EMIL BRUNNER REVISITED: ON THE COGNITIVE SCIENCE OF RELIGION, THE IMAGO DEI , AND REVELATION with Helen De Cruz and Yves De Maeseneer, “The Imago Dei : Evolutionary and Theological Perspectives”; Aku Visala, “ Imago Dei , Dualism, and Evolution: A Philosophical Defense of the Structural Image of God”; Olli‐Pekka Vainio, “ Imago Dei and Human Rationality”; Johan De Smedt and Helen De Cruz, “The Imago Dei as a Work in Progress: A Perspective from Paleoanthropology”; Tom Uytterhoeven, “Co‐creating Co‐creators? The ‘Human Factor’ in Education”; Johan De Tavernier, “Morality and Nature: Evol

• Published in: Zygon Vol. 49; no. 1; pp. 190 - 207
• Main Author: Smedes, Taede A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.03.2014
• ISSN: 0591-2385; 1467-9744
• DOI: 10.1111/zygo.12079

Abstract 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.