study: the theological discourse of the image of God and the scientific study on the evolutionary theory of human origin, exclusively in social Darwinism and Homo sapiens. In Christian interpretations of...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Fangidae, Tony Wiyaret (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis 2024
In: Journal of disability & religion
Year: 2024, Volume: 28, Issue: 3, Pages: 379–391
Further subjects:B people with intellectual disabilities
B the evolutionary theory, social darwinism
B Homo sapiens
B homo dei
B God’s image
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This paper aims to examine the position of people with intellectual disabilities in two areas of study: the theological discourse of the image of God and the scientific study on the evolutionary theory of human origin, exclusively in social Darwinism and Homo sapiens. In Christian interpretations of God’s image, this paper succinctly presents and revisits two parts: ancient Christian (Augustine and Irenaeus) interpretations of God’s image and several different directions (substantial, relational, functional, and ethical approaches), providing the understanding of the image of God in the modern era. In evolutionary theory, this paper focuses on two parts: the idea of social Darwinism and Homo sapiens. In addition, this paper revisits both ideas in constructing an inclusive paradigm of God’s image. The main argument of this paper is that the image of God liberates people with intellectual disabilities from the confines of the exclusive ideas of God’s image and Homo sapiens to a concept of Homo Dei. In conclusion, this paper proposes the idea of Homo Dei to portray an abstract concept of God’s image vis-à-vis the evolutionary theory.
ISSN:2331-253X
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of disability & religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/23312521.2024.2306362