I’ll resume education again, but since I haven’t blogged in a while I thought I’d touch on this subject. I was discussing it with Bill and I tought I’d see what other people, perhaps more intelligent in this area, thought.
I currently work as an aide in a pre-k classroom for special needs. (I am certified as a teacher but with the economy…well…) Most of our children are on the autism spectrum. In fact, recent data is now suggesting that 1/70 boys are born with autism. The rate is increasing dramatically, and no one really knows why. While I’d love to investigate the reasons of what causes autism, I’m going to wax philosophical instead. Working with these children has made me reflect on what it truly means to be human.
I know that I was taught, and I’m going to assume that many young “conservative” Christians are also taught, that reason separates humanity from the animal kingdom. This idea is largely based on Aristotle. He was the first philosopher to propose that to be human was to reason. I should also mention that Plato was the first to suggest that it was the soul. Christianity was so intrinsically wrapped up in Greek philosophy that both of those ideas were rapidly absorbed. Most world religions have some variation on the soul or afterlife. Greeks believed in a soul but not a resurrection. The Jews believed in a bodily resurrection. Question: is the idea of the soul in the Jewish Scriptures or is it a concept that was added onto Christianity later? By later I mean either the New Testament or early Christian Philosophy. What does it mean to have a soul?
In the earliest records of the Torah, the book of Genesis, it is written that man is created in the image of God. God is said to be spirit so the word image can not indicate a physical likeness. Again for the longest time, I believed it was man’s ability to reason. I studied the animal kingdom and came to the conclusion that animals have instinct only. As a human we not only have instincts but we have rationality and free will (sorry not a neo-calvanist ;). Then I began to work with children with autism. A whole new world academically and philosophically was opened up to me. I work with children who don’t make eye-contact, have little to no communication, many don’t have the instinct to eat, and have no social skills. Yet, those of us that work with these children see them as non-functioning little humans. We love on them, and try to help them become functioning people. I hate to make the comparison, but some act very similarly to the ape species. However, the apes and other animals still have instincts and social skills. Many of my children don’t even have these.
So what is it that makes us human? An abstract concept-and clearly undefined- called a soul? Genetics? Reason? Creativity? And to what exactly does “image of God” refer? I’d love for comments from people who have some insight or find my conundrum puzzling as well.
This is a beautifully written and thought-provoking post. I have a few cents to add that may shed some light on a few questions you raise.
First, regarding the idea of the soul in the Old Testament: I feel fairly familiar with the Scriptures, but I think that until one encounters it from the viewpoint of the writers (or at the very least with a commentary to help decipher some of the language!), ideas like that are lost on the reader and our own worldview is pasted into the text. From what I have read so far as of late, however, I’ve discovered that (at least as of the book of Job historically, which puts us at or near the life of Abraham) the Israelite idea of the afterlife was that of “Sheol” (a word you’ll see throughout the Psalms, actually), which was a place of darkness in which people ate dust. It was not necessarily a place of torment, but was a gathering place for the dead — still separated from God. Job, however, does express a differing view of the afterlife (similar in some respects to a modern idea of heaven) in chapter 3.
Regarding autism and bearing the image of God: I read in my commentary during the study of the first several chapters of Genesis that to bear the image of God implies that one not only be and act like Him, but also to accomplish His work. The question is this: what does it look like to accomplish His work, and where can we find that in those afflicted with autism and other congenital conditions? When Levi was born, I learned something beautiful, which you may find helpful. One of the first things the doctor looks for when a child is born is the fists. Most children are born with clinched fists. For the newly born, unclinched fists is a sign of autism. Take a step back, though, and think that through. How often do we come before God, unwilling to let go of our own plans and selfish thoughts, our fists clinched in stubbornness as we hold tightly to things He does not desire for us? The image of open palms before God is one of willingness to accept life as it is, to praise Him in all things. While I’m not sure that the autistic children you work with really have a choice in the matter, God does have a purpose for them. He sees them as beautiful — and even if their purpose is just to remind those around them that He is in all things, that He is sovereign and is worthy of praise — they are accomplishing the work He has set before them. Perhaps that is the only purpose any of us should desire anyway.