Image of God rev 0822023

Table of Contents I. PRIMARY TEXTS 2 II. THREE WORDS FOR IMAGE OR LIKENESS 2 III. BASIC LOGIC 3 IV. SECONDARY TEXTS 9 V. CONCLUSION 12 We are the image and likeness of God, But God is not the image and likeness of us. I. PRIMARY TEXTS Genesis 1:1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. *Genesis 1:26-27 (NLT) 26 Then God said, "Let us make human beings [Adam] in our image [צלם], to be like [דמות] us [or in our likeness]. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground." 27 So God created human beings [Adam] in his own image. In the image of God, he created them; male and female he created them. II. THREE WORDS FOR IMAGE OR LIKENESS A. צלם: Definition image images (of tumors, mice, heathen gods) image, likeness (of resemblance) mere, empty, image, semblance (fig.) B. דמות: Definition likeness, similitude adv in the likeness of, like as C. ראה: Definition to see to appear appearance sighting James Barr has suggested that the key to understanding the meaning of the words image (A. צלם tselem) and likeness (B. דמות damuwth) is to be found in the synonym the writer chose not to use. One such common synonym was the Hebrew word ra'eh (C. ראה), which is usually translated into English as "to see" or "to look." Thus Barr suggest that the writer chose to use the words "image" and "likeness" because he did not want the reader or hearer to think that God could be seen with the naked eye. Barr believes that the writer wanted his readers to understand that while humanity was patterned after God, God could not be seen in that pattern. Humans could never create an image of God by simply looking at humanity itself. III. BASIC LOGIC In order to correctly interpret the Biblical text in a rational and reasonable manner, we need to correctly apply logic, syntax, and semantics. What follows is a review of the basic concepts and how the same applies to the Biblical text above. A. Equivalents 1. The use of the "be" verb. a. Floyd Knight is a minister. Floyd ≠ Minister (Floyd is not just a minister.) b. Floyd Knight is a father. Floyd ≠ Father (Floyd is not just a Father.) c. Floyd Knight is a husband. Floyd ≠ Husband (Floyd is not just a husband) When using the "be" verb, we need to realize that "be" [is, are] does not mean "equals to." The 'be' verbs are compliments that simply give more information about the subject. It reveals some characteristic, attribute, state or the identity of the subject. In the above examples, the subject is Floyd Knight. Floyd Knight is a minister, father, husband, brother, uncle, son, cousin, overweight, etc. Floyd Knight is more than just one of those things. Floyd Knight is more than any of those things for which he is being described. 2. The use of mathematical logic: factors a. Factors of 12 6 and 2 are factors of 12 (2 x 6 = 12), but they are not all of the factors. Factors of 12 = 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12 3. How does this work with theology? a. Theology: the study (-logy) of God (Theo) The phrase "God is Love" does not mean that God and Love are equal [God = Love] or interchangeable. God is also Justice, Wisdom, All Power, All Knowing, All Present, etc. Love is only one attribute of God. Consequently, God is inclusive of (includes) Love; God is greater than and more than Love. We would write this mathematically as God > Love; Love < God. So that it is understood that the phrase "God is Love" ≠ [does not equal or is not equivalent to] "Love is God." Or to put it another way, Love, Justice, Omnipotence (that is, All-powerful quality of God), and Mercy are characteristics of God. Like 1 and 2 are factors of 12 (but are not all of the factors of 12), in the same way Love, Justice, Omnipotence, and Mercy are all characteristics of God. b. Theological Anthropology (Theological Study (-logy) of Humanity (anthrop-) in relationship to God) The phrase "God created humanity in his image and likeness" does not mean that humanity's image or likeness is the exact representation of who God is. Like the attribute Love, humanity's likeness is just one part of who God is. God's nature is inclusive of humanity's nature or likeness; but humanity's nature is not inclusive of God likeness or glory. Humanity's nature (likeness or image) is just one factor of God's nature just as the number "6" is just one of the six factors of 12: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12. If we take (1) God and (2) humanity as the images of God, we could write this using mathematical symbols: God's nature or glory > [is greater than] humanity's nature or likeness. Humanity's nature < [is less than] God's nature. Humanity as the Images of God ≠ [is not equal to] God's nature or glory. B. Understanding and Applying Five Types of Logical Operators and Solutions One of the most frequent errors in reading and especially in theological interpretation is to impose from the start the narrowest operator on the text (i.e., item "a" below). This is an error. One should always read and apply all of the operators and choose the operator or solution that best match the context through the process of elimination. The five operators or solutions are listed below. a. Either/Or [Discounting] b. Neither/Nor c. Blended and Mixed [Harmonizing] d. Both/And [Acceptance of Paradoxes] e. No solution is available at present (1 Co. 13:9-12) 1. Two Examples of the First Four of the Five Types of Operators and Solutions Red versus White Suppose two people said they saw the same person at the same location and at the same date and time, but one said that the person they were describing showed them something red while the other said they showed them something white. What are the possible answers or solutions? Some