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EMIL BRUNNER REVISITED: ON THE COGNITIVE SCIENCE OF RELIGION, THE IMAGO DEI , AND REVELATION
Author(s) -
Smedes Taede A.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
zygon®
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-9744
pISSN - 0591-2385
DOI - 10.1111/zygo.12079
Subject(s) - revelation , naturalism , perspective (graphical) , epistemology , argumentative , philosophy , constructive , theology , reflection (computer programming) , sociology , process (computing) , artificial intelligence , computer science , operating system , programming language
This article aims at a constructive and argumentative engagement between the cognitive science of religion (CSR) and philosophical and theological reflection on the imago Dei . The Swiss theologian Emil Brunner argued that the theological notion that humans were created in the image of God entails that there is a “point of contact” for revelation to occur. This article argues that Brunner's notion resonates quite strongly with the findings of the CSR. The first part will give a short overview of the CSR. The second part deals with Brunner's idea of the imago Dei and the “point of contact.” The third and final part of the article outlines a model of revelation that is in line with Brunner's thought and the CSR. The aim of this article is to show how the naturalistic methodology of the CSR provides a fertile new perspective on several theological issues and thereby enriches theological reflection.