Monday, February 16, 2004
In sum, against any materialist reductionism, Christians claim that God has seen fit to make room in the universe for creatures who bear some of the glory of their Maker, and who, even on the rainiest Monday morning of their lives, look something like God. We image God in our personhood, communion, responsibility, dignity, virtue, suffering, and freedom.
But, against humanist exaltation of our status, we need to recall that our freedom is relative, that our personhood is derivative, that everything important about us is ultimately God's gift. We need to recall that wisdom's first child is humility, and that humility means a kind of realism about our place in the scheme of things so that we don't end up thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think (Rom. 12:3).
-Engaging God's World, Cornelius Plantinga Jr.
But, against humanist exaltation of our status, we need to recall that our freedom is relative, that our personhood is derivative, that everything important about us is ultimately God's gift. We need to recall that wisdom's first child is humility, and that humility means a kind of realism about our place in the scheme of things so that we don't end up thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think (Rom. 12:3).
-Engaging God's World, Cornelius Plantinga Jr.