will immediately state that there is only one solution, that is, an either/or [often called the excluded middle] solution. Either the object was red, or the object was white, but not both. This could be a mistake, however. See some of the other possible realities provided by other operators. Possible Answers/Solutions: a. Either/Or i Red or ii. White, but not both b. Neither Red nor White, but Blue and Green c. Blended and Mixed: Pink d. Both/And i.. Reversible (Red on one side and White on the other) ii. Red and White Plaid iii. Red with White Stripes iv. White with Red Stripes v. Alternating Color Blocking Pattern of Reds and Whites vi. Visibly Red and White at the same time depending on one's angle of vision or Gestalt (e.g., holograms on Visa Cards) God Hates Verses Loves Sinners (Ps 5:5-6, Pr. 6:16-19 & Pr. 11:20 versus John 3:16 & 1 John 4:10, 11 19) The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors. Ps 5:5-6 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10 Possible Answers/Solutions: a. Either/Or i. God Loves Sinners or ii. God Hates Sinners, but not both. b. God Neither Loves nor Hates; the terms are used metaphorically to describe God's holiness and justice and God's mercy and grace towards us. c. Blended or Mixed: God Loves the Sinner but Hates the Sin. d. Both/And i. God Hates and Loves at Alternating Times ii. God Half Hates and Half Loves Us iii. God Hates/Hated Us, but Christ Has Loved Us iv. God Fully Hates/Hated and Fully Loves/Loved Us at the Same Time (Compare this option with the doctrine of the incarnation-Jesus as being fully human and fully divine.) In both of the above examples, we need to know more information before we can determine which logical operators we should use to logically derive the right conclusion. To assume that the logical answer is operator "a" with its "either/Or" solution is too restrictive and often leads to the wrong conclusion. 2. Two Examples of the last of the Five Types of Operators and Solutions: e. No Solution Available at Present (1 Co. 13:9-12) For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. . .. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Co. 13:9, 12) i. Need additional information Calculating Future Value: All of the below are needed to calculate Future Value. If you do not have all of the values, you will get an error message on your calculator. (Try it for yourself.) N of Payments $ of Payments Present Value Interest Rate Future Value ii. Need Additional Developmental/Cognitive Abilities: (Negative Integers and First Graders) To a first grader, 5-8 = 0, not -3. For first graders the problem is concrete, not abstract: e.g., "If you have only five apples and ate all five plus wanted to eat three more, how many would you have left to eat? Zero apples. Why? Because once you have eaten all the apples there would be no apples left. Hence zero. To a first grader, you cannot eat what you don't have. You cannot eat imaginary apples. We know that young children don't have the capacity to think abstractly, but we expect adults to have such ability! 3. How Do the Five Standard Logical Solutions Apply to Our Question About Humanity Being Made in the Image of God? a. Either/Or [Discounting] b. Neither/Nor c. Blended and Mixed [Harmonizing] d. Both/And [Acceptance of Paradoxes] e. No solution is available at present (1 Co. 13:9-12) The Answer: It could be "d" and/or "e." d. Paradox: We are the image and likeness and reflection of God, but God is not the image and likeness and reflection of humanity. e. No solution or No full solution is available at present When these two logical operators (i.e., "d" and "e") are combined with our discussion regarding the use of the "be" verb above as not meaning "equal to or equivalent to," the meaning of the "image of God" in Genesis becomes clearer. However, we must first introduce one additional key concept. C. Models and Images of Object Are Not Always Two-Way Representations. It is very important to understand how models, metaphors, representations, and images work visually and as used in language. Like in the use of the "be" verb, we are not talking about equivalencies. Models and images are not intrinsically two-way representations of what they reflect. The following three examples are illustrations of this principle. 1. Dress Patterns for Girls and Women As most women-and I dare say men-will be able to testify that one cannot take a dress pattern designed for a little girl, increase its proportion, and expect to have a proper dress pattern for a mature woman. For although little girls are smaller and younger versions of adult women, women and little girls are built differently. Women and little girls have different shapes and figures. As far as shape goes, little girls are closer to the shape of little boys than of grown women. 2. Cabbage Patch Dolls and Toy Models and Representations Do you remember a decade or so back when there were these dolls called "Cabbage Patch Dolls?" These dolls were created in the image of humanity. They were supposed to be anatomically correct as to their size, dimension, and proportion. While the Cabbage Patch dolls were anatomically correct images of human infants, we would not expect medical students to study the construction of the Cabbage Patch Dolls to pass their anatomy and physiology classes. Neither would we trust surgeons who had trained only on Cabbage Patch dolls to practice their craft on real people. It should go without saying that while Cabbage Patch dolls are images of humankind, humankind is not the image of Cabbage Patch dolls. The same can be said for exact model cars, trains, and planes. Just because someone can build and fly a model plane, train or car, does not automatically qualify them for flying or building a real plane, being a real train engineer or train mechanic, or being a real car driver or car mechanic. Why? Models are only helpful if we know the real-life objects upon which they are modeled. Cabbage Patch Dolls, toy models and other representations are not two-way images or representations. 