Human person in the image and likeness of God in cyberspace

Abstract

In this second decade of the 21st century, we witness the emergence of new digital technologies, materialized on the internet, in digital social networks, in machines equipped with artificial intelligence, which are radically transforming the way we think, live and relate. For Christians, the advancement of these technologies generates deep reflections on the meaning of human existence, life, death, and, consequently, questions about the existence of God and the way we relate to the One we call God-Father Creator. , the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity. This article, in the form of a critical essay, based on references from Christian Anthropology and the Magisterium of Pope Francis, and in interdisciplinary dialogue with authors from the field of Communication and Digital Cyberculture, focuses on the discussion on the concept of “human person as face-to-face relationality” in light of ongoing social and technological transformations, based on the question: which image of God and which image of human beings are being created in this new configuration of human sociability? In conclusion, the inalienable dignity of the human person and his condition as a creature in the image and likeness of God, whose ultimate reference of humanity is Jesus Christ, is reaffirmed, in the face of techno-scientific and cultural pretensions to dispense with the human and transcendental relationality in the garden of new digital cyber life, and practical insights are pointed out for a qualified evangelizing action in the digital environment of cyberspace.