Image of God

Did You Know?

• In Islamic theology, the Quran does not reiterate the concept of the 'image of God,' but a hadith states God created Adam 'in his image' (bi ṣūratihi).
• The Ash'arites reject similitude with God by stating that 'his' in the hadith refers to Adam.
• The imago dei concept had a very strong influence on the modern conception of human rights, used by free churches during the Puritan Revolution to affirm religious liberty.

Biblical sources

The phrase 'image of God' appears three times in the Hebrew Bible, all within Genesis 1–11. Three additional passages in the Apocrypha or Deuterocanon explicitly use 'image' terminology to describe humanity. The New Testament reflects on Christ as the image of God and on humans as images of both God and Christ. Theologians have examined the distinction between 'image' and 'likeness' of God. Origen, for instance, viewed the image as given at creation and the likeness as bestowed later. While 'image and likeness' is a Hebraism reinforcing an idea with two words, a view arose that they were separate: the image was humanity's natural resemblance to God (reason and will), while the likeness was a donum superadditum—a divine gift of moral qualities added to basic human nature. When Adam fell, he lost the likeness but the image remained intact. However, the medieval distinction between image and likeness has largely been abandoned by modern interpreters. According to C. John Collins, since the Reformation scholars have recognized that this distinction does not suit the text itself, as Genesis 1:27 simply reads 'in God's image' and Genesis 5:1 states God made man 'in the likeness of God,' indicating the terms refer to the same thing.

Three ways of understanding the image of God

Christian theology commonly identifies three ways of understanding how humans exist in imago dei: substantive, relational, and functional. The substantive view locates the image of God within the psychological or spiritual makeup of the human being, emphasizing shared characteristics such as rationality or morality. This view holds that the image is present whether or not an individual acknowledges it. The relational understanding finds the image in human relationships with God and each other. The functional view interprets the image as a role or function whereby humans act on God’s behalf and represent God in creation. These three views are not strictly competitive and can each offer insight. A fourth, earlier viewpoint involved the physical, corporeal form of God, held by both Christians and Jews. The substantive view has held particular historical precedence, especially among early Patristic theologians like Irenaeus and Augustine, and medieval theologians like Aquinas. Irenaeus believed that humanity's essential nature was not lost or corrupted by the fall, but that fulfillment was delayed; humans before the fall were in the image of God through free will and reason, and in the likeness through an original spiritual endowment.

Imago dei and the physical body

Interpretation of the relationship between imago dei and the physical body has changed considerably throughout Jewish and Christian history. Old Testament scholars note that the Hebrew word for 'image' in Genesis 1 (selem) often refers to an idol or physical image. Because ancient Israelites did not separate the physical and spiritual within a person, selem likely originally incorporated both components. Modern Christian commentators generally argue that the image of God is not related to physical appearance. John Walton writes that selem is a representative in physical form, not a representation of physical appearance. The Apostle Paul displays both appreciation for and denial of the physical body as the image of God. In 2 Corinthians 4:4, he claims Jesus Christ in his entire being is the image of God. Paul states that in proclaiming Jesus, the renewal of the image is experienced physically (cf. vv 10-12,16). In 2 Corinthians 4:10, he writes that Christians carry the death of Jesus so that his life may be made visible in their bodies, yet in v. 16 he says the external body is wasting away while the inner being is renewed. For Paul, being restored in Christ leads to actual corporeal change. Many theologians from the patristic period onward have relied on an Aristotelian view of humans as rational animals, combined with Pre-Socratic notions of a divine spark of reason, leading to an exclusion of the body and a dualistic understanding of the image.

Imago dei and transhumanism

The understanding of imago dei has come under new scrutiny in light of transhumanism, which seeks to transform humans through technological means such as pharmacological enhancement, genetic manipulation, nanotechnology, cybernetics, and computer simulation. Transhumanist thought is grounded in optimistic Enlightenment ideals and looks forward to a Technological Singularity where humans engineer the next phase of evolution. This assertion that humans should use technology to accelerate evolutionary processes is an affront to some Christian conceptions of imago dei. In response, some traditions have used a distinction between therapeutic and enhancement technologies to establish boundaries. Therapeutic uses like cochlear implants, prosthetic limbs, and psychotropic drugs have become commonly accepted, yet these can also elevate human ability, making the therapy-enhancement distinction questionable. Human enhancement has been heavily criticized by Christians; the Vatican condemned enhancement as 'radically immoral,' stating humans do not have full right over their biological form. Concerns of humans 'playing God' are accusations of hubris, a theme interpreted from the Genesis accounts of Adam and Eve and the Tower of Babel. Patrick D. Hopkins argues that the hubris critique is changing into a Promethean critique, as Prometheus actually stole a power that previously only the gods had.