IMAGO DEI OBJECTIVES After completing this segment you

IMAGO DEI

OBJECTIVES After completing this segment, you will be able to: 1. Articulate the importance of the Imago Dei. 2. Describe the basic terminology that relates to the topic under investigation. 3. Compare and contrast the various opinions on the topic of the Imago Dei. 4. Explain what the various sections of the Bible say about the Imago Dei. 5. Correlate the gathered biblical information to create scriptural conclusions. Also, you will use the formulated conclusions to assess the various perspectives and to identify the correct view. 6. Utilize the tool of apologetics to defend the biblical view of the Imago Dei. 7. Apply the acquired truths with the aim of glorifying God.

I. IMORTANT QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER Image of God - Cultural Survey

Discussion Questions How is the teaching of anthropological dualism (also known as dichotomy) different than the belief in trichotomy? Which position do you believe is correct? What is the different between direct creationism, traducianism, and preexistentianism? What is the relationship between the Imago Dei and intrinsic value?

II. BASIC TERMINOLOGY 1. Anthropological Dualism 3. Imago Dei 2. Direct Creationism DIRECT CAUSATION GOD 4. Intrinsic Value Creation of Soul at Conception

II. BASIC TERMINOLOGY 5. Pre-Existentianism 6. Traducianism SECONDARY CAUSATION GOD Human Parents Propagation of Soul at Inception 7. Trichoto my

Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions What is the difference between Calvin’s eclectic view and Berkof’s eclectic view (9)? Using the above information, create two quiz questions (T/F, multiple choice, etc. ) for your classmates.

III. VARIOUS OPINIONS 1. RATIONAL VIEW HISTORY Prevalent in the Early Church Most Popular View among Roman Catholics “Image” and “Likeness” Irenaeus *Unbeliever – Dichotomy (Dualism) *Believer – Trichotomy BELIEFS IMAGO DEI – Rational Capacities and Free Will Most Affirm difference between “Image” and “Likeness” Divided on Dualism vs. Trichotomoy

III. VARIOUS OPINIONS 2. The Moral View HISTORY Martin Lutheran Confessions BELIEFS Image Dei = Moral Reflection Pre-Fallen Adam and Eve and Believers have the Imago Dei Unbelievers do not possess the Imago Dei “Likeness” & “Image” = Synonymous

III. VARIOUS OPINIONS 3. The Functional View HISTORY Pelagians Narsai Socinian Various Modern Theologians NT Wright VIEWS Imago Dei is not = Internal Quality Imago Dei = Role of Humanity

III. VARIOUS OPINIONS 4. The Relational View HISTORY Bonhoeffer Karl Barth & Neo-Orthodox Theologians BELIEFS Imago Dei = Relational Freedom to Fellowship with others Relational Unity and Personal Diversity = In the Trinity And Therefore Reflected in Humanity (especially in the male/female relationship)

III. VARIOUS OPINIONS 5. The Eclectic View HISTORY Calvin – Soul, with all its properties = Imago Dei Louis Berkof – Soul and Function = Imago Dei BELIEFS Imago Dei = Many Categories “Image” and “Likeness” = Synonymous Imago Dei = Corrupted not Lost after the Fall

Discussion Questions What does the Hebrew word for image literally mean? What does the Hebrew word for likeness literally mean? Why did Moses use these two terms together? How does the explanation of the Image of God in Genesis 1 differ from what is taught in the ancient myths? What is the Image of God according to Genesis 1?

IV. SURVEY Genesis 1: 26 CONTEXT SIGNIFICANCE Genesis 1 & 2 – Creation Account TERMS: Image & Likeness Semantically Different – Functionally Similar Intended to distinguish the activity of Yahweh from the ANE myths. Image of God – Ancient Understandings Humanity is the last act of creation. The words “image” and “likeness” are only applied to humans. Functional Understanding = Most Clearly Implied “Likeness” – Generic Enough to Include Many Categories

Discussion Questions How do Genesis 2 and Genesis 5 contribute to an understanding of the Image of God?

IV. SURVEY Genesis 2: 7 -8 CONTEXT SIGNIFICANCE Genesis 2 offers a supplementary creation account to Genesis 1 The final form of Adam = physical and spiritual unity. Verses 7 -8 describes the creation of Adam; the author then describes the garden that Adam is placed in and the creation of Eve. Trichotomy vs. Dualism with briefly be dealt with in the apologetical section.

