| This dissertation compares the thought of John Calvin (1509–1558) with that of Wang Yang-ming (1472–1529) by correlating the former's doctrine of the imago Dei and the latter's doctrine of liang-chih (innate or intuitive knowledge of the good). The strategy is to compare both of these doctrines with respect to the general category of ultimate human transformation. A result of the comparison is that Calvin's notion of the imago Dei can be deepened and corrected.; The comparability of Calvin and Wang is demonstrated by employing the category of ultimate human transformation and a variety of collateral and sub-categories. These collateral categories (personal identity, the human predicament, and the Absolute) and sub-categories (will, mind, heart, affiliation, harmony, and spontaneity) can be expressed in terms of both the imago Dei and liang-chih and provide the basis for detailed analysis of similarities and differences between them.; These structural connections in the ideas of the imago Dei and liang-chih frame a fundamental disagreement between Wang and Calvin about the nature and means of ultimate human transformation. The realization of liang-chih in Wang's naturalistic and humanistic scheme calls for right functioning within the web of relation with regard to the Confucian Tao, whereas the consummation of the imago Dei in Calvin's theistic scheme is defined in terms of a personal relation to God. Whereas Wang affirms the classical Confucian thesis of human goodness and the possibility of human perfection within the quotidian world, Calvin has a very gloomy and pessimistic view of humanity and asserts the need of the salvific power of the Christ.; The comparison of the imago Dei and liang-chih suggests a strategy for reconstructing a better-balanced and more adequate conception of the imago Dei, and thereby of human identity, the human predicament, and the means of ultimate human transformation within Christian theology. |
