The Image of God in Adam and the Restoration of Man in Jesus Christ: A Study in Calvin

1972 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Prins
Keyword(s):  
General Expression ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Hill Country ◽  
The Core ◽  
God's Image ◽  
The Hill ◽  
The Image Of God

‘The image of God in Adam and the restoration of man in Jesus Christ’ is a formulary title, preserving in so far as possible both the manner in which Calvin discusses the image and the progression of this paper. The contrasts of ‘image’ to ‘restoration’, ‘Adam’ to ‘man’, and the latent contrast of ‘Adam’ to ‘Christ’ are therefore purposeful ones, for they are the contrasts in which the structure and movement of Calvin's thought on the image of God can be seen most clearly. They are also the product of a patient and occasionally frustrating reduction of the hill country of Calvin's prose into a passable road. Not every facet of the image according to Calvin is brought into play. In fact, many have been weeded out as too narrowly confined to a particular context, too superfluous, or even too general or ambiguous to be of help in delineating the core of this part of his theology and the tensions within it. Thus, for example, while Calvin often speaks about a restoration of God's image in man, this phrase is meaningless in itself. Then, once we find that Calvin's understanding of this phrase is split into two opposing emphases, there is no benefit in returning to the general expression, and so it is not employed in our discussion of man's restoration. It is also true that the second half of the title indicates an abandonment of the image for a more embracing statement of all that our renewal involves.

scholarly journals The Understanding of God’s Image by Anthony Hoekema

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 2084-2089
Author(s):  
Reymand Hutabarat ◽  
Franklin Hutabarat ◽  
Deanna Beryl Majilang
Keyword(s):  
Distinctive Feature ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
The Core ◽  
Christian Anthropology ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Functional Aspects ◽  
The Future ◽  
God's Image ◽  
The Image Of God

Introduction : Anthony Hoekema was active in his works as a preacher, teacher, and writer.[1] He is one of the most outstanding reformed theologians which authored several books such as Created in God’s Image, The Four Major Cults, What About Tongue-Speaking? The Bible and the Future, and Saved By Grace.   Method : Hoekema’s theology as a whole is a reformed theology. The core and the very foundation of reformed theology is the sovereignty of God. Hoekema sees that the creation of man in God’s image is “the most distinctive feature of a biblical understanding of man.” This is why he understands that “the concept of the image of God is the heart of Christian anthropology.”   Result & Discussion : His concept of the image of God in man is examined in this section, which is divided into the following five parts: the meaning of being created in the image of God, the structural and functional aspects of God’s image, Jesus as the true image of God, the image of God in man’s threefold relationship, and the image of God in four different stages.    

scholarly journals The mercy of God as the foundation of charity of the Church

Diacovensia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 637-651
Author(s):  
Wiesław Przygoda
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Pope Francis ◽  
Pope Benedict Xvi ◽  
Benedict Xvi ◽  
The Bible ◽  
1 John ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Church

Charity diaconia of the Church is not an accidental involvement but belongs to its fundamental missions. This thesis can be supported in many ways. The author of this article finds the source of the obligation of Christians and the whole Church community to charity service in the nature of God. For Christians God is Love (1 John 4, 8.16). Even though some other names can be found, (Jahwe , Elohim, Adonai), his principal name that encapsulates all other ones is Love. Simultaneously, God which is Love showed his merciful nature (misericordiae vultus) in the course of salvation. He did it in a historical, visible and optimal way through his Son, Jesus Christ through the embodied God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who loved the mankind so much that he sacrificed his life for us, being tortured and killed at the cross. This selfless love laid the foundations for the Church, which, in essence, is a community of loving human and God’s beings. Those who do not love, even though they joined the Church through baptism, technically speaking, do not belong to the Church since love is a real not a formal sign of belonging to Christ’s disciples (cf. John 13, 35). Therefore, charitable activity is a significant dimension of the Church’s mission as it is through charity that the Church shows the merciful nature of its Saviour. A question that needs to be addressed may be expressed as follows: in what way the image of God, who is love, implies an involvement in charity of an individual and the Church? An answer may be found in the Bible, writings of the Church Fathers of and the documents of Magisterium Ecclesiae and especially the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

scholarly journals Image (of God) as ethical injunction: A social-scientific perspective

