Made in Gods Image?

[Clizby WampusCat]

What does it mean that we are made in Gods image as stated in Gen 1:27?

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. - ESV

We don't look like God,
We are not all knowing,
We are not all powerful,
We are not all good,
We are not triune,
We are not omnipresent,
We cannot read minds,
We cannot perform miracles,
We have a gender,
We cannot create something out of nothing,
etc.

So how are we made in Gods image?

 

[theoneandonlypencil]

Pretty sure being in God's 'image' is a spiritual property, not a physical or metaphysical one.

We can do God's good work
We can learn to love like God
We have emotions like God
We have been able to perform miracles on God's behalf
We are unique intelligent beings like God
We understand good and evil like God
We desire to create things and innovate in a similar fashion to God(bound of course by His given limitations)
We are His named children

 

[SPF]

What does it mean that we are made in Gods image as stated in Gen 1:27?

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. - ESV

We don't look like God,
We are not all knowing,
We are not all powerful,
We are not all good,
We are not triune,
We are not omnipresent,
We cannot read minds,
We cannot perform miracles,
We have a gender,
We cannot create something out of nothing,
etc.

So how are we made in Gods image?

What does it mean that humanity is created in the image of God?

What Does It Mean to Be Made in God’s Image?

What does it mean to be made in the image of God? | CARM.org

What does it mean that humanity is made in the image of God (imago dei)? | GotQuestions.org

 

[Clizby WampusCat]

Pretty sure being in God's 'image' is a spiritual property, not a physical or metaphysical one.

How do you know?

We can do God's good work

The bible says all your good works are like filthy rags and no one does good not one.

We can learn to love like God

God said that he loved the world that he sent his son to die for all of us. Can you do that?

We have emotions like God

Ok

We have been able to perform miracles on God's behalf

So we cannot perform miracles, god is still the one doing it.

We are unique intelligent beings like God

I don't think most Christians would agree that we are as intelligent as God.

We understand good and evil like God

Only becasue we sinned, God did not create us that way in the beginning.

We desire to create things and innovate in a similar fashion to God(bound of course by His given limitations)

ok

We are His named children

Only those that are Christians. Jn 1:12.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Mankind was created in the image and likeness of God. However, due to the fall, all of the created order has experienced degradation.

We are still in the “image” of God ... He has formed us with potential to be like Him so that we can enjoy communion with Him (though we will forever be created beings and not “God” in His Essence). But the likeness of God has been obscured, marred, by sin in the world and by our personal sin. Rather like looking at an image that has been smeared and covered over with mud.

Our lives as Christians are meant to be cooperation with the grace of God, whereby He slowly changes us “from glory to glory” to be ever more becoming like Christ - who was God as Man - the perfect example.

 

[Clizby WampusCat]

Mankind was created in the image and likeness of God. However, due to the fall, all of the created order has experienced degradation.

What does it mean to be created in the likeness of god?

We are still in the “image” of God ... He has formed us with potential to be like Him so that we can enjoy communion with Him (though we will forever be created beings and not “God” in His Essence). But the likeness of God has been obscured, marred, by sin in the world and by our personal sin. Rather like looking at an image that has been smeared and covered over with mud.

Our lives as Christians are meant to be cooperation with the grace of God, whereby He slowly changes us “from glory to glory” to be ever more becoming like Christ - who was God as Man - the perfect example.

What does becoming like Christ mean? What is Christ like? In genesis 1:27 it is talking about God the father not Christ.

 

[Halbhh]

We don't look like God,

It's interesting you are making a claim without evidence here.

A claim without evidence is a "belief".

Can you see asserting this claim means you have a belief/faith of your own -- a religion of your own? (which you may or may not hold strongly, but there it is)

 

[SPF]

What does it mean that we are made in Gods image as stated in Gen 1:27?

What is the point of you even asking this question? You've made it clear on this forum that you're an atheist, you present yourself as having a lot of Biblical knowledge, so why are you actually asking this?

You obviously don't actually care about this question, I'm trying to figure out why you're actually asking it. You don't believe God exists, so you obviously don't believe we are created in His Image. Is your ultimate goal to expose this idea as false and therefore score a point for atheism?

 

[Kenny'sID]

You obviously don't actually care about this question, I'm trying to figure out why you're actually asking it.

Its the same old story, Atheist trying to convince us there is no God to begin with. But why try to convince anyone here he doesn't exist? Do they care for our well being? Or is it as I think, if they can get others to not believe it, they can the be more assured themselves.

IOW, at the very least, they just aren't sure, but I think its more like they know he exists, and they are here to try to convince themselves otherwise.

How can anyone not know?

 

[Kenny'sID]

We only need resemble God in order to be in his likeness. We need not be as smart, look just like him, or what have you.

Dictionary
Search for a word

like·ness
/ˈlīknəs/
noun

1. 
   
