Image

[Justice]

I'd like to see your thoughts on what it means to be created in the image of God. Or, even broader, I'd like to see your favorite scriptures and comments about the character and nature of God.

Thanks in advance!

[mikbone]

Genesis 5:3

Ether 3:15

[applepansy]

The two following quotes pretty much sum up how I feel about being made in God's image:

President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008): “Our bodies are sacred. They were created in the image of God. They are marvelous, the crowning creation of Deity. No camera has ever matched the wonder of the human eye. No pump was ever built that could run so long and carry such heavy duty as the human heart. The ear and the brain constitute a miracle. … These, with others of our parts and organs, represent the divine, omnipotent genius of God” (“Be Ye Clean,” Ensign, May 1996, 48).

How wonderfully marvelous to have a Father who would create such amazing "machines" for us to live in for this earth life.

President Thomas S. Monson: “God our Father has ears with which to hear our prayers. He has eyes with which to see our actions. He has a mouth with which to speak to us. He has a heart with which to feel compassion and love. He is real. He is living. We are his children made in his image. We look like him and he looks like us” (“I Know That My Redeemer Lives,” Tambuli, Apr. 1988, 6; Ensign, Apr. 1990, 6).

I don't have the word power to add anything to President Monson's words.

[Seminarysnoozer]

I'd like to see your thoughts on what it means to be created in the image of God. Or, even broader, I'd like to see your favorite scriptures and comments about the character and nature of God.

Thanks in advance!

I like one of the scriptures already given, Ether 3:15 " And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own cimage? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image."

I would put emphasis on "in the beginning". A lot has changed since then including the effects of the fall.

[Blackmarch]

I'd like to see your thoughts on what it means to be created in the image of God. Or, even broader, I'd like to see your favorite scriptures and comments about the character and nature of God.

Thanks in advance!

we look like or very similar to God.

[Obolus]

To me, the image of God is that of a great keeper of genealogies. He knows the family lines of the earth, those of the mortal world on which he lived, those of the deity that guided him, and so on and so forth. He and his exalted family are sealed as a branch to a vast, incomprehensible family tree. So when I think of his image, that's what I picture. A god of body and spirit that belongs to that order. When he walks, he glorifies that order. When he talks, his words come to pass because of that order. He is sealed not only to family, but to an eternal cycle of creation and infinite improvisation that do nothing but glorify that order. His exalted body is the instrument of this way of being. It is a temple, robed in power.

His body resides between seer stones; the small white stone mentioned in Revelation 2:17 and the planet sized stone which is his throne. As we learn in D&C 130, one pertains to higher orders of kingdoms while the other pertains to lower orders. Both are Urim and Thummim. When I look into the facing mirrors of a sealing room, I see a type of what he sees in those stones; eternal progeny on one side and ancestry on the other. Through them, he is a seer of all of the order that he belongs to.

This potential to walk and talk as he does... between those stones & connected to that tree... resides in all people. All are connected to God, thus all are sacred to him. His image is the brand of all brands, and the authority above all others in the world. To follow God is to attach yourself to the destiny of his steps and his words.

[Justice]

Interesting, Obolus.

[Seminarysnoozer]

Yes, we are children of God...

I like this verse:

(New Testament | Luke 3:38)

38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

did Adam have a belly button? in any event, looks like we're all grandchildren of God.

I agree, this is the bottom line, we are all grandchildren of God but this doesn't help any when it comes to "image" or appearance because Adam's body was changed with the fall. One possible difference is the introduction of variability with offspring. Why are Seth and Able described as being in the image of Adam and the other sons not? Is it because "image" doesn't have anything to do with appearance, maybe just describing spirituality or is it because the other sons had enough of a varied change from the original copy that they lost the status of being in the "image"?

So, if "image" is just spirituality, then being created in God's image is mostly implying that we have the same potential as God as the phrase "we're all grandchildren of God" implies. If "image" really is appearance then I assume there is a certain 'standard deviation' off that image that can be lost even in one generation. Then, how far off are we, being that many generations off the original?

[volgadon]

One possible difference is the introduction of variability with offspring. Why are Seth and Able described as being in the image of Adam and the other sons not? Is it because "image" doesn't have anything to do with appearance, maybe just describing spirituality or is it because the other sons had enough of a varied change from the original copy that they lost the status of being in the "image"?

