What Is Being In God's Image?

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#1
Lit
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The bible tells us that man was created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27), yet something must have happened to man's reflecting image, perhaps in the fall, because when we get to the NT there's an obvious emphasis about 'putting on the new man' and 'becoming a new creation' (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10), and that Jesus himself is the exact image of God (2nd Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3). Considering we aren't all children of God (John 1:12-13), hence needing to be born from above (John 3:3), our image in its current state must be askewed in some capacity.

Something to also keep in mind is that man is spirit, soul and body (1st Thessalonians 5:23) and it is the Holy Spirit that is the promise in the Church Age (Acts 1:8), and not the Holy Soul or the Holy Body. Those two parts of man are apparently still alive, but living in the dark (Matthew 7:13; Matthew 10:28).

What does being in the image and likeness of God mean to you and how much should we consider ourselves to still be in his image?
#2
Stephen
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@Lit
What does being in the image and likeness of God mean to you?

Very much human.

and how much should we consider ourselves to still be in his image?

Once a human always a human.


#3
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The bible tells us.

Ummmmmm.   Incorrect. 

But i read on. 
Then You droped like 10 maybe 15 scriptures  in a row down , so i was like. 
Maybe he is right. 
MAYBE  just maybe , the bible does done tellls him.

Very well played.
 


And to answer your question.  
I can only assume that God looked like a human. 
I look like a human.
So God looked like me. 
Oh and Gerald down the road. 
He looked like a man.
Just a bloke is what i am trying to say.  
Not a chick. 
A dude. 

And i want to say , yes.
A circumcised penis. 
For this point brings up the start of my questioning.

Good game.
Good game.  


#4
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That's  only if  God is not jesus /God.
Gods a old dude. Grey long hair.
Jesus is a hippy looking bloke. 

By God do you mean.    jesus dad.?
To word it better. 
Jesus was gods begotten son stuff. 
 
So gods got like a kid ? 
No that still doesn't sound right.  

Pass.

  
#5
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Sorry i have to ask to clarify what do you mean by  "God"

I mean. He has been known to appear in the form of a flaming bush.  
I'm not quite sure what thats all about. But yeah.   A flaming bush.  
#6
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@Lit
This question from that passage is often times taken too seriously, and perhaps by some too literally. Some, as in the latter, think there is some literal rendering as if to say we "look" like God, or that God is or has Human appearance. That is perhaps the most immature of the few ways it can be interpreted. The former (too seriously) tend to think there is some deep meaning or unanswered questions about it, perhaps a reference to many other passages.

I don't think either of the above are of any pertinence. I think it was just meant to mean we have similar nature to God, a familiarity between whatever God is and what we are. The common ground between us as a soul and the nature of God as another Soul. Soul being the common denominator.... we are made in the image (after the nature) of God, God is a conscious Soul and so are we.

The "image" of God need not to be taken in any particular way really. It simply means there is something conversant about what God possesses and something man possesses. You may ask for an example of what I mean here, something direct yet not that specific.....
Well, I could say God is a conscious sentience, so are we. God is an intelligence of types and so are we. God is thoughtful, so are we. God is creative and so are we. God is desirous and so are we.....we are made in the very likeness of God's nature (characteristics).




#7
zedvictor4
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@Lit
Being in GODS image.

Means GODS being in our image.

After all, it was us that came up with the idea in the first place.

It's not a chicken and egg conundrum.
#8
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@zedvictor4
It's not a chicken and egg conundrum.

Only we know which came first,, Vic lad.
#9
Polytheist-Witch
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The ol' atheist claim that they were present during the creation of every single religion. How old are they? Older than those guys in the Bible. Maybe that's why they're so bitter they're just sick and tired of being alive for thousands of years.
#10
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@Polytheist-Witch
One assumes that to become a theist, one must have previously been an atheist Poly.

Sort of a logical progression, as it were.


And as for bitterness....Have you ever heard the expression.....The pot calling the kettle black.
#11
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@Lit
We are not being God's image. We have been made in the image and likeness of God. Quite different concepts. 

One is attached to the chain of being concept-  we are all on our way to becoming God - just evolving or becoming in some way. 

Christianity - along with the Jewish religion - teaches that Humanity is entirely separate from God. We are not becoming gods. We do not evolve to become god. 

Yes, we are called the children of God, not because we are biologically related. Not that we are becoming like him. Rather that we are adopted covenantaly into his family. 

As humans - not as little gods.  

I will wait for someone to remind me of Jesus' words, "we are all gods".  Yet the meaning there is not of little gods. It has quite a different meaning. 
#12
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@Tradesecret
Exactly Trade.

It can mean anything one wants it to mean.

Though I'm not sure that Jesus spoke in English.


And as I keep reiterating:

Jesus may or may not have been a real person, though I concede that it is possible that there was a real person who did fit the bill.

Nonetheless, we have no way of knowing what said person might have uttered.

All that we have is second, third, fourth, fifth hand accounts, variously recorded and translated, eventually into English.

And all subject to the vagaries of time and the tendency of humans to exaggerate.
#13
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@zedvictor4
Hi Zed,

there is very little dissent these days about whether Jesus live or existed.  A few people who believe any conspiracy about the place and who don't mind visiting a rabbit hole most days of the week might suggest Jesus is made up. But very few people deny it anymore. The evidence for his existence is very strong - and even more so compared to many historical figures. 

