Christian Truth and the discovery of a new hominid skull

I reproduce here a nice article which. amazingly, the BBC actually published!:

'What does it mean to be human?'

By David Wilkinson, Lecturer in theology and science


Anthropologist Desmond Morris suggested the discovery of a human "hobbit" on Flores would force many religions to examine their basic beliefs. The suggestion provoked quite a reaction.

"The existence of 'Mini-Man' should destroy religion", claims Desmond Morris.

I can't help thinking we've been here before. Indeed, Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist, still cannot understand why religion survived Darwin.

Yet as science progresses, despite the decline of allegiance to traditional Christian churches in Western Europe, religion continues to grow world-wide in many different forms.

This should not surprise us. Contemporary science, far from solving every question, often highlights the big questions which are central to human existence.

This is the case with the discovery of LB1, the 18,000 years old specimen of the new species Homo floresiensis.

The find of this so-called "hobbit" on Flores island excites me both as a scientist and a Christian theologian, for it poses the big question of what it means to be human.

'Frankly naive'

People have always been fascinated with this question, in particular what makes humans different.

LB1 becomes part of this contemporary question alongside developments in science such as human cloning and the growth of artificial intelligence where what it means to be human is seen in Star Trek's Mr Data and Kubrick's AI.

Some have tried to separate human beings in terms of physical, mental or genetic characteristics.

The trouble with this, as LB1 demonstrates is that these are simply often different points on a spectrum rather than absolutes.

While some religious people believe humans were created 6,000 years ago, or view humans as the sole possessors of souls, it is quite frankly naïve and ignorant to characterize the depth of all religious thinking in this way.

Natural world

Within the Christian tradition, some have suggested that the key to being human is our ability of rational thinking, freewill, our moral sense or our capacity to face our own death.

The fact that God may have created many other species in the universe does not diminish the relationship he has given to human beings


However, the overwhelming view which can be found in the early chapters of Genesis, is that human beings are defined in terms of relationship, and in particular their relationship to God.

Being made in the image of God is about being given the gift of intimate relationship with God, and a certain kind of responsibility in the natural world.

That human beings are special in terms of relationship, allowed early astronomers such as Huygens to speculate about other worlds without having nightmares about his Christian faith.

The fact that God may have created many other species in the universe does not diminish the relationship he has given to human beings.

Care and compassion

Further, as many historians have pointed out, the Christian worldview encouraged the growth of empirical science - the universe had to be observed to see what God had done.


A cast of the 18,000-year-old 'Hobbit's' skull

The diversity and unpredictability of the cosmos or natural world was therefore a reflection of a God who gives the universe the potential for extravagance.

Finally, the gift of responsibility brought with it the need for care and compassion to others, the animal kingdom and the environment.

So as a Christian, in common with many other religious believers, I don't see LB1 as a threat to religion.

I am fascinated with what more we might find out about the diversity of the natural world.

And if Homo floresiensis still exists then they need to be treated with respect and care whether the anthropologists class them as human or not.

I still see the special status of humanity in the gift of relationship with God, a relationship affirmed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

After all, hobbits were never a problem to the Christian orthodoxy of a certain JRR Tolkien.


David Wilkinson is the Wesley research lecturer in theology and science at the university of Durham.