by Ronald Wong

image courtesy of Christopher Tan

Introduction

One of the most fundamental questions asked since time immemorial is: what does it mean to be human?[1] (Let us call this question ‘the fundamental question’.) Surely if we are to call ourselves ‘human beings’, we ought to have some good reason for it[2].

The Judeo-Christian worldview’s answer to it is found in the concept of imago dei, i.e., in the image of God.[3] Yet, that concept does not immediately answer the question, for it merely begs the question of what imago dei essentially and effectively means. (This shall be my first issue.)

David Wilkinson succinctly tells us that the answer is in God’s decision to have humankind be in a relationship with Him.[4] This is troubling to all non-Christians — are we suggesting then that they are all non-humans?

One would also be hard pressed to find a definition in the Bible. The phrase recurs in the Bible only for a limited number of times.[5] And principles of hermeneutics suggest that the meaning of a concept is largely defined by its first usage within the Bible. So we are back to Genesis.

Purportedly, humankind is the pinnacle of God’s creation. And that which sets humanity apart from all other creation must be the ‘imago dei’ characteristic. Hence, intuitively speaking, empirically distinguishing humankind from animal kind may reveal some answers.

Traditionally, it has been thought that humans differ from animals in that humans have intellect, emotions and agency, and are thus able to abstract and ‘invent morality’.[6]

Honestly, when I started writing this essay, I had assumed that what set humans apart from everything else was the whole gamut of faculties mentioned in the preceding sentence; and I was intending to wax lyrical about how humans can be artistic and creative, whereas everything else in the world cannot. (This was intended to be my second issue.)

Unfortunately, as will be seen below, we would be proven quite wrong if we naively cling on to that. I was proven wrong.

What About Animals?

Animals have intellect, emotions & morality

Animals are more intelligent than we commonly think they are[7]: dolphins and sealions can rationally respond to human symbols (not as mere reflexive responses). There are talking parrots, one of which, when left at a vet’s clinic overnight and seeing its trainer leaving, said, “Come here. I love you. I’m sorry. Wanna go back”.

There is also a bonobo (a type of chimpanzee) which can structure grammatical sentences up to the level of a 2 ½ year old human. The same bonobo made knifelike chips out of flints it picked up in order to cut the cord to a key which would obtain for it a favourite treat — is that creating not creativity?

The chimpanzees over at Ivory Coast created a nut-cracking tool out of granite, and are passing the tradition down to their young. Finally, we have ‘Machiavellian’ chimpanzees who play politics to stay in power; these guys would probably do well in Survivor. Of course, the atheistic evolution theorists would tell us that humans can play Survivor only because the chimps do so, not the converse.

And if one could accept that morality is but a set of principles which guide ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ or ‘good’ and ‘bad’ behaviour, then we must be alerted to modern studies, e.g., by Professor Marc Bekoff, which reveal that animals do have some sense of morality[8].

Animals can ‘do art’

Elephants under The Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project[9] have also been taught to paint. Their paintings have gone on exhibition at an Edinburgh gallery[10]. And if one is sceptical, one can even see a video of an elephant doing a self-portrait on YouTube[11]. Of course, it must be emphasized that these elephants are trained specifically to replicate certain sketches, rather than to freely create out of their imagination. Yet, we must be reminded that even artists had to first learn how to replicate before they could abstractly create original art.

Animals can dream

It has also been established that animals, such as rats, do dream complex dreams[12]. This means that animals are capable of relatively long-term memory, as well as the ability to review that memory. While dreaming is not synonymous with imagining, I would think it is but a short step away.

Animals have ‘spirituality’?

Apparently, animals even have some form of ‘spirituality’: it has been observed that some chimpanzees perform a trance-like dance after staring at waterfalls. This has been suggested to be the consequence of feelings of awe which arose in the chimpanzee; emotions of awe — do we not ascribe that to some sense of the ethereal, the supernatural, the spiritual[13]?

Degrees of Consciousness?

It has been suggested that ‘consciousness’ is the capacity to respond differently and suitably under novel conditions; that there are in fact different types of consciousness which connect the sense perception to the processing of the information perceived, and that it all boils down to the development and complexity of the brain[14].

Thus, a comparison has been made between autistic humans and complex animals since it has been found that both process information in visual symbols rather than abstract language.

Questions

The above survey seems to pose more questions than answers. Is the distinction between humans and animals merely a matter of degree? Are children or mentally less abled people humans or animals? Should we even be focusing on the distinction between humans and animals?

Unfortunately, I shall not attempt to answer these questions. Yet, I would suggest that the focus on animal-human distinction is still a significant signpost to our quest for the answer.

Purposive Agents

The response from one of the scientists at the World Science Festival is notable[15]. Jim Gates says: “We are conscious of more than our selves… We are getting glimmers of how we are related to space and time. We can ask, what am I? What is this place? And how am I related to it?”

We do not yet know if animals also ask these questions about themselves; but as Ravi Zacharias said, “dogs don’t get together to discuss dogginess”, so let us assume that humans are unique in this. It is interesting that these questions are tied to the fundamental question of what it means to be human. Nice try — being human is to ask ourselves what being human means; self-referring and circular.

But before we dismiss that proposition, let us consider its usefulness. I would suggest that the fundamental question could be restated in another way: what is the purpose of a human?

If indeed it is taken as true that humanity’s uniqueness is in its consciousness about itself and its purpose, then I would suggest that that very empirical fact provides strong probative evidence for the proposition that humanity is uniquely a purposive agent, i.e., created with a specific purpose.[16]

This begs a further question: whose purpose?

The libertarians hold a Kantian belief that humans, being autonomous moral agents, have the innate right to live their lives in any way they choose, subject to that very right of others, i.e., everyone could pursue their own purpose.

