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Image of God
Image of God. According to Gen. 1: 26 f., man was made in the image and after the likeness of God. Some of the Fathers regarded the ‘image’ as referring to man's original condition and ‘likeness’ to his final state of glory; others made no such distinction. The Fall involved either the loss of the ‘likeness’ or damage to, or destruction of, the ‘image’. For all Baptism was seen as an indispensable step in the restoration of the image-likeness. In what the image consists was disputed; most located it in human free will. The 16th cent. Reformers expressed their doctrine of man's total depravity by asserting that the image was utterly lost as a result of the Fall.
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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Image of God." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Image of God." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-ImageofGod.html E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Image of God." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-ImageofGod.html |
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image of God
image of God The term in Gen. 1: 26–27 and 9: 6 for the likeness of human beings to their Creator. It is both male and female persons who possess this image of God and are therefore together ‘to be fruitful and multiply’ (Gen. 1: 28), reflecting the creative activity of God. In the NT it is Christ who is the perfect image of God (2 Cor. 4: 4; Phil. 2: 6). In Catholic theology it is held that the image was obscured, but not lost, in the Fall; it is regarded, for example, as an intellectual quality of the soul. But in much Reformed theology it is argued that the image was destroyed utterly, and moral responsibility with it. Truth about God and his will can therefore only be known by revelation.
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Cite this article
W. R. F. BROWNING. "image of God." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. W. R. F. BROWNING. "image of God." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-imageofGod.html W. R. F. BROWNING. "image of God." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-imageofGod.html |
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