Being in the Likeness of the Good God (original) (raw)

What does it mean to say that human beings are created in the image of God?

In this essay I will argue for an eclectic theological understanding of the image of God, understanding that each of the historical views are different facets of the same reality – the personhood. In order to do so, I will first explain the chief historical interpretations of the imago Dei and show their main flaws. Second, I will show why the eclectic theological point of view represents better the original meaning of the ‘image of God’ in the Bible. Finally, I will list several ethical and spiritual implications of my view.

From Plato's Good to Platonic God

One of the major puzzling themes in the history of Platonism is how theology is integrated with philosophy. In particular, one may well wonder how Plato's superordinate first principle of all, Idea of the Good, comes to be understood by his disciples as a mind or in some way possessing personal attributes. In what sense is the Good supposed to be God? In this paper I explore some Platonic accounts of the first principle of all in order to understand where the integration of the personal into the metaphysical is organic and where it is not. I conclude that the "ontological" and the "henological" construals of the first principle of all differ in their openness to "intellectualizing" that principle.

On Being the Literal Image of God

Journal of Analytic Theology, 2014

Typically theologians take the image of God rather metaphorically and reduce the metaphor to a set of properties in virtue of which we are humans. This emphasis on the common features shared among humans supports the doctrine of shared sin and the provision of salvation by another human, Jesus. By analyzing three separate notions of image and applying them to the image of God, this paper argues that humans as God's image can be taken more literally then it typically is. The result is that the uniqueness of each human is a significant aspect of the human person, grounding our value. Doing so, however, does not entail that we lose the common features of humans supporting theological accounts of shared sin and salvation.

The Image of God in Man : A Critique of the Substantive View By

2015

Thesis Statement The Bible teaches that man was made in the image of God, therefore as God’s image bearers it is important to understand the nature of that status. While the substantive interpretation of God’s image in man (imago Dei) is not specifically affirmed in Scripture, and it is only one of the three traditional conceptions about the image of God in mankind, it is the most fundamental of these views. Introduction The Bible teaches in Genesis 1:26 that God made man in his own image. On its face this is a very important subject, but strangely, there are only a few references to this in the Old Testament. Kenneth Gardoski observes that in theological studies the more sparse the biblical information on a particular subject, the more theories are advanced to explain it. Such is the case with the subject of the image of God in man (imago Dei). As important as this subject is to our understanding of man’s relationship to God, there are only three Old Testament references (Gen 1:26-...

After the Ascent: Plato on Becoming Like God

Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 26: 171–183, 2004

Plato is associated with the idea that the body holds us back from knowing ultimate reality and so we should try to distance ourselves from its influence. This sentiment appears is several of his dialogues including Theaetetus where the flight from the physical world is compared to becoming like God. In some major dialogues of Plato’s later career such as Philebus and Laws, however, the idea of becoming like God takes a different turn. God is an intelligent force that tries to create order in the physical world. I argue that likeness to God in these dialogues involves imitating God’s effort by trying to order our bodies, souls, and societies as intelligence directs. Becoming like Plato’s God is not to abandon the world. It is to improve it.