The "image of God" is the first and most important definition of what humans are, giving them a dignity reserved for no other creatures in creation. Not surprisingly, says John Kilner:
. . . the implications of this concept in human history have been enormous. It has had great influence on Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike. According to one analysis, it "has been the primary influence in the world to maintain the value and dignity of human beings." The image of God is today being heralded as "the necessary bridging concept" for understanding biblical theology and ethics. Clarifying how that works is "crucial" in light of the huge importance and ongoing influence of this concept.
Emil Brunner asserts that the "history of this idea is the history of the Western understanding" of humanity. Charles Feinberg insists that this concept "determines every area of doctrinal declaration. Not only is theology involved, but reason, law, and civilization as a whole."
Even more cogently, Pope John Paul II reminds us of the importance of this concept:
Man has meaning in this world only as the image and likeness of God. Otherwise, he has no meaning and we might be led to say, as some people have done, that man is nothing but "useless suffering." (Homily for the Mass at Bourget, 1980.)
Despite its importance, however, the Bible does not clarify what it actually means. Though what is most basic to the idea is clear—an image reflects what the object is—what exactly is reflected remains a question, and an important one. Within the context of Gen 1-3, we may make two observations. The first is well put by David Clines in his seminal paper:
One essential meaning of the statement that man was created 'in the image of God' is plain: it is that man is in some way and in some degree like God. Even if the similarity between man and God could not be defined more precisely, the significance of this statement of the nature of man for the understanding of biblical thought could not be over-emphasized. Man is the one godlike creature in all the created order. His nature is not understood if he is viewed merely as the most highly developed of the animals, with whom he shares the earth, nor is it perceived if he is seen as an infinitesimal being dwarfed by the enormous magnitude of the universe. By the doctrine of the image of God, Genesis affirms the dignity and worth of man, and elevates all men—not just kings or nobles—to the highest status conceivable, short of complete divinization.
In thus doing this, Genesis radically and transformatively levels the social "playing field"; no matter what they are or do, whether they are king or ruled, rich or poor, lords or servants, before God all men and women are equal. It is hardly necessary to press the point of how radical such a thought would have been in the ancient world.
Secondly, the fact of the first human pair being made in God's image emphasizes, as we proceed in our reading, the incomprehensible foolishness of their sin. As the image of God, they were already "like God," but they still gave in the serpent's tempation to eat of the forbidden fruit so that they may be "like God." Still, what exactly does "the image of God" means? As a result of this many attempts have been made to define it though none of the proposed solutions has found universal acceptance. At best these attempts have taught us how best not to do it.
A second question alongside this attempt to define the "image of God" is to what extent, if any, has the "Fall" affected this characteristic of the human race. Again different answers have been proposed, with varying degree of acceptance.
The NT takes us a step towards practical understanding. Paul asserts rather categorically that Christ "is the image of God" (2 Cor 4:4). To be like Christ, therefore, the first step towards re-establishing the image of God in ourselves in the fullest biblical sense.
Whatever the answers we give to these questions—and we hope that the resources we have searched out to help you find some answers in your journey of faith—it is important to remember one point above all else: damaged or not, does the way we live our lives, think our thoughts, love ourselves and our neighbours (whoever they may be), reflect in any way the glory, holiness, love and grace of God, especially as we have been renewed in Christ and made a "new creation" in Him (2 Cor 5:17)? If the answer is "not much," then all our understanding is vain.
Media Resources:
-Sinclair Ferguson, "The of God's Image Bearers," Ligonier Ministries, 21 March 2020.
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David Turner, "Image of God," Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology
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Made in the Image of God, Michael Reeves. Ligonier Ministries. This is a series of 11 studies. Video N
Print Resources:
Gerald Bray, "The Significance of God's Image in Man," Tyndale Bulletin 42.2 (1991): 195-225.
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Paul Brown, "The Image of God in Man: A Report of the BEC Theological Study Conference, 26-22 March 2000," Foundations 45 (Autumn 2000): 42-44.
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D. J. A. Clines, "The Image of God," Tyndale Bulletin 19 (1968): 53-103.
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Gordon H. Clark, "The Image of God in Man," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 12.4 (1969): 215-222.
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Charles Lee Feinberg, "The Image of God," Bibliotheca Sacra 129 (1972): 235-46.
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Mostyn Roberts, "The Image of God and Holiness," Foundations 55 (Spring 2006): 10-16.
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Joan Lockwood O'Donovan, "Human Dignity and Human Justice: Thinking with Calvin About the Imago Dei," Tyndale Bulletin 66 (2015): 16.
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Paul Sands, "The Imago Dei as vocation," Evangelical Quarterly 82.1 (January 2010): 28-41.
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Graeme Finlay, "Human genomics and the Image of God," Faraday Paper No 14 (Apr 2009). 4pp.
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John F. Kilner, "Humanity in God's Image: Is the Image Really Damaged?" Journal of Evangelical Theology Society 53.3 (2010):601-617.
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R. Ward Wilson and Craig L. Blomberg, "The image of God in humanity: a biblical-psychological perspective," Themelios 18.3 (1993): 9-15.
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Further Reading:
Nathan MacDonald, "The Imago Dei and Election : Reading Genesis 1:26-28 and Old Testament Scholarship with Karl Barth," International Journal of Systematic Theology 10.3 (2008):303-327.
Francis Watson, "In the Image of God," in Text and Truth: Redefining Biblical Theology. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1997. 277-304.
James Barr, Biblical Faith and Natural Theology. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993. Gilford Lectures.
Gunnlaugur A. Jónsson, The Image of God: Genesis 1:26-28 in a Century of Old Testament Research. ConBOT 26; Lund: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1988.
J. Richard Middleton, The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2005.
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