ccording to Scripture, humankind was created in the image of God. Hoekema discusses the implications of this theme, devoting several chapters to the biblical teaching on God's image, the teaching of philosophers and theologians through the ages, and his own theological analysis. Suitable for seminary-level anthropology courses, yet accessible to educated laypeople. Extensive bibliography, fully indexed.
Misunderstandings about what it means for humans to be created in God's image have wreaked devastation throughout history -- for example, slavery in the U. S., genocide in Nazi Germany, and the demeaning of women everywhere. In Dignity and Destiny John Kilner explores what the Bible itself teaches about humanity being in God's image. He discusses in detail all of the biblical references to the image of God, interacts extensively with other work on the topic, and documents how misunderstandings of it have been so problematic. People made according to God's image, Kilner says, have a special connection with God and are intended to be a meaningful reflection of him. Because of sin, they don't actually reflect him very well, but Kilner shows why the popular idea that sin has damaged the image of God is mistaken. He also clarifies the biblical difference between being God's image (which Christ is) and being in God's image (which humans are). He explains how humanity's creation and renewal in God's image are central, respectively, to human dignity and destiny. Locating Christ at the center of what God's image means, Kilner charts a constructive way forward and reflects on the tremendously liberating impact that a sound understanding of the image of God can have in the world today.
Made in the Image of God is a book that provides key concepts for understanding the nature and personhood of God and mankind, while providing deeper insights into how we as human beings relate to God physically, emotionally and spiritually in a metaphysical way, both now and in the future. Within this study, there are discussions on such topics as The Nature of God, The Nature of Mankind, The Trinity, and Jesus Christ as God and Man, while providing concepts that will help open the door to understanding God's revelation concerning himself, as revealed through the Scriptures. One reader commented: "After fifty years of being a Christian and doing lots of Bible study, this book gave me the clearest understanding of the Trinity and their interaction with me." Made in the Image of God is good resource material for supplementing studies in: Bible, Theology, Apologetics, Anthropology, Metaphysics or Philosophy of Religion.
Humans are created in the image of God, yet by choosing to rebel against God we become unfaithful bearers of his image. But Jesus, who is the image of God, restores the divine image in us. At the intersection of theology and culture, these essays offer a unified vision of what it means to be truly human and created in the divine image in the world today.
What does it mean to be human and made in the image of God? This collection of essays explores the question from a wide range of theological and philosophical perspectives.
Everyone who reads the Bible must admit that it tells us to do things that we never have done and cannot do in our fleshly bodies. One reason is that God our Creator is telling us what He wants us to be and do as created in His image and likeness. Our purpose is in our image and likeness of God our Creator, not like the dust of the ground or the flesh of our parents. Most children dont know that they are created in the image and likeness of God, and their parents have not asked God for His spirit for their children so they can be taught this vital truth. The reason parents dont ask God for His spirit for their children is because they dont recognize the need for Him. There are several things mankind cannot do in the flesh, and they must recognize their origin in the image and likeness of God. Mankind must recognize being in the image and likeness of God to, first, love God with all their being and love his neighbors as himself; second, to obey God and his parents as required in Gods word; third, to trust God with all his heart; fourth, to worship God in spirit and in truth; and fifth, to glorify God in his body and spirit, which are God. The devil does not want mankind to know that he is created in the image and likeness of God because man will always defeat Satan and fulfill God's will.
God created man in his own image, and the profound implications of this assertion are the subject of this book. Drawing on philosophy, theology, science, Scripture and art, Cardinal Schnborn reflects on man as the greatest of Gods creatures and on the Christian understanding of his incomparable dignity that flows from this truth. According to the Christian faith, all the works of God converge toward man, and find their goal in him. The world was made for man, and man was made for God. This anthropocentrism resounds like good news at a time when many find it hard to believe in Gods special and personal providence for man. It is good news, indeed, that man has worth and his life has meaning because God bears an infinite love for him a love which is the very origin of creation and is the reason for the work of redemption. Among the topics Cardinal Schonborn addresses are: Christ-the Loveliest of Men, The Exaltation of Man, The Basis of Mans Dignity, Faith in Art, God with a Human Face.
Henri Blocher argues that our primary task in the quest for origins is to discover what the opening chapters of Genesis originally meant. Taking into account a vast array of scholarship, Blocher provides a detailed study of creation week, the image of God, the significance of gender, the garden covenant, the Fall and more.