Most, if not all, non-religious philosophies and worldviews would not dictate any purpose, but that there is either no single objective purpose, or no need for a purpose at all.

The ancient Greeks had a whole gamut of purposes: knowledge of the good, well-being, virtue, pleasures, harmony.

The religious worldviews hold otherwise. Mainstream Buddhism postulates that the purpose of life is to end suffering. Hinduism postulates that there are four main aims: destiny and righteousness (dharma), wealth (artha), desire (kama), and enlightenment (moksha).

Several other religions suggest a transcendental personality, i.e., gods or a God, and that life’s purpose is to know him or abide by his laws.

The Christian Purpose

The Christian worldview (which is possibly shared with the Judaism one) is slightly more nuanced. The Westminster Shorter Catechism states simply: “man’s chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy him forever”[17].

Indeed, in Genesis, we can mark out several things which God did uniquely with humanity. Firstly, God gave humanity a commission to populate and rule (Gen 1:26). Secondly, God gave Adam the task of naming all his subjects (Gen 2:19)[18]. Thirdly, it could be implied that God had desired to relate to Adam and Eve when God walked into the Garden of Eden and called to Adam, “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9); the last point reflective of what David Wilkinson suggested that being human means being in a relationship with God[19].

It is also helpful to understand the purpose that God gave humanity by looking at the end. In Revelation 21, we sense finality when it is declared in verse 3: “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.”

What’s so significant about purposive agency?

For the sake of discussion, let us not subscribe to any particular purpose. But it must then be wondered, why does it matter if humans are purposive agents?

The answer to the question posed can be found by reverting to the distinction between humankind and animal kind. The distinction is truly found in the degree of our faculties. As suggested, we have more complex consciousness. We can develop complex languages, reason in abstractions, and imagine and create. That is a lot of power when humans gather in collectives.

That is probably why God dispersed humankind after they attempted to build the Tower of Babel, for God said “[i]f as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them” (Gen 11:6). Notice that such power came about because of technology — Genesis 11 suggests that humans had discovered how to build bricks.[20]

Human history reminds us of the horror of such powers. The 20th century “was the bloodiest in human existence”^[21]: 109 million deaths from war alone; King Leopold II of Belgium presided over a holocaust in Congo (1880–1920) — its population decreased by 10 million people from slave labour alone.^[22] Ottoman Turks, Muslims, (1915–1923) genocide against Armenian Christian minority^[23]. Stalin killed 42 million people (1929–1953); Mao: 37 million (1923–1976); Hitler: 20 million (1933–1953) — including 10 million Slavs, 5.5 million Jews, 220,000 homosexuals, 10,000 handicapped Germans^[24]. Recall also the more recent genocides: Cambodia (1975–1979), Bosnia (1992–1995), Rwanda (1994).

The often-quoted proverb tells us, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18, KJV). It does not really tell us much when read in isolation. In fact, it has probably been co-opted for many purposes, good and bad. For is not Nazism, or Darwinism a ‘vision’? Indeed, atheistic Darwinism forms a significant foundation for Marx’s thought, Nietzsche’s superman theory; indeed, ‘neo-Darwinism’ was used by the Nazis to buttress racial theories and discriminatory ‘policies’ — more atrocities than policies[25]. Is that not a vision too? But before I am accused of the same rhetoric, I must of course add the caveat that not all atheistic Darwinists think in the same way, or as some would put it, atheists can be moral too.

But if morality is relativistic and non-objective, based on some form of consensus amongst a collective, it is nevertheless an empty container. Again, we are reminded that a majority of an entire nation of Germans, home to some of the brightest minds humanity had ever known, subscribed to a particular set of morality which is utterly repugnant to most, if not all, of us today. We are reminded of this every time someone asserts and cites the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or talks about the United Nations — both were born out of the womb of horror.

For all that, I am minded to quote a more useful translation of that proverb: “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint”; and I must add the latter part: “but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction” (NIV © 2010). Of course the implied meaning of ‘revelation’ and ‘wisdom’ is in the ‘Christian sense’, whatever that means. Against the stark reality of human history mentioned above, one would indeed be blessed to heed godly wisdom.

The Christian Distinctive

Apart from having a clear purpose revealed to us from God, Christians are, or should be, bestowed with a very significant thing which distinguishes them from the rest of the world — the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, whom “the world cannot accept… because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). The Spirit will “remind you of everything I [Jesus] have said to you” (John 14:26). The Spirit will produce “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Gal 5:22, 23).

The Consequence of Christian Purposive Agency

In summary, our above discussion produces several key thoughts: (1) humans are uniquely capable of doing much; (2) humans are purposive agents; (3) Christians have a clear purpose of glorifying and enjoying God, and the distinctive of the Holy Spirit, who (a) guides, and (b) gives.

Having said that, I shall now attempt to do two issued that I had intended to address: (1) humanity’s capability to be creative and artistic; and (2) attempt to understand imago dei.

Starting with imago dei, it should be noted that many theologians have attempted to explain this. I did not even try. But my intuitive sense is this: if it be true that humankind’s uniqueness is in humans being purposive agents, then this might just be the image inherited from God, i.e., that God is a purposive agent, albeit on a larger, unlimited scale. What is God’s purpose? The answer is reflected in humanity’s bestowed purpose: Himself.

As for waxing lyrical about creativity, unfortunately, I think that there should be very little lyrical waxing made for this, lest we be misguided. All that can be said is that we, human beings qua purposive agents, ought to fulfil our purpose: to glorify and enjoy God — and as John Piper says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him”. Do this in partnership with the Holy Spirit. If we should exercise any of our human faculties during our being, i.e., intellect, emotions, imagination or creativity, do so with that purpose, and with that partnership, lest we, or others, perish.

Then we shall truly be blessed.