Imago Dei: Rediscovering Human Worth in a Confused Age (Part 2)
Why the imago Dei is about being, not doing
To speak of the imago Dei is not to describe a human achievement or directive, but a gift. It is not something we perform or earn, nor is it a trait that can fade away with time; rather, the image of God is what it means to be human at the most basic level. Scripture does not say that humanity has the image of God; it says humanity is the image of God.
When Genesis tells us that “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,’” it places this truth at the very heart of creation itself (Gen. 1:26–27). Before God gives Adam and Eve anything to do, He tells us what they are.
More Than Function
Modern readers are often tempted to interpret “image” in functional terms. We assume the image of God means that we are capable of reasoning, creating, building, or ruling. Certainly, those things reflect something of God’s likeness, but they are not the core of it. Before Adam ever worked the garden or exercised dominion, he already bore God’s image. Function flows from identity, not the other way around.
Herman Bavinck articulates this when he writes, “Man does not simply have the image of God but is that image.”1 That simple distinction makes all the difference, because if the image is something we have, then we might lose it. If it is something we are, then it is woven into the very fabric of our existence.
John Calvin adds that although the “primary seat” of the divine image lies in the soul, particularly the mind and heart, there was no part of man, not even the body itself, in which some “spark” of that glory did not glow.2 Calvin’s point is subtle, but what he is claiming is that the image of God radiates through the whole person. It cannot be reduced to intellect, morality, or spirit, but also includes the physical, relational, and creative aspects of being human.
The Narrow and the Broad Image
It is for this reason that theologians have made a distinction between the image of God in a narrow and a broad sense. The narrow sense refers to the moral and spiritual qualities with which humanity was originally endowed to Adam, namely true knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. It was these that were lost in the fall.
The broad sense, however, refers to the totality of human existence: our rationality, morality, spirituality, and life in the world. It is in this broader sense that the image remains, though it is scarred by sin.
Anthony Hoekema summarizes Louis Berkhof’s view by saying that while sin obliterated the narrower sense of the image of God in man, the broader image can never be destroyed.3 It was corrupted, yes, but not erased. This distinction is crucial because it allows us to affirm both the dignity and depravity of man at the same time. Humanity is still in God’s image, but that image now requires renewal.
This is exactly what we see in Scripture. In Genesis 9:6, long after the fall, human life is still declared sacred precisely because man is made in God’s image, and in James 3:9, the apostle rebukes believers for cursing others who “are made in the likeness of God.” Thus, according to the scriptures, the fall did not eliminate the image; it disfigured it.
More Than Reflection
It is important to note that if we stop here, we risk turning the imago Dei into a mere mirror. Humanity doesn’t just reflect God like sunlight bouncing off a mirror; it images Him into creation. We are not God, but we are designed to represent Him in our living, reasoning, working, and loving as creatures who point back to our Creator.
In this way, the image is both a gift and a calling. We do not achieve it through morality or lose it through failure; rather, we bear it by nature and express it in vocation. The more we live in fellowship with God, the more that image shines clearly, and the further we drift from Him, the more it is distorted.
The Foundation for Human Worth
Understanding the image of God as ontological, something bound to our being, is the foundation that safeguards the worth of every person.
A newborn child, an elderly patient with dementia, and a man in prison are equally image bearers. None can add to or subtract from that dignity, and this is why the church has historically understood, and must speak clearly about the sanctity of life, the goodness of the body, and the moral weight of human identity.
In the end, the doctrine of the imago Dei does not begin with what we do but with who we are. It reminds us that our origin, our dignity, and our destiny are all tied to God’s creative purpose. The image is marred, not lost; defaced, not destroyed; obscured, but not obliterated.
In Part 3, we will examine the competing views that have challenged this biblical understanding, four major misconceptions that either reduce or distort the imago Dei, and why getting this doctrine wrong leads to a diminished view of humanity itself.
Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), 532–33.
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1.15.3.
Anthony A. Hoekema, Created in God’s Image (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), 69.