Theological Anthropology

One of the most influential authors in the genre, Marc Cortez defines theological anthropology as theological reflection on the human person. In addition to reflection on God, it encompasses humanity’s relationship with creation, sexuality, freewill, personhood, the body/soul relationship, living in community, issues of culture, race, class, or economy.

All of the below theories are in contrast to idealism, which generally defines reality as spirit or consciousness. The following theories are also in contrast to Gnosticism – which is often understood as the claim that material must be rejected and that the soul and the body remain completely separate substances. There is also considerable disagreement about whether humans are of one substance, understood as monism, or two, understood as dualism where we have both a body and a soul.

Monist Positions:

Ontological Reductionism: One of the most famous quotes typifying reductionism can be found in Francis Crick, The Astonishing Hypothesis. In this book Crick argues that, “You, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules. As Lewis Carroll might have phrased it: ‘You’re nothing but a pack of neurons.’” Ontological reductionism is sometimes also referred to as materialism, naturalism, or physicalism. Two critiques of reductionism are that thinking of persons as a pack of neurons dismisses how each one of us is also defined very much through our relationship with others or with God. Seeing people, or their brains, in isolation is a mistake. Another critique is that in the last fifty to sixty years with the discovery of dark energy and dark matter, at best we understand 5% of the universe. And with recent discoveries in quantum mechanics, we now know that creation is even more mysterious and wondrous than ever before. To think that we can fully explain the human brain, the human person, or the cosmos with such limited knowledge is extremely speculative.

Two Christian arguments for monism are the constitution view and nonreductive physicalism.

Constitution View: Kevin Corcoran argues in this view that human persons are constituted by our bodies without being identical with bodies. An example to describe his position is the dollar bill. A dollar bill is composed of paper, ink, and other chemicals. However, what gives a dollar bill meaning is how it exists in relation to humans who give it value and purpose. Even while Corcoran advocates that humans are composed of matter and nothing else, they can still have value and worth in the eyes of God. More on his position can be found in Rethinking Human Nature: A Christian Materialist Alternative to the Soul

Non-reductive Physicalism: This view guards a belief in God, freedom and morality, yet does not believe in the existence of the soul. This position argues that humans have only one substance, but that a higher being, that is non-reductive, supervenes upon us. Two of the strongest advocates for Nonreductive Physicalism are Nancey Murphy and Warren Brown.  Through neuroscience, Nancey Murphy argues that “it is enlightening to see how many of these capacities, which Thomas [Aquinas] attributed to the soul, are now studied by neurobiologists.” One of Nancey Murphy’s books is Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies? Another of her books, Did my neurons make me do it? is coauthored with Warren Brown. Many Christians find denying the soul deeply counter to Scripture and tradition.

Dualism: The belief that we have both a body and immaterial soul is known as dualism. Below are several different dualist positions.

Cartesian Dualism: The 17^th century philosopher René Descartes believed that the pineal gland was the “seat of the soul.”  Today many neuroscientists and theologians agree that there is no single part of the brain that is responsible for spirituality, religion, or connection to God. Rather than a particular “God-spot” how all the parts of the brain and body work together is vastly important to our faith.

Emergent Dualism: William Hasker argues for both body and soul as separate substances, with the soul emerging from the functioning of the physical body. In other words “the view that persons are distinct from though generated by their organisms” arguing for both body and soul as separate substances. You can learn more about his position in his book, the emergent self.

Holistic Dualism: John Cooper’s holistic dualism combines the soul-matter holism of the Thomistic tradition to also advocate for an intermediate state.  His use of the word holism partly derives from his belief that Old Testament scripture points toward a more holistic view of the body, soul, and spirit. More can be found in his Body, Soul and Life Everlasting

The above are only several theories while there are many others such as those by Joel Green or John Polkinghorne. These theories also take different positions on bodily resurrection. Many of the different theologians who reflect on theological anthropology draw from the witness of the early church to the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Some theologians argue that after we die that we figuratively sleep until the final bodily resurrection as described in 1 Corinthians 15. Other theologians argue for an Intermediate State. This belief is that there is a disembodied state where we exist in the presence of God after the time of death and before a bodily resurrection. This state is sometimes referred to as purgatory or sheol. To support a belief in the intermediate state, some authors refer to the appearance of Elijah and Moses at the transfiguration, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, or the appearance of Samuel’s ghost to Saul. There are also various different theories on how the Israelites understood concepts such as Ruach (רוּחַ) – (spirit); Nephesh (נֶפֶשׁ) – (soul), and Lev (לֵב) – (heart and mind).

For More on Theological Anthropology:

Cooper, John W. Body, Soul, and Life Everlasting: Biblical Anthropology and the Monism-Dualism Debate. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000.

Cortez, Marc. Theological Anthropology: A Guide for the Perplexed. London: A&C Black, 2010.

Loose, Jonathan J., Angus J. L. Menuge, and J. P. Moreland, eds. The Blackwell Companion to Substance Dualism. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2018.

Green, Joel, and Stuart Palmer, eds. In Search of the Soul: Four Views of the Mind-Body Problem. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2010.