Genesis 1:26–28

Abstract

VERY EARLY IN OUR CHRISTIAN education, we learn that human beings are somehow special among all things created because, according to Genesis 1:26-28, we have been made in the image of God. Yet, this claim has puzzled theologians throughout the Church's history. What exactly does it mean to say that humans bear or reflect the image of God? In the past, theologians have suggested that the answer lies in discerning how we are different from the animals in creation. Perhaps it is our ability to reason, our spiritual nature, or our ability to make moral judgments that makes human beings like God. Other interpreters have looked specifically at Gen 1:26-28 and proposed that the theme of dominion as a task assigned to humanity by God provides the key to understanding what it means to live as a reflection of God. Coming directly from the text, this is an appealing explanation. However, it leaves us with the difficult task of determining how humans ought to exercise dominion. It leaves us with the task of deciding whether a particular method for ruling the earth most clearly reflects the divine will and, therefore, the divine image. In every age, these questions, in one form or another, assert themselves, and answers are proposed. The answers that are argued most convincingly and, therefore, lived by faith communities have a tremendous impact on the health of God's creation, for they influence the way humans treat one another and the world. Today the question of what it means to live as a reflection of God's image is as important as ever. And yet, the human community is divided; no consensus exists regarding how humans should behave and specifically how they should treat one another.

Climate and Christians: A Case Study in Engaging Social Values

“…In the biblical narrative, Genesis 1:26-30 (NRSV) has some language that can be understood (or misunderstood) as very anthropocentric. In these verses, there are terms like "have dominion over," "fill and subdue," and suggestions that things were given to humankind for foodpotentially construed as suggesting destroying and consuming (Johnson, 2005). 26 Then God said, "Let us make humankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."…”

“…Janell Johnson suggests that these verses are misinterpreted primarily because of the understanding and interpretation of "humankind in God's image" [Genesis 1:26] and the view of what God's image is (Johnson, 2005) often seen as distant, controlling, judging, destroying, and disciplining. The actual "image of God" includes redeeming, loving, healing, nurturing, etc., and this has implications for the following verses and the responsibility assigned for the care of the earth.…”