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This paper explores the evolving perception of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in our increasingly AI-driven world, focusing on conversational AI or chatbots. With the rise of human-like robotic AI systems, there is a growing need to understand the identity these machines assume as they take on roles previously reserved for humans, such as caring for the elderly and educating children. The central thesis posits that comprehending the identity of such AI systems necessitates considering the aspect of our own identity that we shape and project onto them in our interactions with these systems. In an era defined by AI, these inquiries into identity and AI-human interactions are of paramount importance and are also vital for the very development of AI.

In this article, we focus on Biblical stories and, within them, on the connection between emotions and bodily sensations. We use a cognitive theory of emotions, which understands emotions as based on value judgments. The focus is on stories involving conflict in which emotions, including bodily sensations, are key to conflict resolution and to the orientation toward moral action. In the Bible, emotions play a multifaceted role. They are a natural and essential part of the human experience and of the relationship between man and God. This paper argues that bodily sensations are the building blocks of emotions or play an important role in the formation of emotions. A theology of emotions contributes to an understanding of this aspect of the body that is related to our emotions. The paper shows the hermeneutical potential of these stories for understanding emotions as embodied cognition and their relevance for morality.