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Imago Dei
Amy Sherman and I diverge on a few points of theology, but I nonetheless appreciate her work. In her new book released this month, Amy notes how important Genesis 1:27 is for all of humanity:
The doctrine of the imago Dei, which teaches that God created humankind in his own image, implies that every person, regardless of race, gender, ability, ethnicity, or social status, has inherent value. This revolutionary idea is the font of Western civilization’s notion of inalienable human rights. Cornell University historian Brian Tierney roots this concept, of all human beings having equal dignity and worth, in Christian and biblical teaching. – Amy Sherman, Agents of Flourishing
Self-made?
However, that beautiful doctrine is usually rejected. Since the world became shot-through with sin, humans have enjoyed pretending that we are self-created. The lie has taken various forms through the centuries, but the core idea is that personhood is defined, determined, and developed solely by each individual human. Our age is proudly defined by this mold. [The only exceptions in our era concern pre-born humans, who are often not given the opportunity to declare their own personhood, and invalid adults whose age or mental capacity makes them unable to prove that they deserve to continue existing.]
In fact, each individual is so triumphantly convinced of self-definition that people become livid at the merest hint of reality. I recently told a precious human that she was made in God’s image. She was so offended that she spat her own definition of selfhood back at me, adding, possibly inadvertently, this statement of clarity:
I determine my own pronouns! I determine my own identity! I am my own god! – a young adult woman
I was blessed with the opportunity to explain to her the scriptural and logical implications of being created in God’s image. Wonderfully, she calmed down and admitted that she often longs for more, even confessing that she has shifted her self-identification many times in her search for significance. She agreed that the imago Dei explains a great deal about humanity that self-determination cannot. She even committed to read the gospel of John and consider the love shown for her by Jesus, God the Son.
There go I
Her struggle against the laughable lie of self-determination is real, and it is not limited to non-Christians. Joshua 9 shows that the folly of self-directed living is just as harmful to members of God’s redeemed community:
Then the men of Israel…did not seek the Lord’s decision. – Joshua 9:14 CSB
This led to a huge mess. A century ago, Dr. Ironside summarized how damaging this was, and how prone we are to the same mistake:
Verse 14 (represents) a fatal mistake. It is always wrong to act on our own judgment instead of seeking to know the mind of God as revealed in His Word…As we so often are inclined to do, they trusted their own judgment and were misled completely. – H. A. Ironside, Joshua
God bless,
Wayne