Pope Leo XIV, AI and who and what is a human being?

The election of Pope Leo XIV has refocused attention once again on the mega-ethical issue of our time — “Who and what is a human being?” Virtually every important moral and ethical issue confronting human society in the 21st century is impacted profoundly by the answers offered to that question.

In many ways, the question of who and what is a human being has been a critical moral question in every culture or civilization in which humanity has found itself, however ancient or modern. As humanity has “progressed” through the 21st century, however, revolutionary technical breakthroughs typified by Artificial Intelligence (AI) have added complications and urgency to the frequency and fervor with which the question is being asked.

The former Catholic Cardinal, now known as Pope Leo XIV, chose that particular predecessor’s name because of Pope Leo XIII’s (1878-1903) impressive influence on these issues. Pope Leo XIV is reportedly gravely concerned by modern assaults on the dignity of human personhood (especially AI) and chose this particular name because of Pope Leo XIII’s tremendous influence in criticizing both communism and unbridled capitalism in his overwhelmingly influential and prescient encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891). Leo XIII used this encyclical to lay the foundation for Roman Catholic “social justice.”

Get Our Latest News for FREE

Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.

Recently, a much less publicized, but important, theological event took place that I believe should have a healthy impact on issues surrounding the question of “Who and what is a human being?”

The faculty of Union University, a small but well-respected Southern Baptist liberal arts university in Tennessee, has issued a critically important document entitled, “A Framework for Biblical Anthropology.” 

“A Framework for Biblical Anthropology”:

“seeks to expound and summarize the biblical teaching on the nature of humanity and what it means to be human.”

The “Framework” statement is unapologetically Christian, as it should be, and with remarkable succinctness states and explicates a “Biblical anthropology.”

“Framework” is a truly commendable survey of what God has revealed to us in Holy scripture about Himself and about us, individually and collectively, as created in “His image” (Gen. 1:26-27). From this point forward, I will use it in every opportunity I have to minister to students or congregations.

The document itself is such an outstanding example of theological and linguistic succinctness; it is difficult to summarize it easily. Nevertheless, I will try.

“Framework” emphasizes the critically important truths about humanity that are so important to the identity of what it means to be “human.” For example, “Framework” declares:

“There is an indissoluble connection between one’s body and who one is. Our physical bodies are not incidental as seen by the importance given in the gospel to the resurrection of the body (Job 19:25-27; Luke 24:36-43; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Corinthians 15:12-58). The teaching of the value, importance, and God-given nature of the body, means that our bodies are not a mere shell of our true identities to be altered to conform to some inner sense of our identity.”

“Framework” is a truly remarkable, pedagogical document. It is intended to be used to teach an increased understanding of the Christian faith, especially in relation to humanity’s desired definition and destiny in Jesus Christ. “Framework’s” outline reveals its intent and purpose:

1. Created by God
2. Bearing the image of God
3. Created as Physical and Spiritual Beings
4. Created Male and Female
5. Designed for Procreation
6. Given Dominion over the Earth
7. Made for Communion with God
8. Created as Individuals for Community
9. Fallen
10. Restored in Christ

Under the final section, “Restored in Christ,” “Framework” is perhaps at its most eloquent:

The great hope of humanity is the restoration made possible by the work of Christ, His birth, sinless life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and eventual return. Those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus are forgiven their sins and are reunited to fellowship with God, which had been lost in the garden (1 John 1:2-3). Part of the purpose of salvation is for the image of God to be renewed in us by our being conformed to the image of Christ (Ephesians 4:23-24; Col. 3:10; James 3:9; Acts 17:28; Romans 8:29). This renewal in Christ does not entirely negate the effect of sin in this life, as we continue to fight sin and temptation and grow in sanctification (Romans 6). However, this salvation is the ground of hope, insuring our forgiveness, restoration, and glorification (Romans 10:9); 1 Corinthians 15:58; 1 John 3:1-3). At Christ’s coming believers will be made like Him (1 John 3:2). This is our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13), seeing our Redeemer, the One who will say, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

In being conformed to the image of Christ we do not cease to be human or created. The Creator-creature distinction, essential to Christian theology, is never overcome or annulled. We are not, in short, divinized. But we are transformed and glorified (Romans 8:17, 20; 2 Corinthians 3:18). Only in Christ do we fully become the people we were meant to be, as we are conformed to the image of the Son.

I am not sure it can be articulated more accurately or succinctly. Consequently, I am not going to try.

Download “Framework.” Believe it, use it, share it with everyone you can.