Image of God

Common card · No. 218216

The "image of God" (Hebrew: צֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים, romanized: ṣelem ʾĔlōhīm; Greek: εἰκών τοῦ Θεοῦ, romanized: eikón toú Theoú; Latin: imago Dei) was originally a concept in Ancient Near Eastern thought, often applied to cult images, kings, and images representing kings. It was applied to all of humanity in the Hebrew Bible, becoming an important concept and theological doctrine in Judaism and Christianity. It is a foundational aspect of those religions' beliefs with regard to the fundamental understanding of human nature. It stems from the primary text in Genesis 1:27, which reads (in the King James Version): "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female he created them." The exact meaning of the phrase has been debated for millennia. Following tradition, a number of Jewish scholars, such as Saadia Gaon and Philo, argued that being made in the image of God does not mean that God possesses human-like features, but rather the reverse: that the statement...

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