1995 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Van Staden
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Religious Symbol ◽  
Metaphorical Language ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
The Image Of God

Taking cognizance of the fact that language - especially metaphorical language - can be expressive of deeplying cultural or religious symbol sets in man, the study explores the  possible original content of the syntagma εἰΚὼν ΤΟῦ θεΟῦ in both the Old and the New Testament. It is argued that there is a definite shift in the symbol set of which the concept (metaphor) 'image of God' is expressive. Whilst the Old Testament usage of the term probably attests to the conviction that humankind is part of the genus God and may even resemble him physically, the New Testament substitutes Jesus Christ for man as the primary carrier of the 'image of God'. Humankind in general does not reflect that image any more. It is only to be found in those who through faith in Jesus Christ regain the image of God. Our thesis is that the concept of 'image' is to be regarded as much an ethical injunction as it is an ontological state-ment. The faith of adherents to the community of believers finds expres-sion in distinctive behavior - that is, in conduct that clearly identifies them as reflecting the image of God.

scholarly journals Formed in the Image of God: The Theological Status of Neanderthals

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Stueve
Keyword(s):  
Social Networking ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Imago Dei ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Homo Neanderthalensis ◽  
God's Image ◽  
Adaptive Nature ◽  
The Image Of God

A thorough examination of the various theological interpretations of imago Dei shows that Homo sapiens are not the only species to be created in the image of God.  While maintaining their uniqueness in the eyes of the Lord, Homo sapiens also share this gift with another species, Homo neanderthalensis.  The archaeological record proves that Neanderthals qualify for imago Dei under each of the four main interpretations of the biblical term.   Based on their rationality and adaptive nature, their compassion through use of medicine, their social networking and their symbolic use of art, it can be concluded that Neanderthals were also created in God’s image. 

scholarly journals Synthetic biology ethically evaluated: The creating God and co-creating human

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Riaan Rheeder
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Absolute Value ◽  
God's Image ◽  
The One ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Image Of God

God did not create once and then put an end to it. Testimony from Scripture shows that God continuously establishes or creates new things. Humans can therefore expect to always see and experience new things in creation. With this pattern of reasoning, one can anticipate that the human being as image of God will continuously establish new things in history. Although nature has value, it does not have absolute value and therefore it can be synthesised responsibly. The thought that humans are stewards of God is no longer adequate to, theologically put into words, the relationship human beings have with nature. New biotechnological developments ask for different answers from Scripture. Several ethicists are of the opinion that the theological construction of humans and created co-creators can help found the relationship of the human being to nature. Humans developed as God’s image evolutionary. On the one hand, this means humans themselves are a product of nature. On the other hand, the fact that humans are the image of God is also an ethical call that humans, like God, have to develop and create new things throughout history. Synthetic biology can be evaluated as technology that is possible, because humans are the image of God. However, it should, without a doubt, be executed responsibly.Sintetiese biologie eties geëvalueer: Die skeppende God en medeskeppende mens. God het nie net eenmaal geskep en daar gestop nie. Uit Skrifgetuienisse kan afgelei word dat God voortdurend nuwe dinge tot stand bring of skep. Daarom kan die mens verwag om gedurig nuwe dinge in die skepping te sien en te beleef. Hiermee saam kan verwag word dat die mens as beeld van God voortdurend nuwe dinge in die geskiedenis tot stand sal bring. Alhoewel die natuur waarde het, het dit nie absolute waarde nie en kan dus verantwoordelik gesintetiseer word. Die gedagte dat die mens rentmeester van God is, is nie meer voldoende om die mens se verhouding tot die natuur teologies te verwoord nie. Nuwe biotegnologiese ontwikkelinge vra na ander antwoorde vanuit die Skrif. Verskeie etici is van mening dat die teologiese konstruksie van die mens as geskepte medeskepper kan help om die mens se verhouding tot die natuur te begrond. Die mens het deur ’n evolusionêre proses tot God se beeld ontwikkel. Aan die een kant beteken dit dat die mens self ’n produk van die natuur is. Aan die ander kant is beeldskap ook ’n etiese oproep dat die mens, soos God, nuwe dinge in die geskiedenis moet ontwikkel en skep. Sintetiese biologie kan gesien word as tegnologie wat moontlik is omdat die mens na die beeld van God geskape is. Sonder twyfel moet sintetiese biologie egter verantwoordelik beoefen word.

