Religion In New Zealand

Earthy Religion - Theology Geek NZ

The Scriptures declare in Genesis that man is made in the image of God. This is the definitive biblical distinction between man and all other creatures.  No other creature is so denoted by God.

There has been a good deal of reflection on what, in turn, being in God’s image denotes precisely.  A common view is that man alone of all creatures has a soul, a personal identity or subsistence which enables him to commune and fellowship with God–whether in the body or out of the body.  This is something which dogs, for instance, do not have–although metaphorically the poets in the Psalms speak of animals crying out to God for their food.   Others have zeroed in on man’s rational faculty: the fact that man can reason is why he is said to be in God’s image.  Others still have pointed to language and the ability to communicate.  

The idea underlying all these possibilities is that man can lay aside his physical body at will, and retain his identity as being in God’s image.  A second implication is that man is not unique in bearing the image of God–for all of these characteristics are shared with angels–who, along with man–commune with God, reason, think, argue, debate, and communicate.

This view of the “image of God”, however, is a view which traditional and classical Jewish exposition has rejected. The relevant Hebrew words, tzelem (image) and demut (likeness), mean respectively “appearance” and “similarity in form or deed.”  These are the definitions given by the classical Spanish medieval commentator and mystic Nachmanides, based on an analysis of how the words are used elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible.  Our being created in God’s image, he writes, is meant to “stress the remarkable phenomenon that distinguished [man] from [all] the rest of  the creations.”  This includes “[man's] facial expression, [which is an expression of] wisdom and knowledge and perfection of deed.”  This is God’s image sealed in our own faces .

Klinghoffer adds: “Clearly, not just any bodily form would serve the purpose.  (Ibid., p.294)  Some Jewish commentators have argued that “image of God” is reflected in part in our standing and walking erect–definite bodily and physical attributes.

Hirsch goes on to argue in his commentary upon Genesis that the image of God indicates: . . . the godlike dignity of the human body.  Indeed the whole Torah rests primarily on making the body holy.  The entire morality of human beings rests on the fact that the human body, with all its urges, forces and organs, was formed commensurately with the godly calling of man, and is to be kept holy and dedicated exclusively to that godly calling.

Religion in New Zealand

Religion in New Zealand, Bahá'í Faith in New Zealand, Religion in New Zealand, Pai Marire, Islam in New Zealand, M?ori Religion

Religion in New Zealand

Religion in New Zealand

New Zealand