> 2) seems to me fundamental in defining the image as involving a
>relationship with God, & 1) then tells us qualities humanity is to
>possess because of that relationship....
Thank you very much, George. I like Athanasius' ideas as well, and will put
him on my planned reading list (which gets longer by the day). I have
avoided considering reason or Logos part of the image of God, because it
could be argued that some primates possess reason (rhesus monkeys using a
crate as a stool for reaching bananas, for example). Not the reason you
mention, ie, the ability to communicate with God, but reason nonetheless;
but if even it is the most rudimentary, so long as they possess some little
bit of it, it puts reason on a long list of characteristics that we once
thought were exclusively human.
However, I've given it more thought in recent weeks since Russell's original
post, and I don't see a problem with primates possessing anything human in
some small measure; in fact, it fits quite nicely with the "coming of age"
view that I shared in a message to Glenn earlier.
--csc