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Human Responsibility (human + responsibility)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences50%

Selected Abstracts

Theology is not Mere Sociology: A Theological Reflection on the Reception of the Christian Religion in Mainland China

DIALOG, Issue 3 2004
By Pilgrim W.K.
Abstract:, Post-Maoist China retains its loyalty to Marxist principles; yet voices are being heard that interpret religion much more positively. Both government spokespersons and Religious Studies scholars measure the value of religion according to its social function. Such a criterion of evaluation fails to take account of what is essential to Christian theology, namely, appeal to divine transcendence. Yet, Christian theology in the tradition of the Lutheran Reformation begins with transcendence and turns toward human responsibility for the world through loving the neighbor. This may mark a common cause between Chinese sociology of religion and Christian commitments to social well-being. [source]

Are enhancement technologies "unnatural"?

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS, Issue 1 2009
Musings on recent Christian conversations
Abstract Although distinctions between therapy and enhancement are difficult to draw with precision, especially in marginal cases, recent Christian discussions of enhancement technologies accept the general plausibility of distinctions drawn between therapeutic interventions and enhancement technologies by appealing to general understandings of nature and human nature. However, such appeals continue to be plagued by conceptual imprecision on several matters, including the status of nature as a source of moral insight, the scope of human responsibility in light of God's purposes, and the effects of sin and finitude on human freedom. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

The Influence of Social Critical Theory on Edward Schillebeeckx's Theology of Suffering for Others

THE HEYTHROP JOURNAL, Issue 2 2001
Elizabeth K. TillarArticle first published online: 16 DEC 200
Edward Schillebeeckx has consolidated the theoretical and practical dimensions of the Christian approach to human suffering in his theological method, specifically his theology of suffering for others. The various elements and sources of his method can be gleaned from his later writings, especially those published during the 1970s and 1980s. Schillebeeckx's theology is anchored in (1) the Thomist-phenomenological approach of Flemish philosopher Dominic De Petter; (2) the historical-experiential theology of Marie-Dominique Chenu; and (3) the social theory of the Frankfurt School. De Petter's perspective on Aquinas integrated a Thomist epistemology with the phenomenological notion that concepts cannot ultimately capture the reality of human experience. From Chenu, Schillebeeckx acquired his commitment to both solid historical research and engagement with socio-political problems facing church and world. The problem of suffering, which constitutes an essential dimension of Schillebeeckx's theological ethics with its dual emphasis on theory and praxis, raises the question of human responsibility in the face of unjust and needless suffering. His theoretical-practical approach to the alleviation of human suffering evolved within the framework of social critical theory, specifically: (a) Schillebeeckx's theological integration of Theodor Adorno's negative dialectics into his own method of correlation, which promotes various forms of critical resistance to socio-political injustice rather than a single program; and (b) the unification of theory and praxis, a priority of Jürgen Habermas's ,new' critical theory that Schillebeeckx endorses. Both principles of critical theory , negative dialectics and the union of theory and praxis , inform Schillebeeckx's eschatological orientation and his conception of liturgy as a form of social ethics. [source]

Enhancement Technologies and the Person: Christian Perspectives

THE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 1 2008
Andrew Lustig
Distinctions between therapy and enhancement are difficult to draw with precision, especially in marginal cases. Nevertheless, most recent Christian discussions of enhancement technologies accept the general plausibility of distinctions drawn between therapeutic interventions and enhancement technologies by appealing to general understandings of nature and human nature as available benchmarks. On that basis, a range of religious assessments of enhancement technologies can be identified. Those judgments incorporate different interpretations of nature as a source of moral insight, different understandings of human responsibility in light of God's purposes, and different assessments of the effects of sin and finitude on human freedom. [source]