Humans as Spiritual Animals: A Classical Christian 'Emergent' Anthropology
John Cooper, Professor of Philosophical Theology, Calvin Theological Seminary
Christian Perspectives on Science Seminar series at Calvin College

This presentation argued that biblical anthropology presents a holistic or integral view of soul and body, but one in which persons can exist temporarily without earthly bodies. It then presented a version of this anthropology – the generically Thomist view that that soul is the subsistent form (organizing, empowering principle) of the material body that constitutes humans as one spiritual-physical substance (not two-substance dualism) – a living organism with human capacities. But by God’s supernatural power, the soul can exist apart from the body between death and resurrection. (It is not naturally immortal.) It modified Thomism by opting for a traducian rather than a creationist view of the soul: the union of sperm and egg is not merely biological but produces a new spiritual-physical individual. The soul does not “emerge” and develop from mere physical stuff by metaphysical magic (as in physicalism), but because the person-spiritual capacities are potentially present from conception.

Audio

Listen to this presentation
97.7 Mb, MPEG, 1 hour, 15 minutes and 47 seconds
Requires free audio player

OuTLINE

Read the outline of this presentation

Related Resources

Learn more about this seminar series