2. the fact or quality of being alike; resemblance.
   "her likeness to him was astonishing"
   
   
   
   Similar:
   resemblance
   similarity
   alikeness
   sameness
   similitude
   congruity
   affinity
   correspondence
   analogy
   parallelism
   agreement
   relationship
   identity
   identicalness
   uniformity
   conformity
   equivalence
   Opposite:
   dissimilarity
   • 
     
   • the semblance, guise, or outward appearance of.
     "humans are described as being made in God's likeness"

 

[Clizby WampusCat]

It's interesting you are making a claim without evidence here.

A claim without evidence is a "belief".

Can you see asserting this claim means you have a belief/faith of your own -- a religion of your own? (which you may or may not hold strongly, but there it is)

Nope, that is based on Christian claims of what God is like. If God the father is spirit like most Christians believe we do not look like God.

 

[Clizby WampusCat]

We only need resemble God in order to be in his likeness. We need not be as smart, look just like him, or what have you.

Dictionary
Search for a word

like·ness
/ˈlīknəs/
noun

1. 
   
2. the fact or quality of being alike; resemblance.
   "her likeness to him was astonishing"
   
   
   
   Similar:
   resemblance
   similarity
   alikeness
   sameness
   similitude
   congruity
   affinity
   correspondence
   analogy
   parallelism
   agreement
   relationship
   identity
   identicalness
   uniformity
   conformity
   equivalence
   Opposite:
   dissimilarity
   • 
     
   • the semblance, guise, or outward appearance of.
     "humans are described as being made in God's likeness"

These are all relative so I guess anything can be like god. I don't see much similarities with how god is described and how we actually are. You can say we both are creative yet god is infinitely more creative than us so how is this alike? How close do we need to be to be "like" something?

 

[Clizby WampusCat]

What is the point of you even asking this question? You've made it clear on this forum that you're an atheist, you present yourself as having a lot of Biblical knowledge, so why are you actually asking this?

You obviously don't actually care about this question, I'm trying to figure out why you're actually asking it. You don't believe God exists, so you obviously don't believe we are created in His Image. Is your ultimate goal to expose this idea as false and therefore score a point for atheism?

Just asking a question for conversation. You do not need to participate if you don't want to.

 

[ChetSinger]

What does it mean that we are made in Gods image as stated in Gen 1:27?

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. - ESV

We don't look like God,
We are not all knowing,
We are not all powerful,
We are not all good,
We are not triune,
We are not omnipresent,
We cannot read minds,
We cannot perform miracles,
We have a gender,
We cannot create something out of nothing,
etc.

So how are we made in Gods image?

This is a good question that we discuss among one another. The most cohesive response I've read is this one by Dr. Michael Heiser, a scholar of the Hebrew bible. It's pretty long and delves into the grammar of the original text. A fragment of the conclusion is below:

https://drmsh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Image-of-God-LBD.pdf​

The preposition “in” should be understood as meaning “as” or “in the capacity of.” Humanity was created “as” the image of God. The concept can be conveyed if we think of “image” as a verb: Humans are created as God’s imagers—they function in the capacity of God’s representatives. The image of God is not a quality within human beings; it is what humans are. Clines summarizes: “What makes man the image of God is not that corporeal man stands as an analogy of a corporeal God; for the image does not primarily mean similarity, but the representation of the one who is imaged in a place where he is not.… According to Gen 1:26ff, man is set on earth in order to be the representative there of the absent God who is nevertheless present by His image (Clines, “The Image of God in Man,” 87)”​

Every human, regardless of the stage of development, is an imager of God. There is no incremental or partial of the image via some ability, physical or spiritual. No member of the animal kingdom, regardless of any cognitive ability it might have, is an imager of God. The same goes for any intelligent life form, artificial or the hypothetical extraterrestrial.​

This understanding lends clarity to the Old Testament passages. Being created as God’s imagers means we are His representatives on earth—the only qualification for this is that we are human. This is why the creation of humankind as God’s image in Gen 1:26–27 is immediately followed by the so-called dominion mandate of Gen 1:28. Humanity is tasked with stewarding God’s creation as though God were physically present to undertake the duty himself. Genesis 9:6’s requirement of capital punishment for murder is because the intentional killing of an innocent human was tantamount to killing God in effigy. Clines argument with respect to Gen 5:1–3 is also brought into sharper focus: “Seth is not Adam’s image, but only like Adam’s shape” (Clines, “The Image of God in Man,” 78n117). Seth resembled Adam, but he was not Adam’s representative on earth. The prepositional changes in Gen 5 serve to distinguish the point of Gen 1:26–27 from Gen 5:1–3.​

In summary, we are images of God because we are his representatives here on Earth.

