Being Human--Becoming Human: An Essay in Christian Anthropology

by Helmut Thielicke

English, German (translation)

504 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Jeff Hoffmeyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is somewhat deflating to have finished nearly 500 pages of relatively dense prose and offer only a modest 3 stars. Ultimately, though, I just wouldn’t recommend this book to that many people, including the many theologian scholar types that are known to me. Thielicke, by design, I am sure, does not sustain an argument in this text. To wit, the book ends rather unceremoniously and abruptly with his critical engagement with Teilhard - but then there is no “And so …” or “And I think …”. I don’t overly mind this, though, because Thielicke’s engagement throughout is balanced and often profound. What is more, it is surprisingly not outdated, including what he has to say about humans and technology. It is important to know that the new problems human are having with new technology are actually old problems dating back to a tower called Babel.

Because this book is out of print, I found it on Abe Books from a wonderful seller named Andrew. Included with the shipment was a handwritten note from Andrew, along with a five dollar bill and five dollar Starbucks gift card, offered because Andrew felt that he had misrepresented the condition of the book. I corresponded with him to thank him for this kind and unnecessary gesture. That bill and gift card will now remain in this volume for as long as I own it, and perhaps longer, marking the thing that Thielike is actually talking about - the “alien dignity” that humans have access in, given our individual and corporate telos of our New Humanity. Thanks be to God for that, for Andrew and all who are like him, and for the precision of 20th century German scholarship, even when what it posits is adjacent to a wide-ranging conversation.