Created Co-creator, a Theory of Human Becoming in an Era of Science and Technology

Abstract

Scientific discoveries and the emergence of cosmological theories such as the Big Bang Theory and evolution have challenged the Christian doctrine of creation and its reliability on many fronts, because the discoveries appear to contradict the Christian account as to how creation unfolded. Lutheran theologian Philip Hefner sees the situation as an additional interpretative task to theologians. He, however, posits that scientific discoveries present opportunities to communicate the Christian message through social and scientific experience in meaningful ways to a broader society. He expresses the notion that religion will remain relevant only if it measures up to sci-ence, because we are in a science and technology era. Hefner therefore introduced the concept of created co-creator as a metaphor and analytical tool to explain the meaning and purpose of humans within the biosphere. The concept is characterized by the ability to communicate religion through science and to relate with available models of origin. This work expounds on the concept of created co-creator’s ability to explain human technological trajectory in theology. There is also an effort to establish a relationship between Hefner’s concept and Haraway’s cyborg with an emphasis on the concept’s ability to communicate the Christian doctrine of creation through scientific knowledge and why such an enterprise is useful.