What I said was "what constitutes humanity in the theological
sense, image of God, &c". The "&c" is non-trivial here. What I
intended was to suggest a list of important _related_ topics, not the
precise equation of "what constitutes humanity" with "the image of God".
I agree:
a. That "in our image, after our likeness" in Gen.1 means
primarily that humanity is to represent God in the world: "Let us
create humanity in our image ... and let them have dominion ...". I.e.,
humanity is to have dominion as God's representative.
b. Only in Christ do we see the image of God in the full sense
- and this means that to see what humanity is supposed to be, we have to
look at Christ (not Adam, about whom, even if he is understood as an
historical individual, we know virtually nothing).
c. Renewal of the image of God in human beings comes about
through being in Christ (Rom.8:29 &c).
But I would also note:
d. Being God's representatives in creation requires having the
appropriate tools to do the job. Thus the classical idea that the
_imago_ is rationality is not completely wrong, though that is not the
primary sense in Gen.1. This can also be connected with b & c above if
rationality is thought of as participation in the Logos, as with
Athanasius.
e. Even many theologians who have had a very strong doctrine of
original sin have believed that there are some vestiges of the image of
God in fallen humanity - though I can see reasons for dissenting from
such a view.
f. In passing, the "dominion = domination" misunderstanding of
Gen.1 which Lynn White blamed for our ecological crisis would not have
happened if the christological content of the _imago_ and the real
character of Christ's rule had been taken more seriously by Christians.
SHALOM,
George Murphy