Genesis 1:26–28 provides material towards a biblical answer to the question of what it means to be human and how to rightly treat human beings. This chapter shows us that human beings are a special order of the animal kingdom that is bestowed with special dignity, made for relationship with the Creator, with consequent obligations and duties. It is a crucial building block for a well-developed Christian anthropology and its attendant ethic.
Joy Arundell, student worker, pastor’s wife, and mum, reflects on what Genesis has to tell us about about the equality and order built into our sexual natures. When we want to explore what God’s Word teaches about men and women, we usually dive straight into the New Testament. We often begin with Paul’s teaching on how men and women relate in family life and church life. Or we might look at the early Church and consider how men and women worked in ministry partnerships as the church grew. Or we might even look at the life of Jesus and see...
In Genesis 1:27 we read that “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them”. However, the passage doesn’t define what “Image of God” means. Consequently “Image of God” has been interpreted in a vast number of ways throughout church history. Does it refer to human capacity for reason, free will, relationship, creativity, ethical conduct, or something else? It doesn’t take too long to notice that interpretations sometimes seem self-serving—as though “Image of God” referred to whatever I think is important in life. The philosophers think it refers to reason, the artists think it’s...
If you’ve ever felt sheepish, the reason may be more acute than you first thought! Melbourne is in the middle of a world wide campaign to fight for the rights of animals*. I wasn’t aware of this fact until pictures of sheep started appearing on social media this morning, but apparently “Melbourne is becoming known as one of the world’s most vegan-friendly cities”. Leaving aside what this must mean for another of our most beloved titles, “Australia’s food capital,” what are we to make of these posters? After doing a little research I discovered that I missed out on “World Vegan Day,”...
Peter Orr concludes our series on the Image of God (see part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6) with some deep thinking about how the resurrection and ascension of Jesus revise our understanding of what it means to be human. One of the central themes developed in this series on the Image of God has been the idea that humans have the highest place in God’s plans because of their relationship to God. In this final post we’ll reflect briefly on how our understanding of this truth is filled out by the resurrection and ascension...
