This article addresses the issue of human imagination from the perspective of ‘niche
construction’ in the wider discussion about ‘what makes us human’ and what it means to be a
‘self’, specifically for the Christian faith and for theology. In the article, a brief review of human
origins and human evolution demonstrates the path and substantive impact of changes in
behaviour, life histories and bodies in our human ancestors and us as humans ourselves. In the
interactive process of niche construction, potentially changeable natural environments were,
and are, acting continuously on variation in the gene pools of populations, and in this way
gene pools were modified over generations. It is argued that a distinctively human imagination
is part of the explanation for human evolutionary success and can be seen as one of the
structurally significant aspects of the transition from earlier members of the genus Homo to
ourselves as we are today. There is thus a naturalness to human imagination, even to religious
imagination, that facilitates engagement with the world that is truly distinct. This provides
fruitful addition to the toolkit of inquiry for both evolutionary scientists and interdisciplinary
theologians interested in reconstructing the long, winding historical path to humanity.Original Research: Volume 17 in the South African Science and Religion Forum Series, edited by Prof. Dr Cornel du Toit (UNISA) and
Prof. Dr Danie Veldsman, entitled ‘Creation, Consciousness and Christology: Evolutionary Perspectives’, papers presented at the 20th
conference of the South African Science and Religion Forum (SASRF) of the Research Institute for Theology and Religion held at the
University of South Africa, Pretoria 16–18 September 2015.http://www.hts.org.zaam2017Dogmatics and Christian Ethic