IV. SURVEY Genesis 5: 1 -5 CONTEXT SIGNIFICANCE Chapter 4 = Describes the bloody slaughter of Abel by his brother Cain. Seth is then born as Abel’s replacement (4: 25 -26). 1. Genesis 5: 1 only uses the word “likeness, ” whereas 1: 26 & 5: 3 use “likeness” and “image. ” Genesis 9: 6 only uses “image” and not “likeness. ” These two words should probably be seen as describing the same thing. Genesis 5 = The GENEOLOGY of the first section of human history, from Adam to Noah & his sons. Noah came from Seth’s lineage; he and his family would escape judgment (6 -8). 2. 5: 2 = Male & Female are both Image Bearers. 3. Imago Dei is not lost after the Fall 4. Imago Dei is passed down via procreation. Unique Procreation = A helpful concept for understanding the Imago Dei (? ) … the solution to Luke 3: 38

Discussion Questions What is the context of Genesis 9? Many believe that this passage is helpful in determining whether or not the words “image” and “likeness” are referring to the same thing. How does Genesis 9 contribute to this discussion? What is the Image of God according to Genesis 9?

IV. SURVEY Genesis 9: 1 -7 CONTEXT SIGNIFICANCE Takes place after Noah & his family exit the Ark (8: 15 -16). 1. Genesis 9: 6 only mentions image. Once again, “image” and “likeness” seem to be referring to the same thing. God commissions Noah to “fill the earth. ” Animals = fear humanity (9: 2) 2. Post-Fall humanity = still possesses the Imago Dei Instead of taking the life of God’s Image Bearers (6), Noah and his family are to increase in numbers and “multiply” (7). 3. Function View = Present & Unconditional (even inactive humans are feared by animals). God makes a covenant never “again” to destroy all life “by the waters of a flood” (11).

IV. SURVEY Ecclesiastes 7: 22 CONTEXT Teacher = Describes intense despair Solomon = Author … he is probably reflecting also upon his own life. SIGNIFICANCE Verse 22 – Humans were originally made upright, but now they go after there own schemes. The Imago Dei has been severely fractured by sin.

Discussion Questions What do 2 nd Enoch and the Wisdom of Solomon (non-canonical books) teach about the Image of God? Is there anything within these books that you disagree with?

IV. SURVEY Non-Canonical Books in the Intertestamental Period 2 Enoch 44: 1 -3 Context Significance 1 st Century BC – 10 th Century AD All persons = Imago Dei Not Accepted Imago Dei = Physical & Immaterial Aspects Content: Voyage, Heavenly War, Ethical Precepts, Melchizedek

IV. SURVEY Non-Canonical Books in the Intertestamental Period Wisdom of Solomon 2: 23 Context Significance Canonical – Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Church Imago Dei = Eternality of the Soul and Function View Solomon is not the author Content: Avoid Folly/Idolatry and Seek Wisdom Immortality = Contingent upon whether someone embraces of rejects wisdom (annihilationism)

Discussion Questions What is the Image of God according to the Book of Colossians? According to 2 Corinthians 3, how do we become more like God or “transformed” into His image?

IV. SURVEY Colossians 1: 13 -15 Context Significance Paul begins by giving thanks Jesus = Exact Image of God Gospel is Spreading Not physical Praying = Christlikeness Image = Characteristics of God are perfectly displayed Rescued from darkness … placed in the kingdom of the Son = the image of the invisible God. He is supreme over everything; in him, all things were created. Context = Moral Attributes

IV. SURVEY Colossians 3: 9 -10 Context Significance Paul challenges his audience to put to death the old man. In Christ, a person’s identity changes. As God’s chosen people, individuals should put on the attributes of the new man. Reject the characteristics of your old self New self = progressively being changed in the image of the Creator (God) “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Context = Moral Advancement Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (17).

IV. SURVEY 2 Corinthians 3: 18 Context Significance The context describes the superiority of the The Image of God has been distorted, even New Testament over the Old Testament. among believers. We are not like Moses and the Israelites who had to have a veil to handle the glory of God. The New Covenant is more equipped to restore our fractured image than the Old Testament. Instead, the Spirit has liberated us to approach God with unveiled faces. We have access to the most intense expression of God’s glory. Transformation happens as we adore, celebrate, and behold Jesus, the perfect Image of God. We are transformed as we behold God. Imago Dei = Progressively Repaired

IV. SURVEY James 3: 9 Context Significance

Discussion Questions Which view (rational, relational, functional, moral, and eclectic) on the Image of God do you believe is correct? Explain.

