Is it arrogant to say humans are special?

Over in Perf's KO thread, questions have been raised over whether it is arrogant in some way to assume that, if there is a Creator to the universe, that this Creator loves us or views us as mor eimportant than other species. That is all a bit OT over there, hence this thread.

The questions here are:

Is it arrogant, or in some way wrong, to say that we are created in God's image?
Is it arrogant to say that we are special in His/Her/Its/Their eyes?

This is not to debate the existence of God, however.

I will say that I don't see anything wrong with a Creator who loves His creations. Nor do I think that it is arrogant to say that we are more significant than most other species. After all, the way I understand things, consciousness is necessary for becoming like God, the greatest goal of human life, and other species cannot do this. Intelligent life on other planets may be just as significant as us, but as we do not know of it we can't consider it.

Its not arrogant, just delusional.

Eran of Arcadia said:

Over in Perf's KO thread, questions have been raised over whether it is arrogant in some way to assume that, if there is a Creator to the universe, that this Creator loves us or views us as mor eimportant than other species. That is all a bit OT over there, hence this thread.

The questions here are:

Is it arrogant, or in some way wrong, to say that we are created in God's image?
Is it arrogant to say that we are special in His/Her/Its/Their eyes?

This is not to debate the existence of God, however.

I will say that I don't see anything wrong with a Creator who loves His creations. Nor do I think that it is arrogant to say that we are more significant than most other species. After all, the way I understand things, consciousness is necessary for becoming like God, the greatest goal of human life, and other species cannot do this. Intelligent life on other planets may be just as significant as us, but as we do not know of it we can't consider it.

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How do we know that we are created in God's image? How do we know that we are special in God's eyes?

Bozo Erectus said:

Its not arrogant, just delusional.

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Very well answered.

Human beings are definitly special to human beings. However, I'm not sure snakes or sharks really consider us as special.

IglooDude said:

How do we know that we are created in God's image? How do we know that we are special in God's eyes?

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Well, that is the real question. What matters is not whether it unduly praises humanity to say such things - thus there is no point in ascribing arrogance to those who say it - but whether it is true. No statement is arrogant if it is completely true, I feel.

So if we are created in God's image, and special, there is nothing wrong with saying it. If we aren't, then the problem is not arrogance but being incorrect.

(To answer your question, I say "because He told me".)

Eran of Arcadia said:

The questions here are:

Is it arrogant, or in some way wrong, to say that we are created in God's image?
Is it arrogant to say that we are special in His/Her/Its/Their eyes?

This is not to debate the existence of God, however.

Click to expand...

Well it's wrong from my viewpoint, because I don't think God exists.

Humans are certainly special. We possess cognitive and concept-formational abilities well beyond anything else on this planet.

But does this entail anything spectacular? Probably not.

IMO it's arrogant and delusional.

Of course it feels great to think that we have a very special purpose in this Universe, that all of this was created specifically for us, and that the entity resonsible for creating the Universe had us in mind. It's very comforting to have thoughts like that, but yes, I would call them arrogant and delusional.

It's like thinking that out of the 6.5 billion people in this world, that I have some sort of special purpose here and that I'm more important than all the other people who are on this planet.

It's a completely outdated, almost theological mode of thought that belongs to the 17th century or something. If you want to debate it, fine, but it holds no relevance and completely misses the boat, IMO.

side question: Are great apes created in the image of God too?

Eran of Arcadia said:

Well, that is the real question. What matters is not whether it unduly praises humanity to say such things - thus there is no point in ascribing arrogance to those who say it - but whether it is true. No statement is arrogant if it is completely true, I feel.

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IMO to suggest that the statement is true is just as arrogant as making it in the first place.

I think that people are special mainly because I am a person. It's nigh-impossible for me to not think I'm special.

The arrogance and other notions stem from our over-powered super brains.

We are kind of special compared to a hamster....But on the grand scale, not really.

.

El_Machinae said:

I think that people are special mainly because I am a person. It's nigh-impossible for me to not think I'm special.

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Its not impossible. Pictures like this help me keep myself in perspective. Those are all galaxies

Eran of Arcadia said:

Well, that is the real question. What matters is not whether it unduly praises humanity to say such things - thus there is no point in ascribing arrogance to those who say it - but whether it is true. No statement is arrogant if it is completely true, I feel.

So if we are created in God's image, and special, there is nothing wrong with saying it. If we aren't, then the problem is not arrogance but being incorrect.

(To answer your question, I say "because He told me".)

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To my mind, "God told us that we're created in His image" is (to you and other believers in the Bible) a factual statement = "We're created in God's image". To agnostics/atheists/non-Bible-believers/Curt, that equal sign is not correct, because the second statement requires a much greater underlying assumption than the first one. Making unspoken assumptions of the audience of the statement is where the arrogance charge comes in.

another side question:

Is God circumcised?

My guess he is not, since he he is absolutely perfect, and if he had to be circumcised he wasn't perfect in the beginning.

Another reason is that we get born non-circumcised, and since we were created taken his image as a model, he must be uncircumcised as well.

In overall sense we aren't special.

Meaning it shouldn't automatically give us the moral high ground.

But, we should understand the characteristics of humans as special, as we should consider each invidual also special. It's the basis of all human beings. That we belong together. That our experience of this world is beyong believing and it should raise us above all the mundane crap to really seek what the word "humane" means.

We are machines, we are animals, we are souls, we are human. All can be true at the same time.

What does the word "special" mean in the first place? If you are dropped into middle of jungle, you aren't that special anymore, are you now?

All I know that down the road arrogance usually leads into failure. Thinking that we know and do something that others cannot and that our place is somehow celestially protected whether it's about specie, community or person is completely utterly rubbish.

This reminds me greatly of the final scene of Planet of the Apes.

Urederra said:

another side question:

Is God circumcised?

My guess he is not, since he he is absolutely perfect, and if he had to be circumcised he wasn't perfect in the beginning.

Another reason is that we get born non-circumcised, and since we were created taken his image as a model, he must be uncircumcised as well.

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But since we can be circumcised, that means so can he!

...

Urederra said:

another side question:

Is God circumcised?

My guess he is not, since he he is absolutely perfect, and if he had to be circumcised he wasn't perfect in the beginning.

Another reason is that we get born non-circumcised, and since we were created taken his image as a model, he must be uncircumcised as well.

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Thats not possible. Gods Jewish remember?

They are all galaxies, bigger and more colorful than us, but there are lots of things we can do that they can't.

I still don't see the problem. Maybe if I explain my theological viewpoint here it would help. I believe that God created the entire universe, and all stars, planets, and life within it. The purposes for this are several. He specifically created some organisms in His image, giving them consciousness and intellect so that they may become as He is. On this planet, we are the only group that fits that description, but I think it almost certain that there is other life on other planets that is also intelligent. It is certainly arrogant to say we are more special than them. But we do have a greater significance, in my opinion, than the less intelligent life on this planet, in God's plan - not to say that they don't also matter to Him.

And yes, I do understand that a lot of this depends on assumptions that many others don't share. I never forget that there are a lot of nonbelievers, especially here, and I always remember that they are perfectly rational and intelligent. But if one begins with the hypothesis that God exists, from that stems the possibility that we are special to Him. If one discounts the first, one cannot really judge the second as arrogant.

You are all forgetting that God is female and thus has a vagina.