Imago Dei -- Image of God

Philosophers and theologians understandably have a lot to say about what it means to be human. In Christian theology, this falls under the heading of "Imago Dei"—what it means to be made in the image of God. This is one area of theology I love to read and discuss but I do come at it as an amateur. I am particularly interested in what science has to say about our imago dei.

First creation story in Genesis: Gen 1:"²⁶Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." ²⁷So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."

Second creation story in Genesis: Gen 2: "⁷then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being."

In order for scientists, theologians, and philosophers to come to a better understanding of the human race's relationship to the rest of the natural world, to each other, and to the transcendent reality of God, "the More", we need to properly represent each other's viewpoint and understand and respect the process of their fields. I do not think "Intelligent Design" (capital "I" and "D") has done that with science. I don't think it is good theology either but I'm going to restrict my comments to the science. However, I will say that the Bible's intent, like the scriptures of the world's other enduring religions, is not to prove the existence of God, but to help us understand God and our relationship to God.

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