To understand what the writer intended we need to lok at the roles of Abel and Seth. Abel was the beloved son and the writer emphasies this. After Abel was murdered God provided Adam with a son in Abel's stead. In other words, Seth is the replacement for the beloved son. The term emphasises a prefered status.

I would highly recommend "Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel: The Ultimate Victory of the God of Life" and "The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity" both by Jon D. Levenson.

[Seminarysnoozer]

To understand what the writer intended we need to lok at the roles of Abel and Seth. Abel was the beloved son and the writer emphasies this. After Abel was murdered God provided Adam with a son in Abel's stead. In other words, Seth is the replacement for the beloved son. The term emphasises a prefered status.

I would highly recommend "Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel: The Ultimate Victory of the God of Life" and "The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity" both by Jon D. Levenson.

Thanks, I can appreciate that. What is the significance of being in the image of Adam then? Are you saying, then, that being in the "image" equates to having a beloved status? It doesn't have anything to do with appearance?

Are we supposed to then relate that to how we are in the "image" of God? In other words, it just has to do with being loved by God and not appearance?

[JudoMinja]

Justice-

Your question inspired me to do a more indepth study of the word "image", and here are some things I found:

Image-

NOUN- Physical likeness or representation of a person, animal, or thing, photographed, painted, sculpted, or otherwise made visible.

Optical counterpart or appearance of an object, as is produced by reflection from a mirror, refraction by a lens, or the passage of luminous rays through a small aperture and their reception on a surface.

Mental representation; idea; conception.

A person or thing that resembles another closely; double or copy.

A figure of speech, such as a simile or metaphor.

An obsolete word for apparition.

Counterpart; copy.

A symbol; emblem.

A type; embodiment.

VERB- To picture or represent in the mind; imagine; conceive.

To project on a surface.

To reflect the likeness of; mirror.

To set forth in speech or writing; describe.

To portray or describe.

LATIN ORIGIN- imago (im + ago – compare, imitate + noun suffix) copy, likeness, equivalent to

MATH- The range of a function.

PSYCHOLOGY- A mental representation of something previously perceived, in the absence of the original stimulus.

Hypnagogic image- The mental experience of something that is not immediately present to the senses, often involving memory.

The bolded and italicized statements are things that particularly stood out to me when thinking of "image" in the context you provided- that we are made in the image of God.

Most especially, I think this phrase:

"passage of luminous rays through a small aperture and their reception on a surface"

can bring us to a greater understanding of what it means to be made in His image, since God is a being of light.

We are the focus of His light. The "surface" upon which He shines. We are a representation of Him in all things, and our very being is a testament of His existence and nature.

[Seminarysnoozer]

Justice-

Your question inspired me to do a more indepth study of the word "image", and here are some things I found:

The bolded and italicized statements are things that particularly stood out to me when thinking of "image" in the context you provided- that we are made in the image of God.

Most especially, I think this phrase:

"passage of luminous rays through a small aperture and their reception on a surface"

can bring us to a greater understanding of what it means to be made in His image, since God is a being of light.

We are the focus of His light. The "surface" upon which He shines. We are a representation of Him in all things, and our very being is a testament of His existence and nature.

I find it interesting that you didn't highlight the word "copy" even though it was used several times in the list you gave. For some reason, "copy" is less satisfying than the idea that man Adam was made in the beginning 'somewhat like him'. Knowing too that He does the same things over and over, the same way, I think "copy" is probably the best word out of that list.

[JudoMinja]

I find it interesting that you didn't highlight the word "copy" even though it was used several times in the list you gave. For some reason, "copy" is less satisfying than the idea that man Adam was made in the beginning 'somewhat like him'. Knowing too that He does the same things over and over, the same way, I think "copy" is probably the best word out of that list.

I guess the reason "copy" didn't stand out to me much at first is because it seems so simple, and I was doing my little research project to go beyond a basic understanding of the word "image".... but then, I am always repeating this quote to myself- "The simplest answer is most often the correct one". Sometimes we overcomplicate things that are very simple, and I find that the more I study the gospel the more "simple" the answers seem to become. We are indeed a "copy" of God.