The
Bible says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our
likeness,” and further states, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the
image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:26-27,
NIV).
There
may be some confusion as to what the word image means in this passage.
At first glance, some would assume it to mean physical appearance; however,
after careful consideration, this might not be the case.
In
Theology for Today, Elmer Towns writes, “If man is to
understand to some extent what is the image of God, he must of necessity stand
firmly and solely upon Scripture. The teaching of the imago Dei is
strictly a biblical concept.”[1] He explains that this
image is not physical. He quotes Stevens to support this position, “True, the
Second Person of the Trinity ‘became flesh and dwelt among us’ (Jn. 1:14). And the Father sent Him forth ‘in the likeness of sinful
flesh’ (Rom. 8:3), and as our Redeemer, He took to Himself our nature of flesh
and blood and was made ‘in all points like to His brethren’”(Heb. 2:14-18). He concludes by saying, “Yet in all these references
to the incarnation it is Christ who takes our likeness. Never is there a
suggestion in the Scripture that our physical nature is in any way an aspect of
the image of God in us.”[2] Towns also writes, “It is
not merely man’s rational or moral abilities,” that make us in the image of
God.[3] Strong concludes, “The image of God must be,
not simply to be like God, but actual likeness.”[4]
According
to John J. Davis, “It is this image and likeness that completely distinguishes
man from the animal kingdom. He alone has the capacity for self-consciousness,
speech, and moral discernment. Even though man has fallen and the image of God
is marred, man retains this image (cf. Gen. 9:6; James 3: 9).”[5]
Towns
claims that there appears to be four separate aspects of God and, without any
one of them, the image ceases to be the image of God. They are: 1. “The image
of God includes a rational aspect, though not limited to rationality; 2. The
image of God in man includes a moral aspect, though not exclusively; 3. The
image of God has a spiritual aspect, though not exclusively; and 4. The image
of God includes immortality, though not exclusively.”[6]
One
would not say that a monkey is in the image of God, hopefully, but yet a monkey
shares many physical likenesses to man who is in the image of God. Based on
Scripture and reason, I have to agree with Davis and Towns.
Bibliography
Davis, John
J. Paradise to Prison: Studies in Genesis. Salem: Sheffield Publishing Company, 1998.
Towns,
Elmer. Theology for Today. Mason:
Cengage Learning, 2008.
[1]. Elmer Towns, Theology for Today, (Mason:
Cengage Learning, 2008), 570-1.
[2]. Ibid., 573.
[3]. Ibid., 573.
[4]. Ibid., 574.
[5]. John J. Davis, Paradise to Prison: Studies in Genesis, (Salem: Sheffield Publishing Company,
1998), 21.
[6]. Elmer Towns, Theology for Today, (Mason:
Cengage Learning, 2008), 575-7.
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