 

[Kenny'sID]

These are all relative so I guess anything can be like god. I don't see much similarities with how god is described and how we actually are. You can say we both are creative yet god is infinitely more creative than us so how is this alike? How close do we need to be to be "like" something?

God is more, no doubt, but my point with the definition was, we don't need to be exactly like him to have been created in his image.

A baby is in its parents image, but the parents are much smarter in every way than the baby. To me, this is simple to see.

 

[Halbhh]

Nope, that is based on Christian claims of what God is like. If God the father is spirit like most Christians believe we do not look like God.

I'm Christian, and from the text I read we are made in His image.

But, I notice that you are making your own statement about the appearance of spirit.

That makes me wonder: What's the basis for your belief in how spirit appears?

I'm going to stick with what the text says. We look like Him. Also, if one does read through the Bible, it becomes quite clear in quite a lot of passages, that our general form is like His.

So, you see, I don't have to speculate at all.

 

[Paul4JC]

We are imagers of God as

a pool of water is of an ocean
a rock is of a a mountain
a small stream is of Niagara Falls
a breeze is of a hurricane
a branch is of a huge tree
a flicker is of a forest fire
a ice cube of a glacier
a second is of a year
a baby is of his parents
....etc

Are they the same? Not there not, are they similar, yes in many ways. In the same way we image God.

The lesser is not the greater yet borrows from the same. We borrow faculties, attributes, traits from God.

We are like mirrors of old which hard gave a poor reflection. It was what it was, and it is what it is with us.

We reflect to one degree or another. It's our choice how we use this reflection.

What we reflect can and will become greater, or we lose even what we reflect now.

Angels reflect his image too, but then so does satan in his own twisted evil way, to his demise.

Our reflection doesn't change the source, who is perfect in every good way.

You are created in God's image, choose what you will to do with it and how you'll reflect it, rather him.

The new birth only adds to this image but still we reflect it imperfectly....

6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. [2Co 4:6-7 NIV]

 

[~Anastasia~]

What does it mean to be created in the likeness of god?

What does becoming like Christ mean? What is Christ like? In genesis 1:27 it is talking about God the father not Christ.

If you have seen Christ, you have seen the Father. They are one in Essence. (Though not the same Person.)

Christ (and God the Father) are holy. Are love. In God there is no evil.

Becoming like Christ means being restored to the image in which we were originally created, the way God intended. Holy, perfect, without sin, desiring to be in communion with God. That is the reason we were created.

 

[zippy2006]

What does it mean that we are made in Gods image as stated in Gen 1:27?

This isn't an authoritative quote, just something I read recently:

A helpful classification of approaches to the imago Dei was provided by Noreen Herzfeld in 2002, and subsequently developed by Wentzel van Huyssteen in his Gifford Lectures. The four possibilities for interpreting the image of God in humans can be summarised as follows: substantive, based on some property distinctively possessed by human beings; functional, based on some role or vocation allotted by God to humans; relational, based on both capacity and call, to enter into loving relations with God and neighbour; and eschatological, based on the idea that humans' true nature lies ahead of them - it is a goal rather than a present reality.

-Christopher Southgate, Theology in a Suffering World: Glory and Longing, 227-8

​

Here is the Catholic Catechism on the question:

1702 The divine image is present in every man. It shines forth in the communion of persons, in the likeness of the unity of the divine persons among themselves (cf. chapter two).

1703 Endowed with "a spiritual and immortal" soul, the human person is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake." From his conception, he is destined for eternal beatitude.

1704 The human person participates in the light and power of the divine Spirit. By his reason, he is capable of understanding the order of things established by the Creator. By free will, he is capable of directing himself toward his true good. He finds his perfection "in seeking and loving what is true and good."

1705 By virtue of his soul and his spiritual powers of intellect and will, man is endowed with freedom, an "outstanding manifestation of the divine image."

1706 By his reason, man recognizes the voice of God which urges him "to do what is good and avoid what is evil." Everyone is obliged to follow this law, which makes itself heard in conscience and is fulfilled in the love of God and of neighbor. Living a moral life bears witness to the dignity of the person.

-Catechism of the Catholic Church, Man: The Image of God
​

The tradition I am familiar with is basically substantive, where the image of God is seen in such powers as rationality, freedom, the ability to love, etc. It is such things that set man apart from lower creation and allow him to know and love God.

 

[muichimotsu]

It's interesting you are making a claim without evidence here.

A claim without evidence is a "belief".

Can you see asserting this claim means you have a belief/faith of your own -- a religion of your own? (which you may or may not hold strongly, but there it is)

Do you claim to know what God looks like? Pretty sure that's not supported by anything in the bible, because that would reduce God in scope versus the magical thinking that makes God unable to be legitimately criticized at all. If anything, the OP is accurate to say we don't resemble God physically, because otherwise God would be reducible to the creation in some way and that contradicts the narrative