The Key to the Proper View of Unique Human Personhood

Perhaps at no other time in human history is a proper view of humanity more important than it is today. Controversial topics such as abortion, euthanasia, and cloning are influenced by our assumptions about the nature of humanity. Indeed, one's view of the nature of humanity provides the moral foundation from which one will wrestle with such controversial topics.

The church holds the key to providing an ennobling moral foundation from which to address these issues -- the image of God in humankind. This truth is the basis for proper respect of human life. Whether this foundation is ever accepted by the mainstream should not deter the church from embracing and expounding this doctrine, its significance, and its vast implications for all of life.

Because of the relatively small amount of direct references to the image of God in the Bible, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact nature of the image. The scant amount of references does not imply that this is a theme of minor significance. Topics of the Bible are not more or less significant in proportion to the amount of references addressing them. Yet, because of the limited references, the term retains a certain amount of ambiguity.

In defining the image, it is probably easier to begin with what the image of God is not. The image is not dominion itself. [1] Dominion is one of the results of being made in the image of God, an expression or activity related to the image. Likewise, sexuality ("maleness" and "femaleness") is not the image. Rather, sexuality indicates the scope of the image -- encompassing both males and females. [2]

If nothing else, the image of God in humanity evidences that human beings are uniquely designed by God himself to relate with, represent, and reflect God in a way that no other creature can directly imitate. [3] Human beings are thus unique in God's creation and preeminent over all other creatures. This is highlighted by the divine counsel before the creation of humankind (Gen. 1:24-25). Humankind's unique relationship with God is further emphasized by God's speech to the human's following their creation (Gen. 1:28-30; 2:16-17). In the Genesis account, God speaks directly only to human creatures. The other creatures have no speech directed toward them. Thus, God established a unique relationship with humankind rooted in similarity (image and likeness) and speech (communication).

This unique relationship is accompanied with great privileges and responsibilities. Humanity, because of its special relationship with God, is to represent God on earth by reflecting his works and ruling on his behalf. In ancient practice, a conquering king would establish a statue (image) of himself to assert his sovereign rule where the king himself could not be present. The image stood as a physical representation of the king symbolizing his rulership and sovereignty. In the same way, humankind rules on behalf of God by imitating or reflecting God on the earth. As God takes chaos and subdues and rules it, so humankind is to imitate God and subdue and rule the Garden. As God names his creation, so humankind does the same. As God fills the heavens, so humankind imitates God by filling the earth. This particular function can only be accomplished by humanity in plurality -- through the male and female.

Nothing else in all creation reflects God as humans do. When the Creator looks upon the creature, the Creator looks upon His image -- He sees Himself in humans more than in any other creature. There is therefore a great dignity in being human. Likewise, with such a noble view of humankind's origin, the sad condition of human depravity as a result of the Fall takes on tragic proportions. [4] We were created for so much more! The Fall of humankind and the curse of sin distorts the image of God in man. Though humankind remains unique and special in God's creation, humankind also is alienated from its special relation to God. Subsequently, humanity's representation and reflection of God is also ruined to some extent, but not completely lost, because of mankind's unique status. Finally, humanity's dominion is partial and distorted. Humankind is ruined, but not without the possibility of restoration. We are ruined, like a once-great castle in which one can glimpse a glorious past and sense the potential for a glorious future. Our created purpose -- that of relating to God, representing and reflecting God, and thus ruling on God's behalf -- has been eclipsed by the introduction of sin into the world. Any possible reversal of this condition must involve dealing with sin and its effects.

The grace of God revealed in and through the incarnation of Christ reverses the perversion of sin and restores the true image of God in humankind. Jesus is the image-bearer of God (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15). He is the perfect picture of God's intentions for humanity -- the only One who perfectly relates, represents, reflects, and rules as God intended. Through God's grace, Christians are renewed in Christ's image through the Spirit (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:10).

The created nature of human beings as image-bearers, the special position they play in God's creation, and the glorious potential they share through grace makes it clear how careful we must be in matters that have to do with belittling humanity's uniqueness and dignity. Abortion, because it is the termination of human life, is an attack against an image-bearer of God. The fetus is not merely a tissue mass with the potential for being human but an incipient human in radical development. Likewise, human life is so valuable that it is worth preserving, if possible. Obviously, questions related to technology and its ability to artificially prolong life must be considered, as well as the real difference between active and passive euthanasia, but terminating life support at any time must be approached with sobriety. Finally, human cloning can place people in the dangerous position of "playing god" in the name of advancing the cause of modern science. Human beings should not be the subjects of social or political experimentation.

Only a proper view of the image of God in humanity and the special status it confers on human beings is a sufficient foundation for addressing all the controversial anthropological issues that have arisen in our day. Though we may disagree on particulars, we must agree that human life is precious, unique, and worth guarding and preserving.

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[1] Leonard Verduin, Somewhat Less Than God: The Biblical View of Man (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), 27. According to Verduin, this dominion is exercised primarily through labor and procreation.

[2] "On the one hand, humankind is a single entity. All human persons stand in solidarity before God. But on the other hand, humankind is a community, male and female. And none is the full image of God alone. Only in community of humankind is God reflected. God is, according to this bold affirmation, not mirrored as an individual but as a community." Walter Brueggemann, Genesis (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982), 34.

[3] My fourth "r" -- "rule", developed below -- is one expression of this design. One can keep the pattern going by considering the "ruin" of sin and the "restoration" of humanity through the "redemption" of God in Christ. Clever, huh?

[4] "Man's greatness lies in his capacity to recognize his wretchedness… So it is wretched to know one is wretched, but there is greatness in the knowledge of one's wretchedness." (Blaise Pascal, Pensees and Other Writings (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 36-37.

© Richard J. Vincent, July 21, 2001