Christian Pure

What Does Imago Dei Mean? Being Created in the Image of God

Christian Pure Team

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Summary

  • Imago Dei is Latin for “image of God,” and it comes from Genesis 1:26–27, where God makes humankind, male and female, in his image and likeness.
  • Behind those two words stand the Hebrew tselem (image) and demut (likeness), which Genesis uses again in 5:1–3 and 9:6.
  • Irenaeus and John of Damascus saw the image as given to all and the likeness as a growth in virtue, while Calvin read the two words as one idea.
  • Catholic teaching says sin wounded the image and Calvin and Luther said it was corrupted or lost, but all three traditions hold that Christ restores it.
  • The churches ground human dignity, the equal dignity of men and women and the ban on murder in the image of God (Genesis 9:6; James 3:9).

Imago Dei means the image of God, and Scripture says every one of us bears it. The Latin phrase comes from Genesis 1:26–27, where God creates human beings, male and female, in his image and likeness. The churches hold that it gives every person a dignity no other creature has. Then the New Testament gives the image a face. Paul calls Christ “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), so when we ask what God meant us to look…

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Bibliography (Click to show)
  • Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Genesis 1:26–28; 2:18; 5:1–3; 9:6; Psalm 8:4–5; 121:2; 139:13; Proverbs 14:31; Mark 16:9; Romans 8:29; 16:1; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 4:4; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 1:15; 3:10; Hebrews 1:3; James 3:9; 2 Peter 1:4). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
  • Latin Vulgate, Genesis 1:26–27. https://vulgate.org/ot/genesis_1.htm
  • Strong’s Hebrew 6754, tselem; 1823, demut; 5828, ezer, with the Brown-Driver-Briggs entries. Bible Hub. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6754.htm; https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1823.htm; https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5828.htm
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Paragraphs 355–373: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1B.HTM; paragraph 705: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P22.HTM; paragraphs 2270 and 2277: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Z.HTM; paragraph 2319: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P82.HTM
  • International Theological Commission. Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God. 2004. Paragraphs 8–10, 15, 17, 22, 25. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20040723_communion-stewardship_en.html
  • Irenaeus of Lyons. Against Heresies, book 5, chapter 6. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103506.htm
  • Athanasius of Alexandria. On the Incarnation of the Word, chapter 14. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 4. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2802.htm
  • Augustine of Hippo. On the Trinity, books 10 and 14. Translated by Arthur West Haddan. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 3. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/130110.htm; https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/130114.htm
  • John of Damascus. An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, book 2, chapter 12. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 9. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/33042.htm
  • Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion, book 1, chapter 15, sections 3–4. Translated by Henry Beveridge. Christian Classics Ethereal Library. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.iii.xvi.html
  • Luther, Martin. Luther on the Creation: A Critical and Devotional Commentary on Genesis, vol. 1. Edited by John Nicholas Lenker from Henry Cole’s translation. Minneapolis: Lutherans in All Lands, 1904. Project Gutenberg eBook no. 48193. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48193/48193-h/48193-h.htm
  • Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 10. Orthodox Presbyterian Church. https://www.opc.org/sc.html
  • Orthodox Church in America. The Orthodox Faith, vol. 1, “Man.” https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/doctrine-scripture/the-symbol-of-faith/man
  • Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America). “The Meaning of Theosis as the Goal of Christian Life.” https://www.tgoc.ut.goarch.org/spirituality.htm
  • Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. “The Danvers Statement.” 1987. https://cbmw.org/about/danvers-statement/
  • Christians for Biblical Equality. “Men, Women, and Biblical Equality.” https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/men-women-and-biblical-equality/
  • Southern Baptist Convention. The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), articles III and XV. https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/
  • United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Article 1. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
  • Pope Francis. Laudato Si’, paragraph 67. 24 May 2015. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html
  • Journal of Lutheran Ethics. “A Complex Position on Abortion: Access, Decision-making, and Legality.” 27 January 2023. Quotes the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America social statement Abortion (1991). https://learn.elca.org/jle/a-complex-position/

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