scholarly journals EM BUSCA DA “DRACMA PERDIDA” O CINEMA ENTRE A IMAGEM DE DEUS E A DO DITADOR

2003 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cláudio Aguiar Almeida
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
The Political ◽  
Image Reproduction ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
The Catholic Church

Proibidas pelo Antigo Testamento, a produção e a veneração de imagens se converteram em tema de amplo debate entre os cristãos para quem a encarnação de Jesus Cristo como um homem visível tornava possível, pelo menos em tese, a reprodução da imagem de Deus. Este artigo analisa esse debate, que coloca dados fundamentais à compreensão das reações da Igreja Católica ao cinema e a outros meios técnicos de reprodução de imagens que, no século XX, foram utilizados na propagação de “religiões políticas” como o fascismo e o nazismo. Searching for the lost dracma: cinema between the image of god and the dictator Abstract The production and veneration of images was forbidden by the Old Testament and became an important theme of discussion among Christians, for whom the incarnation of Jesus Christ as a visible man had made the reproduction of the God’s image possible, at least in theory. This article analyses this debate, which brings fundamental data to the understanding of the Catholic Church reactions to the cinema and to other technical media of image reproduction. These media were used for the propagation of the “political religions” such as the fascism and the nazism in the 20th century.

scholarly journals Created in the image of God and sexuality in early-Jewish writings

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Van Eck
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
God's Image ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
Point Of Departure

This article pays tribute to the contribution made by Yolanda Dreyer regarding critique on the prevalence of patriarchy in society, as well as her defence of homosexuality as a normal sexual orientation. Taking as point of departure her work on the woman as created in God’s image, it is argued that understanding the metaphor ‘created in God’s image’ as referring to rule over all, and not as created as man and woman, has important implications for the relationship between man and woman, as well as the normalisation of relationships between the same sex.

scholarly journals The The Understanding of the Image of God in the Early and Medieval Church History

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 5-11
Author(s):  
Franklin Hutabarat ◽  
Reymand Hutabarat ◽  
Deanna Beryl Majilang
Keyword(s):  
Church History ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Medieval Church ◽  
God's Image ◽  
The Image Of God

It is only in the Bible whereby precise details in regards to humanity's origin from the conservative Christian point of view, are recorded. The Bible clearly states that in God's image, man was made (Gen 1:27). This statement reflects the belief that the essence of human beings was created in the likeness of God, and demonstrated that man did not merely turn out to be in God's image but was carefully crafted to be so. However, despite the exalted position of man among creatures, theologians still have questions and debates about the image of God is, and what does it consists of. Many scholars have wrestled with the precise sense of the image of God from the time of the Early Church until the Medieval Era. This research uses qualitative method, whereby the early works of the fathers of the medieval church are analyzed. The research is carried out on a descriptive basis. It is the aim of this research to offer a structural and systematic understanding of the image of God, based on the perception of the early church and medieval church fathers. As a result, a conclusion is formed.

scholarly journals Hjertets gudbilledlighed

1977 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-96
Author(s):  
Erik Krebs Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Human Heart ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Images Of God ◽  
End Of History ◽  
Word Of Faith ◽  
God's Word ◽  
The End Of History ◽  
The Creation ◽  
God's Image ◽  
The Image Of God

