Cultivating Robust Theological Anthropologies by Incorporating the Sciences and Attention to Children’s Full Humanity

Although contemporary theologians and philosophers are contributing much to
fresh understandings of human nature by addressing startling advances in science
and technology and urgent local and global challenges to human flourishing, they
pay little attention to one of the most vulnerable groups on the planet: children.
This article addresses this disturbing gap and aims to encourage theologians, philosophers,
and readers across worldviews to expand and deepen their anthropologies
by incorporating serious attention to children and to rapidly growing research
across disciplines (ranging from literary studies to neuroscience) about their vulnerabilities
and capacities. To illustrate some of the strengths and gaps in contemporary
thinking about human nature, this article highlights selected contributions of theological
anthropologies, exposes their tendencies to be highly adult-centered,
and
offers a variety of sources for appreciating children's complexity and full humanity. By
building on these sources, theologians can cultivate robust »child-attentive«
anthropologies
that expand their view of all human beings, including children. Although
this article focuses on Christian views of human nature and emerging forms of child-attentive
theologies, by highlighting the value of incorporating multi-faceted
conceptions
of children into contemporary anthropologies, it serves as a springboard
for readers across secular and religious worldviews for reflecting on how they might
expand their views of humankind and promote human flourishing by gathering wisdom
from multiple sources and honoring children's complexity and full humanity.