Being Human: An Historical Inquiry Into Who We Are

This book offers an introductory review to a wide range of thinking, formulated over the last half-millennium in the Western world, about the meaning of human existence. It will touch on a variety of issues of contemporary significance, such as the origin and uniqueness of the human species, freedom and determinism, the nature of good and evil, and the possibilities and limits of the sciences. The book will supply a number of explanatory comments, from a Christian perspective, on the various views uncovered. Insofar as human beings are fascinated by exploring the reality of their own selves, in relation to history, culture, the natural environment, and a variety of worldviews, this book will afford readers plenty of material to stimulate them in their own exploration. ""Perceptive and insightful, this book brings Christian wisdom and historical perspective to current debates about what it means to be human in the world today. I commend it warmly."" --Anna Robbins, Acadia College ""Being Human is an impressive exploration of the most fundamental ideas that have shaped the way humans have understood themselves over time. By offering a penetrating and brilliant analysis of classic authors, Dr. Kirk offers a discussion that invites one to reevaluate the reader's own existence in light of the issues of the origin, foundations, and transcendence of the concept of person. Certainly, this book should have a lasting impact on the way we think about ourselves from a practical and philosophical point of view."" -- Pablo Lopez Silva, University of Valparaiso, Chile After completing three years in Finchley, North London, as an ordained Anglican minister (1963-1966), J. Andrew Kirk has spent much of his life teaching theology in tertiary educational institutions in Argentina and England. He has also taught courses on all six continents. Since retirement (in 2002), he has been involved on a part-time basis with graduate institutes in Eastern and Western Europe, the United Kingdom, and Canada, both teaching and supervising doctoral students. He has degrees in theology (missiology) from the Universities of London, Cambridge, and Nijmegen. He was a founder/member of the Latin American Theological Fraternity (1970), associate director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (1982-1990), theologian missioner of the Church Mission Society (1982-1990), dean and head of the Department of Mission, Selly Oak Colleges (1990-1999), and senior lecturer for the Department of Theology, University of Birmingham (1999-2002). He and his wife have recently completed fifty years of marriage.