Imago Dei Research Paper

Grace Nordstrom
Professor Ashley
Christian Doctrine
10 September 2014
The Worth and Purpose of Humankind Defined What is Imago Dei? Imago Dei is our worth and our purpose defined. What does it mean that humankind is created in the “image of God?” In what different ways have theologians defined this term, and what should we understand it to mean today? What difference does it make for those who look to the authority of God’s word, and what implications does this leave us with both now and for eternity? When looking for the definition of Imago Dei, one can look several places. First, one can look to the interpretations of Biblical scholars who have commit their time to studying scripture. Second, one can look for themselves all through the
The first is in Genesis 1:26-27: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” This is recapitulated in Genesis 5:1: “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.” Then in Genesis 9:6, we learn: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blod be shed; for God made man in his own image.” Here we see that being created in the image of God implies that we have great worth and our lives are valuable to God. From this verse, we also see that sinful human beings continue to bear God’s image. In the New Testament, the learn about the image of God as we learn about Jesus. In James 3:9, we learn that God hates when we neglect to respect and honor each other, as those who bear God’s image. “With the tongue we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God.” Much of the New Testament also explains that we are conformed more and more into God’s image- we become more like Him through the process of salvation. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled face,
One does not have to look far to see the evil that has resulted from people rejecting God and oppressing one another. Slavery, war, greed, and oppression- an ocean of these disasters has swept through time, making every child ask “why?” and “how” could this be? Today, still, there are injustices to the human race that are hard to understand. In fact, people look everywhere for answers- to the media, to scholars, to historians, and to their leaders, but their search is in vain. Their hearts are left burning and throbbing. What then has led to the bullying of children, the gossip, and most frightening, the genocides that never cease to degrade the human race and leave us asking, “Why?” It is this: Man has rejected God and does not know who he is, and in turn, they do not know who their Creator has intended them to be. The more I see of the world, the more I know I have been spared. In knowing who God is and who he says I am, I have been set free. I am free to forgive, free to love, free to honor, and free to value each person that God has made in “his own image.” Knowing that every person on earth has infinite worth in God’s sight, so much that he came to earth to