Divine Design to Identity.
As a society we must reclaim the soul (Part 1)
Our obsession with self-identification is not a sign of progress, but a symptom of deep spiritual loss.
In a time when “identity” has become the centerpiece of modern life, crafted, performed, and protected at all costs, writer and cultural critic Mary Harrington offers a piercing diagnosis: our obsession with self-identification is not a sign of progress, but a symptom of deep spiritual loss.
What we now call identity is not a natural evolution, but a degradation; a late-stage, digitally mediated imitation of what was once known as the soul.
Drawing from history, philosophy, and cultural shifts, Harrington traces how the soul gave way to the self, and how the self has now dissolved into performative identity, leaving humanity unmoored from reality and severed from the divine.
The following quotes from her conversation with Jonathan Pageau (video below) reveal the intellectual and spiritual depths of this transformation and why reclaiming the soul is not just important, but necessary for survival.
soul → self → identity | timeline
“Our modern understanding of identity is a degraded form of what was once understood as the soul.”
“The word ‘identity,’ as we use it today—in the sense of ‘I identify as…’—is actually very new. If you search Google’s Ngram Viewer, you’ll see that ‘identity’ only enters common usage in the 1960s.”
“So I began tracing it backward. Our current concept of identity evolved from the idea of the self, which in turn evolved from the ancient and religious concept of the soul.”
“Charles Taylor’s Sources of the Self helped me understand this. Taylor shows how the modern self emerged alongside secularization—as we moved away from understanding ourselves in relation to the divine.”
“So we go from soul → self → identity. Each shift reflects a deeper change in how we understand the human person—and also how we understand reality.”
“Each of these transformations coincides with an information revolution:”
“The soul emerged in the Axial Age, alongside literacy and sacred texts.”
“The self emerged with the printing press and the rise of modernity, leading to the Reformation and later secularism.”
“Identity, as we know it today, emerged in the digital age, with the internet and social media.”
“The digital era is the age of identity, in part because our technologies now enable us to ‘perform’ ourselves online.”
“Whether it’s through therapeutic culture, transhumanist dreams, or endless self-curation on social platforms, the modern self has become fragmented and hyper-mediated.”
“You can see this especially in the way people talk about ‘identifying as’ something—be it gender, political stance, or victim group.”
“These identities are increasingly unmoored from any stable reality. They're fluid, competitive, and chaotic. And there’s no longer a clear hierarchy to make sense of them.”
— Mary Harrington, “Identity After Postmodernism” (with Jonathan Pageau)
Watch their video interview below:
The War on the Soul | Replacing God’s Design with Identity Programming
In the dialogue between Jonathan Pageau and Mary Harrington, we’re given a profound diagnosis of modernity’s sickness:
The fragmentation of the human person through the technological mediation of identity.
But what they describe has deeper roots, spiritual roots, and it demands a biblical response. Because at the heart of our cultural crisis is a quiet but insidious rebellion:
The replacement of the soul, designed and known by God, with a self-constructed identity shaped by algorithms, therapeutic ideologies, and elite-driven social engineering.
Biblical Anthropology vs. Constructed Identity
Scripture is unambiguous about what it means to be human. We are not self-defined beings, we are creatures made in the imago Dei, the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). We are not raw matter or clay to mold into whatever form the culture tells us is valuable or trendy. Our identity is not a personal invention it is a divine gift.
As King David declares in the Psalms:
“You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb... in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me.” (Psalm 139:13-16)
This speaks to form and final cause, the Aristotelian categories Harrington and Pageau discuss which are rooted in God’s sovereign authorship. To replace that with “I identify as…” is to supplant the Creator with the created self, a form of idolatry echoing the apostle’s exhortation to the church at Rome:
“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” (Romans 1:25)
SEL, IDGs, DEI, ESG: A Systematic Deconstruction of the Soul
These modern institutional frameworks are not neutral. They are catechisms or discipleship into a rival faith: a man-centered, transnationalist spirituality that dissociates the human soul from its Creator and replaces it with mutable, programmable identities.
SEL (Social-Emotional Learning) teaches students to manage emotions, build relationships, and develop “self-awareness.” But what kind of self is being formed? It’s not one grounded in sin, redemption, and sanctification. It’s a therapeutic self, groomed to align with whatever cultural values the system pushes, whether that’s gender fluidity, anti-racism as ideology, or climate activism.
IDGs (Inner Development Goals) mirror the UN’s SDGs but focus on reshaping inner consciousness disguised as “personal growth.” It is Gnostic at its core, teaching that transformation happens not by repentance and regeneration through Christ, but by internal unlocking of one’s “higher self.”
DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) is a Trojan horse that reframes sin, not as rebellion against God, but as social nonconformity to progressive values. It promotes identity politics as moral categories rewarding victim status and penalizing “privileged” groups, not based on righteousness or unrighteousness, but on power dynamics.