3. Moonlight as the Reflection of the Sun If it was possible for us to live on a world where we never saw the sun and where the only light we knew other than the stars was the light from the moon and the planets reflecting the rays of the sun (or we lived in such a parallel universe), we would find it hard to extrapolate the size and/or composition of the sun. We would be blind to its relative size and shape and energy. In the same way, we humans, who are finite, are also blind to the size and composition of God, who is infinite and transcendent. To put it poetically, just as the moonlight is the reflection of the sun's light; the divine image or likeness or glory of humanity is but a reflection of the image, likeness, and glory of the Son. The light of the moon is but a reflection of the light of the sun while humanity is just an image or reflection of the likeness of the Son's image. What we are does not allow us to know "who" or "what" God is. We know some finite things about God, but only enough to know ourselves better; we don't know enough to know God because our knowledge is limited and finite while God is infinite and omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. 4. Conclusion Images, therefore, are sometimes only one-way vehicles of expression. If we do not have knowledge of the original object, we are unable to fathom what are the similarities and dissimilarities. If we know the futility of thinking that a Cabbage Patch doll allows us to understand the inner workings of the human anatomy and physiology, why would we think that we can fathom and know God, who we have not seen, by simply looking at ourselves who are but an image of God? Like the Cabbage Patch Dolls, toy models and representations, we are not two-way representations; we are not exact representations. We are creatures, who are finite, temporal, space particular, with limited, finite mental capacity. God, on the other hand, is the Creator, who is infinite, transcendent, beyond time and space, and omniscient. Who we are and what we are do not allow us to know "who" or "what" God is. This brings us to a related proposition, namely that the infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, and transcendent God cannot be known or discovered by finite, temporal, creatures with limited intelligence. A being that is infinite and transcendent must make some type of accommodation and must choose to reveal a finite part of its infinite nature and will in a finite manner so that our finite minds are able to comprehend in a finite way God's infinite and divine nature. In short, God must choose to reveal a finite part of God's divinity and accommodate such revelation to be recognized by our finite and temporal minds. IV. SECONDARY TEXTS Although humans are created in the image of God, God has told us not to create images of the divine based on our likeness or of other things created by God. These secondary texts are in keeping with the presentation above. A. God Tells Us Not to Make Images of Him Base On What God Has Created. We are also given examples of people who refused to worship any human images. Exodus 20:3-6 (NLT) 3 "You must not have any other god but me. 4 "You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. Jeremiah 10: (NLT) Daniel 6 (Daniel and the Lion's Den) Acts 17:24-31 24"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' 29"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone-an image made by man's design and skill. 30In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." B. God Tells Us Why We Should Not Make Images of Him because we have not seen the Lord's form. (Compare this with James Barr's observation of the writer of Genesis 1 refusal to use ראה.) Deuteronomy 4:15-19 (NLT) 15 "But be very careful! You did not see the Lord's form on the day he spoke to you from the heart of the fire at Mount Sinai. 16 So do not corrupt yourselves by making an idol in any form-whether of a man or a woman, 17 an animal on the ground, a bird in the sky, 18 a small animal that scurries along the ground, or a fish in the deepest sea. 19 And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars-all the forces of heaven-don't be seduced into worshiping them. The Lord your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth. John 6:45-46 45 As it is written in the Scriptures, 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.) C. We Are Told that God Ways Can Not Be Fathom Isaiah 40: 12 Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? 13 Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? 14 Has the LORD ever needed anyone's advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice? 15 No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand. 16 All the wood in Lebanon's forests and all Lebanon's animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God. 17 The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing- mere emptiness and froth. 18 To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him? 19 Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains? 20 Or if people are too poor for that, they might at least choose wood that won't decay and a skilled craftsman to carve an image that won't fall down! 21 Haven't you heard? Don't you understand? Are you deaf to the words of God- the words he gave before the world began? Are you so ignorant? 22 God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. 