The Image of God 1

One of the great questions of Jewish and Christian theology is how humanity is made in God’s image. We know humanity is, it says so in Genesis 1:26-27—“ Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

But in reading this passage, many have become confused. HOW are we created in God’s image? What exactly is the “image” of God?

Of course, the first thought anyone would have by looking at the word “image” is physical appearance. After all, when we see our image in a mirror, all we are saying is that the image looks like us, not that it has any other characteristic, even so our image in a statue or a photo. However, this idea causes a number of difficulties. First of all, it is both the male and the female that was created in God’s image—so which one would God look like? Is it a general appearance? And the passage is saying that God created all humanity to be in His image—how can we all look like God when we all look so differently? What color, size, shape is God? These questions seem nonsensical, but I think that the problem comes in assuming that the image of God must, in some way, be physical.

To be continued...