A THEOLOGICAL CHALLENGE - COORDINATING BIOLOGICAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS VISIONS OF HUMANITY

This paper attempts two tasks. First, it sketches how the natural scie nces (including especially the biological sciences), the social scienc es, and the scientific study of religion can be understood to furnish complementary, consonant perspectives on human beings and human groups . This suggests that it is possible to speak of a modern secular inter pretation of humanity (MSIH) to which these perspectives contribute (t hough not without tensions). MSIH is not a comprehensive interpretatio n of human beings, if only because it adopts a posture of neutrality w ith regard to the reality of religious objects and the truth of theolo gical claims about them. MSIH is certainly an impressively forceful in terpretation, however, and it needs to be reckoned with by any perspec tive on human life that seeks to insert its truth claims into the aren a of public debate. Second, the paper considers two challenges that MS IH poses to specifically theological interpretations of human beings. On the one hand, in spite of its posture of religious neutrality, MSIH is a key element in a class of wider, seemingly antireligious interpr etations of humanity, including especially projectionist and illusioni st critiques of religion. It is consonance with MSIH that makes these critiques such formidable competitors for traditional theological inte rpretations of human beings. On the other hand, and taking the religio usly neutral posture of MSIH at face value, theological accounts of hu manity that seek to coordinate the insights of MSIH with positive reli gious visions of human life must find ways to overcome or manage such dissonance as arises. The goal of synthesis is defended as Important, and strategies for managing these challenges, especially in light of t he pluralism of extant philosophical and theological interpretations o f human beings, are advocated.