23 He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing. 24 They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff. 25 "To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One. 26 Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing. 27 O Jacob, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? 28 Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. Job 37:23a: The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power. D. God is Spirit, that is, God is not of part the created order; God is Invisible and Transcendent. Consequently, God must be worshipped as an invisible and transcendent Spirit. John 4:20-24 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." 21Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." Romans 1:18-25 (NIV) 18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen. V. CONCLUSION If humans are not created in the literal and physical "Image of God," what does the phrase refer? I prefer to take a close reading of Genesis 1. I prefer to let Genesis 1 tell us what the answer is. Genesis 1:1 - 2:3 tells us some interesting things. The key is to look at Genesis 1:1 - 2:3 wholistically and notice the activity and/or authority of God and the activity and authority of those to whom God has delegated tasks or actions. In other words, who are the other actors, governors, administrators, or magistrates in this creation drama? Who are the actors that rule or govern? God creates, orders, and governs the universe. Genesis 1-2:3 God divides his universe into two districts. Genesis 1:6-7 The Sun and Moon were created to govern the upper district. Genesis 1:14-19 Sun to govern the day (16a) Moon to govern the night (16b) Both to separate the light from the darkness (18) To mark the [order of] seasons, days, and years (14) Male and Female were created to govern the lower district: Genesis 1:26-28 reign over verse 26b created in the image of God verse 27 be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth verses 28b-28 c govern [i.e., subdue] the earth verse 28c reign over verse 28d I want you to notice several things going on in these verses. 1. The first is that there are only five entities or actors that are listed as Rulers: a. God, who is the creator and ruler over all things b. The Sun and the Moon who command to rule over the day and night in the upper realm and to control the times and seasons, etc. c. The Human Male and Female who are command to rule over all things and spaces under the heavens. There are no other actors who are rulers and managers. The only other entities that are addressed are the animals, birds, and insects who are told to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. However, only five actors have authority to rule or govern: God, Sun, Moon, Male and Female. 2. The Overall Structure of Genesis 1. When we look closely, we see that there are two major steps or phrases in creation divided into 7 days. a) Step One: In the first phase or step, we have God who creates and governs all things from day one through four. b) Step Two: i. On day four, after creating the stars, sun, and moon, God appoints the Sun and Moon to Govern the Upper District ii. On day six, God appoints humans to Govern the Lower District 3. How the Imago Dei (or Image of God) Passages are Rhetorically Structured a) First, I want you to look at how the Imago Dei or Image of God passages are sandwiched within the rule and subdue commands of God. b) Second, I want you to look at the plural pronouns in verse 27. We stated that there are only five actors: God, Sun, Moon, Male, and Female. Verse 1:27 says let us create humanity in our image, in our likeness. The only entities that have governing authority in the preceding passages that are explicitly listed are 1. God, who creates and governs the whole universe, and 2. the Sun and Moon, who are God's magistrates in the upper district. Consequently, the only image or likeness that can be deduced explicitly from these passages are the images of God creating, ordering, and ruling the universe and that of the Sun and Moon governing the heavens, times, and seasons.1 Humanity, who is appointed as governors over the lower district, is created in the likeness of God to rule and have authority like God's other appointed magistrates: the Sun and the Moon. All three have similar attributes: ruling and ordering. God is the Creator and Supreme King and Ruler of the universe; He orders and rules over all of creation. However, God has divided his realm horizontally into two distinct vertical districts (the upper heaven and lower earth) and divided his realm vertically into two distinct horizontal districts (a. western evening or night and b. eastern morning or day). The two horizontal districts that are inclusive of the upper heaven and lower earth are governed by the Moon (western-evening) and the Sun (eastern--morning); they are to control the cycle of darkness and light. The first or upper vertical district (the heavens or upper expanse) are likewise ruled by these same two appointed magistrates. They are to control the movement of the stars through the heavens and the governing of the seasons. In the second or lower vertical district (Earth), God has assigned two different deputies or governors to be stewards: male and female humans. Notice that the upper vertical district (the heavens) and horizontal districts (evening and morning) had already been ordered, populated, and subdued by God before God turned over their administration to the Sun and Moon. Not so in the lower vertical district, where humanity must populate and subdue the same. What are the implications? First, humanity's rule is not only subordinated to God's rule, but partially to the