Humanity and the imago dei of Christianity
Here is a mini, Christian-slanted spastic sermonic blurb on recent observations that is more a rant than an argument:
I think that the category (doctrine of the imago dei) itself leads to alienation and exploitation by those in power. What is the image of God within a Christian framework? -- posed as a question among the pluralism of evangelicals the answers vary (perhaps a postmodern outtake on the doctrine) and loosely end up referring to what separates humanity from the rest of the world. This sounds reasonable under the umbrella of the Genesis accounts. However, this point is where men and women for centuries have deviated to fulfill their own selfish intellectual and political endeavors.
If human beings all fall under the umbrella of the image, then where then does any kind of doctrine of election fit into the scheme of things. God did not create the elect in the image of God, but humanity in the image. But then sin "came into the world" (via the story of the serpent) and corrupted that image (sin as the choice to disalign oneself from God). God holds all -- man, woman and serpent -- to be morally responsible agents and they are punished accordingly. With the image totally distorted in humanity (rather than obliterated) then what can be known of the image is the embodiment of the image in Jesus -- the image of God. Why not look to Jesus as image rather than trying to look only to what separates humanity from the rest of creation? What separates us from creation is not an adequate starting point in my perspective.
This is where Christians falter when it comes to understanding sciences that pit human beings as animals, when a dictator declares to be acting in the image of God, when wars ensue based upon a selfish version of the image. Specializing ourselves entails a road to sin. We are to be "stewards" of the earth in relationship to and with it and God. Christians cannot always be on the defense when science discovers how something seems to work when something indeed works in a particular way, or when a discovery seems to jeopardize a particular slant on Scripture.
Scripture, by its very nature needs interpretation and reinterpretation individually and especially corporately if Scripture is taken to be a "living document." Perhaps a definition of inerrancy requires personal and communal interpretation and reinterpretation by those created in the image of God since we were not created as the image of God (with the help of the Spirit). And since perhaps those outside of Christianity have insights that Christians may or may not have (the Spirit "works in mysterious ways"), it seems logical to me to include their interpretations as well within the global Christian conversation rather than internally shunning them as emanates from Christian bias and perhaps a flawed view of justification on the part of God. Quite frankly, we are afraid of those who are different even though those different are created imago dei as well.
It is absolutely disconcerting to witness Christian proclamation that does not correspond with Christian praxis. God gets left in the pews on Saturday and Sunday (and sometimes Wednesday) in modern times to hibernate until the next worship service rolls around. Though it is not apparent that this particular nominalization problem is related to the image of God, it very much is. What separates us from the rest of the world, period, is just another open-ended statement that can be bent in many different directions to accommodate human interests. The focus can be deferred from God onto humanity without anyone noticing (until it's too late of course). Our view of the image of God as a specializing of humanity has in some ways become a crutch for Christians unwilling to put forth the effort to truly contemplate just what that image entails (as Jesus exemplifies). We tend to lose our humility and take advantage of the ego-boost that the image seems to lend us.
Even further, Christians seeking to isolate themselves allowing others to "get their just rewards" are perhaps misunderstanding the very nature of the imago dei which entails relationships. God's justice is Hers and not ours and should perhaps be left out of the equation for Christians. Perhaps Christians should have a situational universalist mindset when relating with others, if only briefly and carefully, to avoid internal condemnation of others brought on by personal bias. It takes realizing our own bias, "knowing thyself," to relate fully with others and to grapple with the tension of being like God, but not God.
Discombobulated Sermon ended...
I think that the category (doctrine of the imago dei) itself leads to alienation and exploitation by those in power. What is the image of God within a Christian framework? -- posed as a question among the pluralism of evangelicals the answers vary (perhaps a postmodern outtake on the doctrine) and loosely end up referring to what separates humanity from the rest of the world. This sounds reasonable under the umbrella of the Genesis accounts. However, this point is where men and women for centuries have deviated to fulfill their own selfish intellectual and political endeavors.
If human beings all fall under the umbrella of the image, then where then does any kind of doctrine of election fit into the scheme of things. God did not create the elect in the image of God, but humanity in the image. But then sin "came into the world" (via the story of the serpent) and corrupted that image (sin as the choice to disalign oneself from God). God holds all -- man, woman and serpent -- to be morally responsible agents and they are punished accordingly. With the image totally distorted in humanity (rather than obliterated) then what can be known of the image is the embodiment of the image in Jesus -- the image of God. Why not look to Jesus as image rather than trying to look only to what separates humanity from the rest of creation? What separates us from creation is not an adequate starting point in my perspective.
This is where Christians falter when it comes to understanding sciences that pit human beings as animals, when a dictator declares to be acting in the image of God, when wars ensue based upon a selfish version of the image. Specializing ourselves entails a road to sin. We are to be "stewards" of the earth in relationship to and with it and God. Christians cannot always be on the defense when science discovers how something seems to work when something indeed works in a particular way, or when a discovery seems to jeopardize a particular slant on Scripture.
Scripture, by its very nature needs interpretation and reinterpretation individually and especially corporately if Scripture is taken to be a "living document." Perhaps a definition of inerrancy requires personal and communal interpretation and reinterpretation by those created in the image of God since we were not created as the image of God (with the help of the Spirit). And since perhaps those outside of Christianity have insights that Christians may or may not have (the Spirit "works in mysterious ways"), it seems logical to me to include their interpretations as well within the global Christian conversation rather than internally shunning them as emanates from Christian bias and perhaps a flawed view of justification on the part of God. Quite frankly, we are afraid of those who are different even though those different are created imago dei as well.
It is absolutely disconcerting to witness Christian proclamation that does not correspond with Christian praxis. God gets left in the pews on Saturday and Sunday (and sometimes Wednesday) in modern times to hibernate until the next worship service rolls around. Though it is not apparent that this particular nominalization problem is related to the image of God, it very much is. What separates us from the rest of the world, period, is just another open-ended statement that can be bent in many different directions to accommodate human interests. The focus can be deferred from God onto humanity without anyone noticing (until it's too late of course). Our view of the image of God as a specializing of humanity has in some ways become a crutch for Christians unwilling to put forth the effort to truly contemplate just what that image entails (as Jesus exemplifies). We tend to lose our humility and take advantage of the ego-boost that the image seems to lend us.
Even further, Christians seeking to isolate themselves allowing others to "get their just rewards" are perhaps misunderstanding the very nature of the imago dei which entails relationships. God's justice is Hers and not ours and should perhaps be left out of the equation for Christians. Perhaps Christians should have a situational universalist mindset when relating with others, if only briefly and carefully, to avoid internal condemnation of others brought on by personal bias. It takes realizing our own bias, "knowing thyself," to relate fully with others and to grapple with the tension of being like God, but not God.
Discombobulated Sermon ended...
posted by Timcom at 9:36 AM
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