A New Mirror of the Divine? The Theological Paradox of Artificial Creativity

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Published: 2025-12-16
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18566/cueteo.v53n119.a02

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Ramírez Téllez, A. R. ., Toro, C. M., & Triana Domínguez, F. C. (2025). A New Mirror of the Divine? The Theological Paradox of Artificial Creativity. Cuestiones Teológicas, 53(119), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.18566/cueteo.v53n119.a02
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Alberto Rene Ramírez Téllez
Universidad Santo Tomás, Bogotá, Colombia
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8560-2518
Carlos Mario Toro
Universidad Santo Tomás, Bogotá, Colombia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8329-3536
Freddy Camilo Triana Domínguez
Universidad El Bosque, Bogotá, Colombia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2320-4888

Abstract

This article argues that artificial intelligence (AI) does not redefine the imago Dei but reaffirms its limits by demonstrating that authentic creativity requires consciousness, intentionality, and connection to the transcendent. Through hermeneutical analysis of the Hebrew verb בָּרָא (bara) —“to create” (Qal) and “to cut” (Piel)—, theological frameworks (Moltmann, Pannenberg), and practical cases (AI-generated sermons, Vatican Latinist), it reveals that AI, though useful, lacks key human attributes: cultural contextualization, vulnerability, and ethical-spiritual meaning-making. Documents like the Rome Call for AI Ethics (2020) and Laudato Si’ guide its use toward the common good but cannot overcome its instrumental nature. AI is not imago Dei but a mirror exposing the uniqueness of human creativity: creating with love, risk, and a longing for eternity, reflecting divine-human collaboration.

Keywords:
Imago Dei, artificial intelligence, artificial creativity, biblical hermeneutics, technology ethics, consciousness and intentionality, bara, theology of technology

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