V. SYSTEMATIC CONCLUSIONS • 1. The “Image of God” and “Likeness of God” are synonymous expressions that are used to describe certain aspects of every human being. • 2. The Image of God seems to either explicitly or implicitly include the following understandings: Functional, Relational, Volitional, Rational, and Moral. Hence, the eclectic view makes the most sense out of the biblical data. • 3. The Image of God was severely fractured as a result of the Fall, but it was not entirely lost. • 4. The Old Testament seems to primarily emphasize the functional aspect of the Imago Dei, although other understandings can justifiably be extracted. • 5. The Intertestamental Literature seems to promote an eclectic view on the Imago Dei. However, it adds too many categories, such as the erroneous view that humans are physically like God. • 6. The New Testament describes Jesus as the exact Image of God. The NT authors are primarily concerned with how new creatures are progressively being restored and spiritually or morally transformed into the Image of God or the Image of Christ.

VI. APOLOGETICS REDUCTIVE MATERIALISM Belief = All is Material Response Philosophy = Internally Inconsistent More improbable than theism = Explaining Reality REDUCTIVE IDEALISM Belief = All is Spiritual Response Practically = Inconsistent More Improbable than theism = Explaining Reality

"If there is no God, then all that exists is time and chance acting on matter. If this is true then the difference between your thoughts and mine correspond to the difference between shaking up a bottle of Mountain Dew and a bottle of Dr. Pepper. You simply fizz atheistically and I fizz theistically. This means that you do not hold to atheism because it is true, but rather because of a series of chemical reactions. Morality, tragedy, and sorrow are equally evanescent. They are all empty sensations created by the chemical reactions of the brain, in turn created by too much pizza the night before. If there is no God, then all abstractions are chemical epiphenomena, like swamp gas over fetid water. This means that we have no reason for assigning truth and falsity to the chemical fizz we call reasoning or right and wrong to the irrational reaction we call morality. If no God, mankind is a set of bi-pedal carbon units of mostly water. And nothing else. " Douglas Wilson (Wilson-Till Public Debate) •

VI. APOLOGETICS

MONISM, TRICHOTOMY, DICHOTOMY (Anthropological Dualism), or OTHER? PRE-EXISTENTIANISM, CREATIONISM, or TRADUCIANISM?

VII. PRACTICAL THEOLOGY 1. The Imago Dei establishes intrinsic worth for all humans.

VII. PRACTICAL THEOLOGY 2. Human rights are not created by governments. Rather, governments ought to recognize the inalienable rights that have been given to humans by their Maker. - Genesis 9: 6 – The Right to Life - Just Citizenship Treatment (Theocracy, Judges, Monarchy, Greco-Roman, etc. – Romans 13).

VII. PRACTICAL THEOLOGY 3. The Image Dei is a doctrine that should aid in establishing a healthy self-image. - “Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10: 28 -31). - “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his own soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? ” (Matt 16: 26).

VII. PRACTICAL THEOLOGY 4. For those in Christ, the Imago Dei should help believers to overcome a fear of death. - “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matt 10: 21).

VII. PRACTICAL THEOLOGY 5. The Imago Dei explicitly refutes any gender-based, economic-based, age-based (children in the womb), or racial-based value prejudices. - Eve is “the mother of all the living” (Genesis 3: 20) - “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth” (Acts 17: 26) - “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139: 13) - “The rich and the poor have this is common; the Lord is the maker of them all” (Proverbs 22: 2)

VII. PRACTICAL THEOLOGY 6. Humans should demonstrate their commitment to the doctrine of the Imago Dei by practically serving those around them, especially the less fortunate. “If I have denied justice to any of my servants, whether male or female, when they had a grievance against me, 14 what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account? 15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? ” (Job 31: 13 -15)

VII. PRACTICAL THEOLOGY 7. The Imago Dei has been fractured by the Fall. In Christ, believers should seek the progressive restoration (moral, functional, relational, intellectual, etc. ) of the Imago Dei. - - Colossians 3: 9 -10 - Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 2 nd Corinthians 3: 17 -18 - Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

CREATIVE EXPRESSION KEY WORDS IMAGO DEI LIVED OUT IDEAS SOCK PUPPET SHOW SONG DANCE SKIT DRAWING