Just what part of any human is "in god's image"?

Question

Yeah... that whole thing about god making man in his own image.... Just what is that supposed to mean?

Afterall... it can't be on the basis of appearance, unless god has a nose, a mouth, two eyes, two arms and legs.... etc.... We are visible and god isn't....
It can't be on the basis of perfection nor absolute benevolance, nor forgiveness... because we as humans don't show any of those traits. We're metaphysically short-sighted, aggressive, selfish etc.
We cannot create things ex nihilo... so that can't be it... though we do seem to break things down into their component forms quite often.
Its certainly not a matter of position if we're all supposed to be grovelling before the G-dude.... We even operate under different rules, since its a good thing when god destroys, but its totally wrong for us.


So basically.... if we are neither like god in form nor function.... and effectively have nothing at all in common with 'him', then how are we in his image?

Question to "bettyboop":

So if god is your father.... and he also created everything else.... does that mean that slugs, dog-crap, radioactive waste, clowns, mushrooms, maternal toads, George W Bush, carrots shaped like male genitalia, Satan, snowflakes and fromage frais are also "in god's image"? .... In that case, I can't imagine theres anything special about us as humans at all.

Question to "vicsikix":

So the soul is like god? ... In that case why does he send souls to hell? Does that imply that the souls themselves sinned, and are thus imperfect and not like himself? Thats rather self-contradictory you know.... If its merely the bodies that sinned then why are the souls punished?

And on a connected note, are you saying that god is just a large, disembodied soul? In that case, I find it very amusing that the part of us based on his image is the part that has no image, form nor substance...

[Response for dewcoons]:

Thanks but no thanks. As an Aspergian, I'm prone to sensory overload.... and the last thing I need is yet another sense feeding me contradictory information about the world around me for the sweet sake of throwing everything into confusion. It doesn't take a "spirit" (something which cannot be defined in real terms) for me to understand the grand and brutal truth of the Universe, and I am quite content without one.
Thanks anyway.

Answer 1

Considering the Old Testement says this, one could make an arguement that we are very like that god.

We are petty, jealous. We can fly into a rage and commit genocide. We can be hateful and vengeful and racist. We can play favorites with our children. We can murder. We can torment.

Oh boy, am I depressed now.

Answer 2

You correctly eliminated the 2/3 of man that is not "in God's image." What you missed is the part the Bible refers to has the spirit. If you read the second chapter of Genesis where the details are given, it states that God made man's body from the dust (or elements) of the earth. He then breathed into it His own spirit. The results of that union was that man became a living soul.

You correctly stated that the body is not like God's. Rather it is made of the elements of the earth, and designed to operate only in the earthly or physical realm.

You also are right that the soul (made up of the mind, will and emotions) is not like God because of it limitations. It is not all knowing, and can be easily "misprogrammed" so that it does not forgive, have self-esteem, acts selfishly, etc. It is designed to operate in the realm of thought. It has no direct ability to affect things in the physical. (You can not move objects with your mind, etc.)

The third part is the spirit. IT is the part of man that is designed to work in the realm of the spirit. It is also that least developed part of most people. The Bible teaches that when Adam committed the first sin part of the penalty was that the spirit within him died. It lost it abilitity to function in the spirit realm. So communication with God became difficult to impossible.

It is about like a person who is born blind. There is a whole world of sights and colors around them, but because their eyes do not function, they are limited in their ability to sense those things. They lost a lot of knowledge and information they could/would and should know - if their eyes worked.

In the same way because humans are born with non-functioning spirits, they lose the information that should becoming throught their spirits. Because of that, they end up short-sighted, aggressive, selfish, etc.

The whole purpose for God coming as Jesus Christ was so that he could provide a re-birth for the human spirit. This comes through acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus over your live, and believing that his ressurrection has provided that new birth.

Once a person's spirit has been reborn, it is for them to see the part that is made in the image of God. It will again have fellowship with God, and access to the spiritual realm where he lives. Like a blind man who suddenly receives his sight.

Try it, you will like it.

Answer 3

The word "image" in Hebrew and Greek ("ikon") is translated from an idea taken from the days when a person's mark, or identity, was 'stamped into' wax or other pliable materials.

It's a Trinitarian concept. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In like manner, that same trinitarian "ikon" is "stamped into us" - Body, mind and Spirit. As for "appearance" - we believe that God became a man - again - a trinitarian concept.

Yes...."the component forms" explains much. Three Persons, One Substance... - we share that with the Triune God

That is what is meant by "in the image of God"

The Incarnation has a similar theme. St. Paul says (of Jesus):

"He is the image (Gr. "ikon") of the invisible God, the first born of the whole creation..."

Read St. Augustine's "City of God" and "De Trinitatas"

Answer 4

God did not create man in his own likeness and image.

On the seventh day man created the idea of god and it was profitable.

For that matter which image of god would you like it to be.
Take your pick. Would you prefer the image of the one that calls for:
1. Burning your only daughter alive to fulfill a promise - Judges 11:39
2. Buying a wife with 200 male foreskins - I Sam. 18:25
3. Cutting up a woman's body and distributing the pieces - Judges 19:29
4. Kidnapping virgins for sex partners - Judges 21:7-14
5. Killing 50,000 innocent persons because a few looked into a box - I Sam. 6:19
6. Refusing to heal a child because of its race - Matt. 15:26
7. Stoning women for being rape victims - Deut. 22:21
8. Tearing off women's breasts - Ezekiel 23:24

And people call this the "good book", sounds more like the evil book to me.

Answer 5

Clearly you are taking your scripture from the wrong bible, the actual words are that man is the image of God in spirit and the word.

So if God created man, then man and everything thereafter must be the created of God. Religion however seperates man from God when in fact they are at one....atonement -"At-Onement"-was another bastardised word by the vaticanus (exoteric) (vulgate bible- arian- esorteric)

Study the "Anunnaki" also who supposedly created Adam and Eve (Adam in Hebrew meaning "Earthling") also spoke of in the 1st sura secondf line of the Quran "Alamin"

Movie to be released shorty on the "Anunnaki"

Furthermore go to goole video and watch "Battle of the bibles" so your points of reference are clarified as using that qoute from that particular bible is not definitive (are any of them given they are all copies of copies from from 4 BC)

Scientist also proved recently that life could be formed from Mud!

Answer 6

God said "Let us make man in our image". God is the father, son and holy spirit. Man was created in this image. He created man from the earth he made his flesh and he breathed in the spirit and the two became a living soul. Man is more than flesh he has a spirit and that came from God and the flesh joined to the spirit became a living soul. This is the image of God. Man is more than just flesh.

Answer 7

Our "spirit", our soul is the image of God. We need housing for it on the earth so it's encased in the body. In Heaven we'll have an immortal body which is perfect and without sin.

Answer 8

We are in his image in the sense we can manifest certain qualities.
You know, when someone is kind or forgiving, we may say:
"That's just like so-and-so!"
If I may be more precise:
We have the capacity to be in God's image ....man has not always developed that capacity.

Answer 9

The God's ( Nelfilim in the old testament ) used their DNA combined with the DNA of the evolving species on Earth to create "Adama "( Sumerian translation Earthling).

Answer 10

God created us and the universe to see His beauty so we all and with all of our parts are also parts of God -I N M Y R E L I G I O N-