A THEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE IMAGE OF GOD IN MAN (IMAGO DEI) AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE TO THE CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN
Keywords:
God, Image of God, ManAbstract
This study is a theological examination of the image of God in man (Imago Dei) and its significance to the contemporary Christian. This is an examination of the essence and significance of the image of God in humankind. What is the uniqueness and special things that God input into humankind. It goes deep into the origin and source of the existence of humankind, that is how man was created by God, who is their creator. Man is a creature of God; they did not create themselves. Man was created in the image of God not image of any other creatures. The conclusion of the creation of man was done through breath of God, which form the basis for the uniqueness of man above all other creatures. Man is designed in the image of God, but man is not God. Man is not equal in anyway to God; hence, he is not God. The image of God in man is the actual regulator of man activities. It is this image of God in man that makes them to be a spiritual being, a rational/creative being, a volitional being, a responsible being, and a relational being. This study is from the theory of Anthropology/humanity in systematic theology. The method used is descriptive design method.
References
Athappilly, Sebastian. 1943. Mystery and Destiny of the Human Person: A Theological Anthropology
Berkoff, Louis. 2003. Systematic Theology, Carlisle, Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust,
Burns, J. Partout. (ed.) 1961. Theological Anthropology, Philadelphia: Fortress.
Eichrodt, Walter. 1967. Theology of the Old Testament, Vol. 2, Philadelphia: The Westminster Press.
Elwell A. Walter. 2001. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd ed., Grand Rapids: Baker House,
Erickson, Millard, 3rd ed. 1998. Christian Theology, Michigan: Grand Rapids.
Grudem, Wayne. 1994. Systematic Theology, Leicester: Intervarsity Press.
Anthony, Hoekema A. 1986. Created in God’s Image, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Lewis, R. Gordon and Demarest, A. Bruce, Integrative Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan.
Mackay, A., John. 1943. Heritage and Destiny, New York: Macmillan Company,
Moreland, J. P. and Cioshi, M. David. 1993. Christian Perspective on Being Human, U.S.A.: Baker House.
O’Connell, Matthew J. 1985. Anthropology in Theological Perspective, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Philadelphia: The Westminster.
Pittenger, W. Norman. 1964. The Christian Understanding of Human Nature. Philadelphia: Westminster Press.
Stagg, Frank. 1911. Polarities of Man’s Existence in Biblical Perspectives, Westminster Press: Philadelphia.
Stumph, Enoch Samuel. 1995. Socrates to Sartre’s, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1983. Auckland: William Benton, Publisher.
Epp, Theodore H. 1970. Why Do Christians Suffer? Lincoln: The Good News Broadcasting Association, Inc.
www.institute for faith, work and Economics, 19/11/2020
www.united church of God. Man in the Image of God
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2025 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, adaptation, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors are permitted to post their work online in institutional/disciplinary repositories or on their own websites. Pre-print versions posted online should include a citation and link to the final published version in Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication as soon as the issue is available; post-print versions (including the final publisher's PDF) should include a citation and link to the journal's website.