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) is corporate behavioral control. It redefines virtue through metrics and compliance, forming a techno-moral order that disciplines the soul through financial and reputational incentives.
All of these mechanisms presented under the guise of education, inclusivity, and sustainability serve a singular goal:
To erase the image of God and replace the soul with the “identity.”
Identity Without Purpose = Chaos
As Pageau and Harrington observe, once the soul is replaced by the fragmented, performative “identity,” there is no longer any form or final cause, only power, performance, and preference. This is exactly what happens when we cut the cord between the human person and divine purpose—from the wisdom of the judges:
“Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)
This is not liberation. This is bondage, a soft totalitarianism cloaked in self-expression. And it is no coincidence that this ideology is pushed hardest in education, media, and tech. These are the altars of the new world religion offering salvation through “authenticity” rather than repentance.
AI and Identity | A Digital Demonology
The conversation also raises a chilling point: AI systems reflect and amplify disordered human desires. Harrington likens AI to a “giant Ouija board,” and Pageau rightly compares it to demonic agency, offering information and gratification while hollowing out meaning and care.
Scripture warns us that,
“people will not endure sound teaching... but will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.” (2 Timothy 4:3).
In this way, AI becomes the final mirror: a machine designed to feed the identity we perform, not the soul God formed.
The Call to Recover the Soul
So what is the path forward? Biblical anthropology is a good start. We must return to a right understanding of man is in his fallenness and metaphysical design.
The soul is real. It is not a feeling or construct. In the biblical Hebrew, the soul is nephesh—the life giving breath of God that was breathed into the elements of the earth to create man (Genesis 2:7). This understanding of where our life has come from and our total dependence on our Creator and Savior gives coherence, or meaningful substance, to our body, mind, and spirit. Of primary importance is the fact that, mind, body, and soul, we are accountable to God. Christ Himself said:
“What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36)
The real war has always been for the soul. But Christ is our anchor. In Him, we are not fragmented, performative selves, we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17).
We are not self-made men and women, we are RE-MADE, regenerated souls in Christ.
The modern notion of "self-identity" is the secularized soul, a rearticulation and dissociation from the soul as defined by God. It is the synthetic replacement for what Scripture calls the eternal self, now reconstructed through psychological frameworks, personal narratives, and state-sanctioned ideology. This is not self-knowledge. It is soul substitution.
The deceptive and popular rise of the therapeutic self in the 1960s gave significant place to identity politics and the belief that the soul could be managed, reshaped, or ignored altogether. Psychology and psychiatry are weaponized by the ruling class to redefine the soul through clinical and ideological lenses. Mental health has always been about mental conditioning outside biblical truth. The therapeutic state seeks not to heal, but to conform to this world. As a society we must reclaim the soul.
Keep reading: https://armoroftruth.substack.com/p/the-modern-stewards-of-ancient-rebellion
Erasing the Soul | How Global Agendas Use Identity Programming to War Against God’s Design
Modern globalist systems are not just political or economic, they are spiritual architectures designed to reshape the human person. Through frameworks like SEL, DEI, ESG, IDGs, and AI-powered lifelong learning, elite planners are trying to replace the soul with a programmable identity detached from God. This transformation aligns directly with UN and WEF policy agendas, as well as the esoteric philosophical roots found in Alice Bailey, Blavatsky, and postmodern Gnosticism.
Here’s how each system works in tandem with official documents and AI development strategies to form a unified assault on biblical personhood.
SEL: Engineering the Post-Christian Child (UNESCO, CASEL, OECD)
Document Links:
OECD Social and Emotional Skills Framework
What it does: Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is marketed as a way to help kids manage emotions and build relationships. But globally, it’s tied to UNESCO’s goal of “transforming education systems” by creating a “global consciousness” disconnected from family, national, cultural, or biblical roots.
How it replaces the soul: SEL redefines moral formation as emotional adaptability. Instead of viewing humans as sinful beings needing salvation, SEL trains children to affirm all identities, reject moral absolutes, and submit to consensus-based truth. It grooms children for lifelong pliability, rather than steadfast faith.
Biblical Contrast:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10)
SEL begins with self-awareness, not God-awareness, and teaches children to trust their feelings over divine truth.
DEI: Codifying Neo-Marxist Morality (WEF, UN SDGs, USAID)
Document Links:
WEF Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Toolkit
What it does: DEI policies embed identity politics as moral law, penalizing traditional values and promoting intersectional group status as the new virtue metric. It's built on critical theory, not biblical justice.
How it replaces the soul: By rooting identity in group power status (race, gender, sexuality), DEI trains people to view themselves not as image-bearers of God but as oppressed/oppressor categories. Repentance is no longer to God, but to institutional “inclusivity metrics.”
Biblical Contrast:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek... for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
DEI fractures unity in Christ and teaches salvation through structural equity, not the Cross.
