In the Image of God.

It has been said that we humans are made “in the image of God”. There are many interpretations of this statement, but I would like to put forth one that I have been thinking about recently. To be made in the image of God, somewhat means to “like” God. It may be tempting to think that it also means that we are “God-like”, as if we are somewhat Gods, but I don’t believe that is what the statement implies. For the sake of this piece, let’s conceptualise God partly as an abstraction, but also as a conscious being. He is capable of thinking, perceiving, feeling and has a freewill. That last one, freewill, may be the most important factor in relation to this piece.

In no way am I attempting to belittle God. This is philosophical speculation, an idea that may find interesting. Let’s imagine that God truly is pure and moral. He always does the right thing, and that in itself, makes him very different to us, since we as humans, all can and do make mistakes and immoral decisions. The key here is that God has the freedom, or freewill, to make an immoral decision, but never does and never will. If it was literally impossible for God to make an immoral decision, that would be a limitation to his freewill, and a contradiction to his Godly and almighty nature. And so, the similarity between God and us lies in the fact that we both have a freewill, and are both can choose the right or wrong thing to act on. The fundamental difference is that we sometimes do choose the wrong thing, when God never does.

So, from this point of view, to be made in the image of God is share elements of his consciousness, such as thinking, perceiving, feeling and perhaps most importantly, freewill. I do not believe we are necessary “Godly” (if we were, we would never do the wrong thing) but instead, we are “like God” because of the similarities between our mind and his mind. We are both faced with the responsibility to act morally, but only God never fails to uphold that responsibility perfectly. For us to aim at doing the right thing, as best as we can, is a sign of another aspect we share with God, and that is love itself. God always chooses love, and us as humans, can always aim at choosing love. Are we made in the image of God? Yes, and that is mostly because of our ability to choose the right or wrong thing. May we see God as an example of moral purity, and act in the best way we possibly can.