The Heart as the Image of Godby Erik Krebs JensenThe image of God in the heart and the heart as the image of God are at one and the same time the divine and the truly human in man. Since the Creation the image of God has been hidden in the human heart, and in the course of history it will be illuminated more and more until at the end of history it will be completely revealed.The image of God is a riddle for man. By feeling and understanding, that is, receiving impressions of other images of God (in nature, in poetry or of Christ) the image of God in the heart can be illuminated. This meeting of images happens through the living interplay of the word between heart and heart. The word with God’s Spirit is an image of God - it is in fact Christ Himself in His resurrected form, speaking to man. This word must be heard audibly for it to make an impression on the heart so that the Spirit can touch it and move it. For the heart is created precisely in order to be open to spirit (both God’s and the Devil’s), and where the heart does not harden against it but is stirred by hearing God’s word, there the image of God in the heart’s core is revived, and this echoes in the mouth of man as a confession in a word of faith, hope or love. In this echo (an echo of God’s word) it is revealed to God and men and to man himself that he has adopted God’s word. Grundtvig puts it as strongly as this: God has reincarnated Himself. Every time a man hears God’s word, Jesus is reconceived, and He is reborn in the echoing word and thereby revealed to the world.This revelation of Christ in the word on the lips of men is an expression of God’s continuing creation and activity. God’s creative deed is always the same two-pronged action with one and the same result. At the Creation God made man out of clay and breathed His Spirit into him so that man could talk to God. In the fullness of time God made His power overshadow Mary and His Spirit descend upon Jesus, so that Jesus could talk to God on earth. (Jesus healed by touch and by speaking words). At baptism the sign of the cross is made and the child is baptized, thereby giving it the child’s right to pray, to confess and praise. Where God’s word touches the heart and the Spirit captivates the heart, and the heart responds with a “Yes and Amen!” as an echo of what it has heard, there God’s creative presence in the word is experienced. And in the heart’s core the image of God is illuminated by the Spirit through the meeting between God’s image and its imprint.

Selfies: Searching for the Image of God in a Digital Age

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-97
Author(s):  
Yannick Imbert
Keyword(s):  
Digital Age ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Historical Approach ◽  
The World ◽  
God's Image ◽  
The Image Of God ◽  
Natural Way

RÉSUMÉL’auteur livre dans cet ouvrage une réflexion sociologique et théologique sur les selfies. Il les considère comme participant à une recherche de Dieu via l’image de Dieu. L’accent sur l’écoute et la compréhension, ainsi que l’approche sociologique et historique constituent deux points forts du livre. Il faut malheureusement déplorer certaines faiblesses méthodologiques qui affectent sa réflexion théologique. L’ouvrage reste néanmoins utile par l’apport d’une réflexion sérieuse sur une pratique qui est désormais devenue une manière naturelle d’habiter le monde.ZUSAMMENFASSUNGCraig Detweiler bietet hier seine soziologischen und theologischen Betrachtungen über Selfies. Sein Ansatz sieht Selfies als Teil einer Suche nach Gott durch die Suche nach Gottes Ebenbild. Die zwei Stärken des Buches bestehen in der Fähigkeit, zuzuhören und zu verstehen, sowie in seinem soziologischen und historischen Ansatz. Leider schwächelt die Methode zuweilen, was die theologische Tiefe des Buches beeinträchtigt. Dennoch liegt der Wert von Detweilers Buch in seiner ernsthaften Reflektion über eine Praxis, die zu einem selbstverständlichen Teil unseres täglichen Lebens geworden ist.SUMMARYCraig Detweiler gives his sociological and theological reflections on selfies. He approaches selfies as part of a search for God via God’s image. Two strengths of this book are the focus on listening and understanding, as well as its sociological and historical approach. Unfortunately, the method is at times weak and affects the theological depth of the book. Nevertheless, Detweiler’s work is valuable as a serious reflection on a practice that has now become a natural way of inhabiting the world.

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