[asa] Image of God

Hi Vicar, you wrote:

>How do you decide who has the Image of God and who does not?

Great question! First of all, "So God created man ('adam) in His own
image." I don't think generic man is intended here at all. I believe
it was Adam the man who lived in southern Mesopotamia (land of the
Tigris and Euphrates) roughly 7,000 years ago and was the father of the
Semites. If "image" means "representative" then Adam represented God to
the surrounding cultures which at that time were Ubaidan and later
Sumerian. But presumably he would have encountered more nations
eventually.

If "representative" is a good interpretation, and if "man" means generic
man who came out of Africa, to whom or to what did he represent the
Deity? Does man represent God to the animals? To each other? I don't
think so. On the other hand, if "man" does mean generic man, then I
don't know what the "image" means. We certainly aren't much like our
heavenly father in my estimation. If someone wants to convince me that
the "man" in Genesis 1:27 is mankind in general then he/she would have
to persuade me that sinful men somehow resemble a Holy God.

In Gen. 5:1-3, "This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day
that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and
female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in
the day when they were created. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty
years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called
his name Seth." There can't be much question that Adam was "in the
image" and had a son named Seth.

So the "image" passed through the Adamic generations to Noah and
Abraham, to the children of Israel and rested with them until the
crucifixion. Christ was in the image of God and those who represent
Christ are privileged to represent God through Him. So coming into the
image is a condition of the heart, I believe, not a birth right.

When questioned about divorce, Jesus referred to Genesis 1:27, "Have ye
not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and
female" (Matt. 19:4). Then Jesus quoted Genesis 2:24, "For this cause
shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife: and
the twain shall be one flesh" (Matt. 19:5). Linking these verses is
another reason the "man" created in Genesis 1 is not "mankind," but the
same Adam in Genesis 2, first of the covenant, Eve's husband and Seth's
father.

If you're still unhappy, prove Adam lived over 60,000 years ago. Keep
in mind there is no trace of human existence in southern Mesopotamia
prior to 7,000 years ago. And don't ask Ken Ham for help. He thinks
dinosaurs were passengers on the ark.

Cheers,

Dick Fischer

Dick Fischer, Genesis Proclaimed Association

Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History

 <http://www.genesisproclaimed.org> www.genesisproclaimed.org

-----Original Message-----
From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
Behalf Of Michael Roberts
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2007 4:18 AM
To: Dick Fischer; ASA
Subject: Re: [asa] Edinburgh mtg--Alexander

In response to Dick Fischer's comments about the image of God in humans.

How do you decide who has the Image of God and who does not? What about
those who commit atrocities in war, whether the execution of Allied
soldiers in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944 or My Lai?

Have Ken Ham or PZMyers got the Image of God? Stalin, Bresnev or
Gorbachev?

I am afraid you are speaking rank nonsense. All Christian teaching as
stemming from the Bible teaches that all humans without exception are in
the Image of God, and because of sin that is distorted.

The Image of God brings out the absolute God-given value of every human
being and their responsibility before God. It is distorted not removed
by sin and all who read this have their Image of God distorted by their
sin. Only through Christ the perfect Image of God can our distorted
Image be straightened out.

The logic of your position is that we can see as subhuman those we
consider not to have the Image of God, and thus exterminate them as dear
Adolf got rid of Jews, Poles and Slavs.

Think again Dick, it is more important to see every human being however
awful as in the Image and Likeness of God than trying to locate Adam in
9678BC.

Your beliefs are very scary indeed and I prefer both Ken Ham's and
Bishop Spong's

I am appalled

Michael

dick Fischer wrote;

On the other, other hand, if every hominid who breathed air in the last
million years is in God's image then it includes Jeffrey Dahmer, the
Boston strangler, Osama Bin Laden, and other characters of dubious
reputation. Somehow I can't bring myself to believe that when Paul told
us Christ was in the image of God that he thought it lumped him in with
pedophiles and axe murderers. Certainly it is a category more esteemed
than that.

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Received on Sat Sep 1 16:08:07 2007