What makes us human? To this question many people – including such famous figures as Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari[1] and OpenAI founder Sam Altman[2] – answer, “humor,” “imagination,” “emotions.” We argue that these answers are philosophically and theologically naive and ultimately inadequate. Rather, the defining characteristic of the human condition is to be found in consciousness, which is also commonly regarded as the “holy grail” of artificial intelligence (AI) research. In this article we would like to show that...
The complex concept of ‘person’ Twentieth-century theologians felt a particular attraction to ‘personal’ language. The recent defense of the continuing relevance of theism in the contemporary intellectual climate, or “in the light of modern science,” rarely attempts to explain the relationship between God and the world in terms, for example, of interacting substances, as might have been the case in the fourth century.[1] Within the context of the patristic writings, the concept of “person” took on a new meaning after...
What does the Bible say about war, revolution and violence? Some pages of the Old Testament, directly or indirectly, seem to justify the use of violence for the conquest of the Promised Land. But is this really the right interpretation? Above all, how does this square with the New Testament precept to love your enemies? How to approach the Bible regarding current events Interpreting the Bible on a topical issue should not be engaged in without caution. One must never...
To speak of Maria Callas is to recall one of the most important periods in the history of Italian Opera, from the end of World War II to the early 1960s, when generations of performers such as Tebaldi, Simionato, Barbieri, Del Monaco, Di Stefano, Bastianini, Gobbi, and Rossi-Lemeni handed over the baton to Freni, Caballé, Valentini Terrani, Pavarotti, Domingo, Nucci, Bruson and Raimondi, to name but a few. Maria Callas (b. New York, 1923 - d. Paris, 1977) was born...
Why is it so difficult to feel like a brother? It has often been asked why violence is so ingrained in human nature. It is no accident that history, sacred and profane, begins with fratricide. A characteristic of human beings, sociality, is indispensable for living. An isolated person, unlike members of some other species, cannot survive for long without the input of fellow humans. The need to face the dangers and difficulties of life leads to the formation of groups,...
Thirty-seven years after his assassination, a host of authors joined an initiative to commemorate Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali’s “art of resistance” with a poster.[1] The tribute depicts each artist’s own hero from behind, the same way Ali always drew his protagonist. Together with him they call for an end to the horror of war. In Arabic, and also in Hebrew, a name is not only the identification of a person, but also marks their life, their mission, their destiny. Naji...
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