God created int he image of man...need apologia

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Several times recently I have people argue the anthropomorphic view that man was not created in the iamge of god but that god has been created in the image of man by man that we impose our finite experience and personal attributes to an infinite god is impossible.

could someone please help me give a good solid and practical defense against such a thing. I dont want scripture so much as good, rational apologetic…

thanks
~Matt
 
Sometimes people do try to make or remake God in their own image. But when they do, they have a false concept of God.
 
Matt:

This is precisely why revelation (the Incarnation of Christ) is so important…God has to reveal himself to us for us to have a clue as to who he is. Sure, the intellect can make assumptions but until Christ came it’s mostly guesswork and superstition. Interestingly enough, people today are doing the same thing and projecting their personality and saying that God should be like this or like that without any regard of what has been given.

Check out The Everlasting Man by GK Chesterton. It’s a great panorama of anthropology.

in XT.
 
well im looking for something more along the lines of apologetics…

Im thinking that the ideas and attributes of God are supernatural and since man can not possess firsthand knowledge or experience of that beyond his nature, it is therefore impossible for our ideas about God to be the transposition of our own attributes, they are beyond our attributes…

The problem is that this logic is fallacious…it is begging the question essentially because I start with the preposition that the attributes of God are super or beyond that which is natural…

it is really a tough argument to defend against…i need help…

btw I understand that Christ is the Word Incarnate, the Manifestation of God the Father, the visible Image of the invisible God…how do i show that these charecteristics that we attribute to God are not merley us transferring our qualities to Him?
 
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Anonymous_1:
Im thinking that the ideas and attributes of God are supernatural and since man can not possess firsthand knowledge or experience of that beyond his nature, it is therefore impossible for our ideas about God to be the transposition of our own attributes, they are beyond our attributes…

The problem is that this logic is fallacious…it is begging the question essentially because I start with the preposition that the attributes of God are super or beyond that which is natural…
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It’s not quite circular. God, by nature, is supernatural, or He would not be God. Man by nature is natural. How can the natural comprehend the supernatural except by some leap? The supernatural, by definition, is beyond the natural.

I’ve been thinking about this a little bit myself. If I have any more thoughts, I’ll send them your way.
 
Are you perhaps thinking of the secularist argument or atheist argument that religion only arose because man needed a god, and so created god in his own image, in a variety of ways throughout history?

That sort of thing may have happened, but going back as far as Plato and Aristotle, mankind has also shown an ability to think about such supernatural matters in an intelligent way, separate from our own human preferences. (Indeed, when it comes to good philosophical thinking, in many cases the ancients were much better at it than the moderns.)

Reading some books by Peter Kreeft or Frank Sheed is recommended for a good philosophical underpinning on how to think about God.

In fact, Mortimer Adler wrote a pretty good book with that very title: How To Think About God.

Adler, Kreeft, Sheed, oh sure, even Karl Keating–all these writers help to dispel some of the mushy thinking that passes for philosophy nowadays.
 
Hello Anonymous1,

I have an example of people creating a false Jesus image in their minds. I have a web page made up only of quotes from Jesus when He is telling us who will be damned, burn in Gehenna and those He will not forgive. WARNING! Jesus Does Not Forgive All I had a person e-mail me and ask me, “How could you make Jesus look so evil?” Obviously this person had created an image of Jesus in their mind that was contrary to our true Jesus in the scriptures.

As clear as Jesus is on the issue of eternal damnation, there are many people who believe Jesus is so loving that He will simply not damn anyone. These people have created a false image of Jesus in their minds and hearts. I think that this false image of Jesus is wide spread in the minds and hearts of masses of people in the world today.
 
Steven Merten:
Hello Anonymous1,

I have an example of people creating a false Jesus image in their minds. I have a web page made up only of quotes from Jesus when He is telling us who will be damned, burn in Gehenna and those He will not forgive. WARNING! Jesus Does Not Forgive All I had a person e-mail me and ask me, “How could you make Jesus look so evil?” Obviously this person had created an image of Jesus in their mind that was contrary to our true Jesus in the scriptures.

As clear as Jesus is on the issue of eternal damnation, there are many people who believe Jesus is so loving that He will simply not damn anyone. These people have created a false image of Jesus in their minds and hearts. I think that this false image of Jesus is wide spread in the minds and hearts of masses of people in the world today.
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careful before making bold assertions as to what God will and will not forgive. As humans with limited understanding, we should be very careful not to place a limit on God’s infinite mercy.

I have glanced over your sight and strongly urge you to give a more fuller representation of what has been reveaeld to us through CHrist and Scripture and through His Church. His infinite Justice in light of His infinite love and mercy.

James 2:12

" 12Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!"
 
Matt:

I’ve suggested this many times, try the Theology of the Body. When Pope Paul VI wrote Humanae Vitae he mentioned a complete and adequate anthropology. Late Great John Paul II responded and introduced the Theology of the Body. Very dense but Christopher West does a good job bringging it down to our level…it’s from the philosophical approach of Christian Personalism; IMHO a perfect complement to Thomistic Philosophy.

One of my favorite quotes is this:

Jesus Christ is the human face of God and the divine face of man.

in XT.
 
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