Imago Dei – Imitatio Dei

Abstract

In the dramatic narrative of Genesis, the author affirms that human beings, male and female alike, are created in the image (selem) and likeness (demuth) of God. Every Adam and every Eve is endowed with a unique personal nature and a capacity to pattern their lives on the model of the living God. That is, each of us is created in God's image in a unique sense (eikon, imago) and given and called to exist in God's likeness (homoiosis, similitude). The former similarity between God and individual human beings constitutes the formal image of God in us, the latter similarity constitutes the material image of God in us. As free creatures we have the power to live or not live in a way compatible with the material image of God in us, and if we choose to reject God's gift of life and the call to pattern our lives on his or her divine perfection, we will fail to lead the good life and have the good life which God desires and intends for us. At least, this is the way the Genesis narrative has been understood in the mainstream of Judaism and Christianity.