Sun's and Moon's rule because the sun and moon control the daily cycle of morning and evening and also the yearly cycle of planting and harvesting, sowing and reaping. Humanity must order the earth to produce its crops according to the time set by God and administered by the Sun and Moon. Humanity must submit to the daily and seasonal cycles as governed by the upper district magistrates, i.e. the Sun and the Moon. Second, unlike the heavens which have already been ordered and populated by God, God has left the population and the subduing of the earth up to humanity. We are commanded like the sun and moon to rule over our district as well as given three blessings [not commands] that the sun and moon did not receive. The first blessing was to be fruitful. The sun and moon are not blessed to produce more of their kind-celestial lights; humanity, however, is so blessed. The second blessing is to populate the earth. This refers to all the subjects on and under the earth and in the sea: humanity, the animals, and the vegetation. The third blessing is to subdue or bring order to the earth. We have been blessed with the freedom to decide what are the best habitats and population densities of humans, animals, and vegetation. This includes more than human politics, law, and economics; this blessing includes planning and managing animal husbandry, agronomy, and the environment writ large. These blessings show us how God has blessed us to husband the plants and animals, manage and steward the environment, and plan and order human society. God has blessed us to be gardeners and farmers; herdsmen and breeders; city, rural and regional planners; environmental and natural resource developers and conservators. Such creative blessings and tasks were not given to the Sun and Moon, whose stars were already order and populated and tuned for the seasons. What does a deep and close reading of this passage tell us? WE HAVE ARTISTIC and OPEN-ENDED FREEDOM to rule, govern, design, and populate the earth. It tells us that we have creative and imaginative characteristics that we share only with God. Whereas the sun and moon's realms have been micro-managed by God; in the earthly and human realm God has simply delegated that divine authority to us. God has given humanity the freedom to analyze and study, imagine, and conceive, and to innovative and to rule the Earth. God has displayed "Principle-centered" leadership for the earthly realm. Notwithstanding this genuine gift, our creativity is limited. God can imaginatively create and order various kinds of creation; we can only manipulate what God has already created and increase the fruitfulness of a created genre or type: more robust and fruitful crops according to its kind and more robust and manageable livestock, hatcheries, and fisheries according to their kinds. For example, we have domesticated oxen, horses, birds, and fish and repopulated them across the globe; we have also created hybrids of vegetables and grain and transplanted them to new regions of the earth. Unfortunately, while God's rule is ultimately perfect and good, and while the sun's and the moon's rule have the precision and orderliness of a finely crafted and expensive Swiss timepiece, humanity's rule over the lower district has yet to be subdued and ordered. Humanity was blessed and, thereby, commanded, by God to populate and to subdue the earth, that is, to bring or force it into submission and order, sometime in the future. As a result, unlike the sun and moon which were handed an already populated dominion and an already pre-established and pre-determined daily and seasonal order, humans had to actively, volitionally, and imaginatively populate their dominion and subdue and order their dominion. They had creative license to work out the details independently, following God's overall design, delegative processes, and the daily and yearly cycles of time. In short, the "Image of God" does not refer to physical characteristics; but to the ability to govern and to creatively imagine, plan, and order the earth. The "Image of God" refers to these characteristics which are not visible objects that one sees with one's eyes; but which one learns from studying and obeying God's Word and observing God's handiwork in creation. In the same manner, it is only by ordering the world and society aright, including ordering our own individual lives aright, that we observe our divine images and determine indirectly whether we have exercised our divine image. (For more on this latter thought, see the classical arguments for a natural, Christian political philosophy or theology.) 1 Of course, a wider pragmatic reading would involve the wider, contextualization of the ancient near east and the fact that the readers may have had a pragmatic understanding of "us/our/we" as referring to a divine council/court. We could further widen the social-cultural-linguistic context to include Old Testament theological or Old Testament canonical readings of the same, then (1) a Jewish, Roman period (pre-Rabbinic) and (2) a New Testament reading of the same, and finally post-reformation, Jewish or Christian systematic reading. Each of those ever-widening pragmatic contexts would present new possibilities for the "us/our/we" in the passage. However, our first task and the task at hand is narrower, a deep reading and analysis of the actual discourse as it has come down to us. Other studies will look at how the number of readings increase as we widen the scope of probable pragmatic contexts from a social-linguistic and social-communicative aspect. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ Image of God: Copyright (c) 1988, 2009, 2016 by Floyd Knight. All Rights Reserved. Page 7 of 14