Spiritual Formation and Sexual Abuse: Embodiment, Community, and Healing

As a distortion of God's created designs, sexual abuse (SA) carries a unique devastation-factor. Abuse that is sexual in nature damages a spectrum of internal and external aspects of personhood. In particular, the core realities of: (1) self-identity, (2) community, (3) and spiritual communion with God can be deeply fractured through SA. In light of the significance of the image of God, movement toward healing includes strengthening personal agency, processing profound boundary ruptures, and managing disillusionment with God. Due to the multi-faceted trauma of sexual abuse (i.e., physical, social, spiritual) spiritual formation programs must not only plan for the unique profile of abuse victims, but also need to incorporate a fuller understanding and praxis of the realities of embodiment, ritual, and theocentric metaphor into their transformational goals. Analysis includes first-person experience, anthropological science, and theological reflection.

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The Understanding of God’s Image by Anthony Hoekema

Abstract Proceedings International Scholars Conference ◽

10.35974/isc.v7i1.1707 ◽

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.

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

Scottish Journal of Theology ◽

10.1017/s0036930600027642 ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 32-44 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

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.

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Christian in search of freedom: history and present

Релігійна Свобода ◽

10.32420/rs.2017.20.853 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 5-10

Author(s):

Tetiana Gavryliuk

Keyword(s):

Free Choice ◽

Image Of God ◽

Ordinary Citizen ◽

The Core ◽

Self Development ◽

The World ◽

The Individual ◽

The Right ◽

Theological Understanding ◽

The Image Of God

Being as it is - the eternal request of the human spirit. Responding to this request, humanity has formed a number of ideological paradigms that acquire new shades according to a certain era in the range between idealism and materialism, given about two and a half thousand years ago. The problem of interpreting the surrounding reality only appears, at first glance, as something of a minority for an ordinary citizen, as the prerogative of the mysterious philosophy inherent in individuals. At the same time, understanding and interpretation of being is the core of personality, since it is an expression of a human's outlook. As you know, the prevailing outlook determines the attitude of man to the world and to himself. He asks a certain direction as self-development of the individual, and its implementation in society. Humanity has won the right to free choice and free affirmation of philosophical paradigms step by step in recent centuries and often in a rigid controversy with Church Christian fundamentalism. Freedom in Christianity is a key characteristic of the theological understanding of man, since it is one of the fundamental components of understanding the image of God in man.

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Persons Together

10.23943/princeton/9780691176277.003.0005 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Alan L. Mittleman

Keyword(s):

Human Nature ◽

Well Being ◽

Image Of God ◽

Jewish Tradition ◽

The Political ◽

Human Beings ◽

Human Flourishing ◽

Political Dimensions ◽

Market Relations ◽

The Image Of God

This chapter moves into the political and economic aspects of human nature. Given scarcity and interdependence, what sense has Judaism made of the material well-being necessary for human flourishing? What are Jewish attitudes toward prosperity, market relations, labor, and leisure? What has Judaism had to say about the political dimensions of human nature? If all humans are made in the image of God, what does that original equality imply for political order, authority, and justice? In what kinds of systems can human beings best flourish? It argues that Jewish tradition shows that we act in conformity with our nature when we elevate, improve, and sanctify it. As co-creators of the world with God, we are not just the sport of our biochemistry. We are persons who can select and choose among the traits that comprise our very own natures, cultivating some and weeding out others.

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Gandhian Method of Conflict Resolution: Perception of Educated Youths

SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH ◽

10.24113/ijellh.v1i6.24 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (6) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dr. P. K. Kar

Keyword(s):

Conflict Resolution ◽

Image Of God ◽

Integral Approach ◽

Human Beings ◽

Life Itself ◽

The Image Of God ◽

Negative Concept

Gandhiji’s method of conflict resolution was based on truth and non-violence. Truth was for him the image of God. He did not believe in personal God. For Gandhi truth is God and God is truth. Life is a laboratory where experiments are carried on. That is why he named his autobiography “My Experiment with Truth”, without these experiments truth cannot be achieved. According to Gandhi, the sayings of a pure soul which possesses nonviolence, non-stealing, true speech, celibacy and non-possession is truth. The truth of Gandhiji was not confined to any country or community. In other words , his religion had no geographical limits. His patriotism was not different from the service of human beings but was its part and parcel(Mishra:102). Gandhiji developed an integral approach and perspective to the concept of life itself on the basis of experience and experiments. His ideas ,which came to be known to be his philosophy, were a part of his relentless search for truth(Iyer:270). The realization of this truth is possible only with the help of non-violence The negative concept of Ahimsa presupposes the absence of selfishness, jealousy and anger, but the positive conception of ahimsa demands the qualities of love ,liberalism, patience, resistance of injustice, and brutal force.

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