Anthropology
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
Students of the Bible have spent many hours and used much ink in the attempt to express an answer to the question concerning human resemblance to God. In what ways do we possess likeness to God who made us? Since the Bible reminds us that God is spirit, then our likeness to Him is not found in our physical bodies. God is not mirrored in the human physical form. Our answer must lie beyond outward appearances. We must search for the answer by looking inward. Divine resemblance has to do with our immaterial or spiritual makeup.
This week’s study draws our attention to some of the ways often put forward to explain what it means to be in God’s image and likeness. First we humans possess the ability to think and reason. We possess a rational nature that is elevated above all other living creatures. While some of us at times may appear to lack such sensibility or at least choose to kick it out of gear, we do possess the possibility of rational thought.
Connected closely with this capability is the human ability of putting thoughts into words in order to communicate among ourselves and with God. While other animals may possess some means of communicating among their own kind, it is not so sophisticated or advanced so as to be exercised in verbal expression. Of unparalleled value is the fact that humans can think about God and even communicate with Him.
Another facet of Godlikeness in us humans is the ability to think morally so as to make judgments between right and wrong, as well as to develop standards for acceptable behavior. The fact that the Bible is filled with God’s commandments and prohibitions tells us He operates out of a perfect sense of what is right or wrong.
Again we mortals sometimes choose not to order our behavior according to our best understanding of what is moral, however we do normally possess the capability of differentiating between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. We commonly think of this as the possession of conscience or moral awareness. This ability makes us like God, who has set standards for acceptable human actions in His commandments that begin with “thou shalt not” or “thou shalt.” To be sure, some of our human standards for distinguishing between good and evil are flawed. Much that orders our behavior may come to us from society’s norms or from family and community values, but we are aware of some inner monitor that serves to approve or disapprove of certain actions or attitudes.
Religious communion
A third consideration of what makes us after the divine pattern is the capability of engaging in religious communion with God, something members of the animal kingdom do not and cannot do. We can think of this as the ability to experience God in worship and prayer. In so doing, we might say that “like calls unto like.” Before disobedience drove a wedge in their fellowship with God, the first human pair knew what it was like to walk and talk with God in the cool of the evening (Gen. 3:8).
Another aspect of human likeness to our Creator God is that we also are creative, although not in the absolute or original sense as God when He spoke the world into existence. Creative similarity is seen in art and music creations, literary productions, medical treatments and other scientific advances. While no means exhaustive, these possibilities are suggestive of what it means to be made in God’s likeness and image.
Editor’s Note — Jerry Batson is a retired Alabama Baptist pastor who also has served as associate dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University and professor of several schools of religion during his career.
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