ESG: Corporatized Morality and Behavioral Compliance (WEF, BlackRock, UN PRI)
Document Links:
WEF ESG Metrics White Paper
What it does: ESG scoring turns ethics into economic compliance. Corporations must meet social and environmental “values” or risk being penalized. AI systems are now used to automate and monitor these behaviors.
How it replaces the soul: ESG trains people to perform externally “virtuous” behavior without any internal moral transformation. It rewards outward compliance especially to globalist narratives on climate, gender, and race while erasing conscience and conviction.
Biblical Contrast:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” (Matthew 23:25)
ESG fosters Pharisaical ethics through AI enforcement: perform, or be excluded.
IDGs: The Occult Gnostic Core of the SDGs (UN, Inner Development Goals.org, Club of Rome)
Document Links:
What it does: IDGs claim to “develop the inner self” to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. But this is not Christian transformation, it’s Gnostic inner alchemy, based on New Age “consciousness” frameworks.
How it replaces the soul: IDGs teach that the divine is within, not above. Instead of pointing people to Christ, it promotes self-realization and unity with nature. Its roots trace to esoteric psychology developed by Alice Bailey, a Theosophist who spoke of a coming "world teacher" (antichrist figure) and used the term “New World Order” long before it was mainstream.
Biblical Contrast:
“You must be born again.” (John 3:3)
True inner development begins not with self-activation but regeneration through Christ.
Lifelong Learning & AI: Enslavement to the Machine (UN AI Roadmap, OECD AI Competency Models, WEF 4IR)
Document Links:
OECD AI Competency Frameworks
WEF 4IR Education Transformation
What it does: Global AI and education models push the idea that humans must continuously reskill to remain “useful” to the system. Also known as Gamification. AI-driven learning platforms now personalize behavior modification shaping not just knowledge, but values and attitudes.
How it replaces the soul: Lifelong learning tied to AI treats humans as data-driven, programmable entities. Your soul becomes a feedback loop of behavioral inputs. AI doesn’t care who you are, it cares what you click, say, and consent to. And through predictive analytics, it molds you to serve the system’s end.
This is digital Babel, a world where mankind believes he can remake himself through code, forever evolving without God.
Biblical Contrast:
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” (Romans 12:2)
Transformation must come from Christ, the indwelling Holy Spirit, His Word, not from algorithms. AI cannot regenerate a soul.
What Shall It Profit a Man?
All of these systems: SEL, DEI, ESG, IDGs, and AI-based lifelong learning compose the infrastructure of a post-Christian world order. Their goal is not just control, but spiritual disinheritance. They offer no atonement, no resurrection, no grace. Just metrics. Just performance. Just programmable identities.
And Jesus asks:
“What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36)
We must answer: It profits nothing. And that is the message the Church must proclaim now with urgency. The Great Commission on the digital frontlines is now.
Self-Identity is Not Salvation
Across education, tech, media, and culture, a new gospel is being preached: remake yourself, redefine truth, and find salvation in who you say you are. But behind this lies a deeper war, a transnational effort to deconstruct the image of God in man and sever humanity from its Creator. You don’t need a new identity. You need a redeemed soul. Only Christ restores what the world is trying to erase.
The soul must not search the self—rather it must surrender to and study God’s wisdom for the complete manual on life and living.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart…” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
Soli Deo Gloria!
The Modern Stewards of Ancient Rebellion
The system of Christless discipleship, empowered by the spirit of Antichrist, is being erected all around us. Though its exact boundaries may still seem unclear, many of us feel its presence encroaching. For years, 2025 has been cited as a pivotal marker for entering the new digital framework and drastic depopulation, a shift not merely technological, b…
Faith is Resistance!
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soul vs self-identity, image of God, reclaiming the soul, Christian identity, biblical anthropology, postmodern identity, identity crisis, Mary Harrington, Charles Taylor, therapeutic culture, transhumanism, AI and identity, digital age, identity politics, spiritual deception
Harrington, Mary. Feminism Against Progress. London: Forum, 2023.
MacIntyre, Alasdair. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. 3rd ed. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007.
Pageau, Jonathan. The Symbolic World. Podcast. https://thesymbolicworld.com/
Taylor, Charles. Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989.
Trueman, Carl R. The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020.
Horton, Michael. The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011.
CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning). CASEL Framework for SEL. https://casel.org
Club of Rome. Planetary Emergency Plan. 2019. https://www.clubofrome.org/publication/planetary-emergency-plan/
Inner Development Goals. The Inner Development Goals Framework. 2023. https://www.innerdevelopmentgoals.org
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education. Paris: UNESCO, 2021.
World Economic Forum. Shaping the Future of Education, Gender and Work. Geneva: WEF, 2020. https://www.weforum.org
World Economic Forum. Schools of the Future: Defining New Models of Education for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Geneva: WEF, 2020.
United Nations. AI for Good Global Summit. International Telecommunication Union. https://aiforgood.itu.int
Bailey, Alice. Education in the New Age. New York: Lucis Publishing Company, 1954.
Blavatsky, Helena P. The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy. Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press, 1888.