In God's Image: An Anthropology of the Spirit - Paperback

by Michael Welker (Author)

From the 2019/2020 Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh

In God's Image describes how centering our culture on the human and divine spirit can revitalize four universally acknowledged characteristics of a thriving human existence: justice, freedom, truth, and peace. Inspired not only by religious sources but also by scientists, philosophers, economists, and legal and political theorists, Michael Welker develops the idea of a "multimodal" spirit that generates the possibility of living and acting in the image of God.

Welker's new approach to natural theology explains why the human and the divine spirit cannot adequately be grasped in simple bipolar relations and why the human spirit should not be reduced to the rational mind. Addressing the question What is the calling of human beings? in the context of late-modern pluralistic societies, he aims at explaining to believers and nonbelievers alike what it means to be persons created in the image of God, moved by a spirit of justice, freedom, truth, and peace.

Author Biography

Michael Welker is senior professor at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and executive director of the Research Center for International and Interdisciplinary Theology. He is the author or editor of dozens of books, including God the Spirit, The Work of the Spirit, God the Revealed, Creation and Reality, What Happens in Holy Communion?, and The Depth of the Human Person.