The very first chapter of Genesis has God saying, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Gn 1:26). Mankind being made in the image of God is commonly referred to by the Latin phrase imago Dei. But what does being made in the image of God mean, and does being made in the image of God mean the same thing as being made in the likeness of God? Theologians have widely varying opinions on these questions.
In terms of image and likeness, most theologians understand them as being used by Scripture synonymously with regards to the creation of man. Some, however, understand image to refer to the body and likeness to the soul. Others understand that image refers to intellectual capacity and likeness to moral capacity. Still other understand that image refers to the innate nature of man and that likeness refers to attributes that are supernaturally added. This book, however, takes the majority view that being made in the image of God and being made in the likeness of God mean precisely the same thing.
There are different possibilities for human attributes that are like those of God. First, this could be an attribute that God created in Adam and Eve that current man no longer has. Second, it could be an attribute that God created in Adam and Eve that current man has but in a corrupted form. Third, it could be an attribute that God created in Adam and Eve that current man has in the same form.
The first created people are said by God to be very good. This is generally understood to mean that Adam and Eve, before the Fall, were righteous in the eyes of God. As God is righteous so were the first created people. This “original righteousness” means that Adam and Eve were not morally neutral creatures. Rather, they were good and holy and in the moral likeness of God. This original righteousness was lost in the Fall and is no longer characteristic of unsaved people. After the fall, positional righteousness before God is only restored through trust in the redemptive power of Christ.
Besides original righteousness, most theologians include communicable attributes in how mankind is made in the image of God. This includes the power to reason, the power to love, moral awareness, and free will. Also typically included is the spiritual nature of mankind including the immortal nature of the soul.
Original righteousness was lost due to the Fall, but opinions vary as to its impact on other God-like aspects of man. Some believe that the Fall corrupted all of our divine Godlikeness. The view is that we can no longer reason or love or make moral choices as well as mankind could prior to the Fall. Others have the view that our Godlikeness has always been an imperfect version of what is perfect in God. God loves perfectly and we love imperfectly. God reasons perfectly and we reason imperfectly. Both positions can be biblically defended, but Scripture does specify the impact of the Fall (Gn 3:16-21) and does not mention any diminishment of communicable attributes. Some also maintain that man’s dominion over the lower animals should be included in how we are created in God’s image, but Scripture does not specifically address this issue.
This section concludes by emphasizing the theological importance of this topic. Louis Berkhof writes, “The doctrine of the image of God in man is of the greatest importance in theology, for that image is the expression of that which is most distinctive in man and in his relation to God. The fact that man is the image of God distinguishes him from the animal and from every other creature.”[i]
[i] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, Eastford, CT: Martino Fine Books, 1941: 206.
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