As for his words,  there is more evidence to support what he said than Julius Caesar or Aristotle.  First hand second hand or third hand????

No one seriously expects an original to be still extant.  In fact if one was claimed it would be less genuine that later copies.  

As for being made in the image and likeness of God, I don't think this is vague or relative at all. I just am making the point that it can be distinguished from the ordinary chain of being theories.   Those theories which incidentally are the ones most disputed - are not Christian. 

Christianity, like the Jews before it - refuted that position as well.  The Jews and the Christians fully understood most people make their own gods up. This is what distinguished the Jews and the Christians in their own position.   

Not that anyone up above has brought that to our attention.  I expect most universities and book clubs ignore this distinction or as is more likely are ignorant of it. 




#14
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@Tradesecret
Good Morning Trade.

Dart quiet at the moment.

So allowing  you the benefit of my wisdom.


I would suggest, that since we started exchanging data on Debateart. We have both modified and relaxed our approach to the subject of religion and associated philosophy.

Would you agree?

I am certainly more certain that it is impossible to be certain of anything.

And you seem to be more openminded,  and as a consequence, your narrative output appears to be less certain.


Have a nice day.
#15
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LOL
#16
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@Polytheist-Witch
You appear to have missed this , Witch.



#17
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@zedvictor4
Good Morning Trade.

Dart quiet at the moment.

So allowing  you the benefit of my wisdom.


I would suggest, that since we started exchanging data on Debateart. We have both modified and relaxed our approach to the subject of religion and associated philosophy.

Would you agree?

I am certainly more certain that it is impossible to be certain of anything.

And you seem to be more openminded,  and as a consequence, your narrative output appears to be less certain.


Have a nice day.

Hi back to Zed.  Hmmm

I think that I have seen you opening your eyes to things - you had previously written off.

Me - I am a creature who is constantly learning.  I am not one of those people who think they know it all. 

Yet there are things of which I am certain.  My covenantal understanding of the world allows me to hold both absolutely and flexibility. 

The One and the Many.   I would be interested to understand the epistemology of how you can move from one to the other in a consistent manner. 


#18
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@Tradesecret
I regard and assess data and output as I see fit.
#19
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@zedvictor4
I regard and assess data and output as I see fit.
Of course you do.  Conditioned as you - you must.  

The telling thing to ask though is - what is the measure by which you think something is "fit"? 
#20
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@Tradesecret
The measure can only be my database and how it manages information.

Everything at some point must be input and assessed.
#21
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@Lit
The bible tells us that man was created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27), yet something must have happened to man's reflecting image, perhaps in the fall, because when we get to the NT there's an obvious emphasis about 'putting on the new man' and 'becoming a new creation' (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10), and that Jesus himself is the exact image of God (2nd Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3). Considering we aren't all children of God (John 1:12-13), hence needing to be born from above (John 3:3), our image in its current state must be askewed in some capacity.

Something to also keep in mind is that man is spirit, soul and body (1st Thessalonians 5:23) and it is the Holy Spirit that is the promise in the Church Age (Acts 1:8), and not the Holy Soul or the Holy Body. Those two parts of man are apparently still alive, but living in the dark (Matthew 7:13; Matthew 10:28).

What does being in the image and likeness of God mean to you and how much should we consider ourselves to still be in his image?
Was man created in the likeness of God, or was God created in the likeness of man from a bygone age? Would you worship a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, filicidal, genocidal, infanticidal god? Reform, reform, reform.
#22
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@zedvictor4
The measure can only be my database and how it manages information.

Everything at some point must be input and assessed.
that makes no sense. 

A measure can't be a database.  A database contains information. Yet that is not a measure. It is just information. How is it managed? What are its values and priorities? What is its understanding of right and wrong? And correct and incorrect? 

Inputs can only be assessed by some kind of measure.  What is that measure?   
#23
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@Lit
"What does being in the image and likeness of God mean to you and how much should we consider ourselves to still be in his image?"

Here is what a Gnostic Christian  names his god.

Modern Gnostic Christians name our god "I am", and yes, we do mean ourselves.

You are your controller. I am mine. You represent and present whatever mind picture you have of your God or ideal human, and so do I.

The name "I Am" you might see as meaning something like, --- I think I have grown up thanks to having forced my apotheosis through Gnosis and meditation and “I am”, represents the best rules and laws that we have found to live by.

In Gnostic Christianity, we follow the Christian tradition that Christians have forgotten that they are to do. That is, become brethren to Jesus.

That is why some say that the only good Christian is a Gnostic Christian.

Here is the real way to salvation that Jesus taught.

Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
   
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Allan Watts explain those quotes in detail. 
Alan Watts - On The Book of Eli - YouTube

Joseph Campbell shows the same esoteric ecumenist idea in this link. 
On Becoming an Adult - YouTube

The bible just plainly says to put away the things of children. The supernatural and literal reading of myths.

Regards
DL

251 days later

#24
Shila
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@Lit
Being created in Gods image may not be very complementary when you consider the first humans came from Africa.