How can Adam be the image of God?

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Needy1

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I don’t find any likeness of God in the Adam and Eve. And I don’t see them as image of God.
Why? Because, they seems like any sinners on current generation. Yet they supposed to be immaculate like Virgin Mary. They’ve been created without sin.

How can it possible? It’s not realistic. It’s contradicting. I guess, the God created them as a failuer? So, Adam wasn’t similar to God’s image and likeness at all, at least, 99 percent of the part.

Or what.

If you’re gonna say, you should not read Gen literally, then please tell me how should the Gen 1:26 be interpreted.
 
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We are all created in the image of God. It means that we are capable of love and all kinds of virtues. But at the same time we also have free will. Adam and Eve exercised their free will to sin.
 
The likeness that everyone speaks about is the nature of the soul.
 
So when you read the creation account in Genesis 1, the author never explicitly defines what is meant by image of God. Some people might imagine that it is our physical form. This doesn’t quite make sense since He is spirit. Some argue that being created in the image and likeness of God then has to do with human reason. I can see this making more sense, although I don’t think this quite covers it either. After all, many animals show at least some level to reason and use tools, etc. Some people think that being created in God’s image has something to do with having a soul. Yeah, maybe this is getting closer. The point is that, it isn’t defined, but it is something that God calls out uniquely about man. So what is it?

Personally, I think it has to do with God’s will to create man to have dominion over his creation. When you read Genesis 1, you see the following:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

The passage then goes on to God’s blessing of them and telling them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over it.

See the repetition of the theme that God created man to exercise dominion over his creation, sandwiched between statements that man was created in God’s image, seems to me to be a clue as to what the image of God is. I believe that being created in the image of God is related to this being uniquely created to exercise dominion over creation under God’s rule and will.

What is interesting is that though after the fall, God never revokes this command to exercise dominion over creation; however, our ability to do so under God’s rule and will is now ruined. This may be why in Genesis 5, Seth is described as being created in the image of Adam, rather than in the image of God.

The good news is that in Romans 8, Paul tells us that God is putting that all back. Through Jesus Christ all of that is being redeemed.
 
The Catechism
1701 "Christ, . . . in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, makes man fully manifest to himself and brings to light his exalted vocation."2 It is in Christ, "the image of the invisible God,"3 that man has been created “in the image and likeness” of the Creator. It is in Christ, Redeemer and Savior, that the divine image, disfigured in man by the first sin, has been restored to its original beauty and ennobled by the grace of God.4

1702 The divine image is present in every man. It shines forth in the communion of persons, in the likeness of the unity of the divine persons among themselves (cf. chapter two ).

1703 Endowed with “a spiritual and immortal” soul,5 the human person is "the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake."6 From his conception, he is destined for eternal beatitude.

1704 The human person participates in the light and power of the divine Spirit. By his reason, he is capable of understanding the order of things established by the Creator. By free will, he is capable of directing himself toward his true good. He finds his perfection "in seeking and loving what is true and good."7

1705 By virtue of his soul and his spiritual powers of intellect and will, man is endowed with freedom, an "outstanding manifestation of the divine image."8

1706 By his reason, man recognizes the voice of God which urges him "to do what is good and avoid what is evil."9 Everyone is obliged to follow this law, which makes itself heard in conscience and is fulfilled in the love of God and of neighbor. Living a moral life bears witness to the dignity of the person.
 
Do you agree that Adam and Eve had souls?
Do you accept souls are spiritual not material?
Do you accept God is pure Spirit?

There you go, thats quite a likeness isnt it?
 
Needy1 said:
I don’t find any likeness of God in the Adam and Eve. And I don’t see them as image of God.
Why? Because, they seems like any sinners on current generation. Yet they supposed to be immaculate like Virgin Mary. They’ve been created without sin.
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In Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
This is the first account of God creating the heavens and earth. The order of creation, every day of creation were the words: 'And God saw that it was good. At the end of the creation it is said: "And God saw all that he had made, and it was exceedingly good.

When God created "wisdom” (and it can be argued in the word create because wisdom is a attribute/persona), there are a number of synonyms, including “image,” “appearance of God,” and “ beginning .” So we now understand that wisdom was there before all things.
 
Needy1 said:
And I don’t see them as image of God.
Why?
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The first account of genesis is the spirit of both man and women The 2nd account is the physical account (the flesh). What did the apostle Paul write regarding the flesh? The flesh (physical) and the spirit are at constant odds with one another.
To set us free
  1. To complete the picture of the opposition between the body and the fruit of the Spirit—it should be observed that in everything that manifests life and behavior according to the Spirit, Paul sees at once the manifestation of that freedom for which Christ “has set us free” (Gal 5:1). He writes: “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal 5:13-14). As we have already pointed out, the opposition body/Spirit, life according to the flesh/ life according to the Spirit, deeply permeates the whole Pauline doctrine on justification. With exceptional force of conviction, the Apostle of the Gentiles proclaims that justification is carried out in Christ and through Christ. Man obtains justification in “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6), and not only by means of the observance of the individual prescriptions of Old Testament law (in particular, that of circumcision). Justification comes therefore “from the Spirit” (of God) and not “from the flesh.” Paul exhorts the recipients of his letter to free themselves from the erroneous carnal concept of justification, to follow the true one, that is, the spiritual one. In this sense he exhorts them to consider themselves free from the law, and even more to be free with the freedom for which Christ “has set us free.”
In this way, following the Apostle’s thought, we should consider and above all realize evangelical purity, that is, the purity of the heart, according to the measure of that freedom for which Christ “has set us free.”

Reference:

Opposition Between the Flesh and the Spirit Pope John Paul II
 
Dan_Defender said:
We are all created in the image of God. It means that we are capable of love and all kinds of virtues. But at the same time we also have free will. Adam and Eve exercised their free will to sin.
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Here is a childlike and yet profound way to test the power of the greatest commandments; when looking for a purpose for the creation of the universe and life.

Before the creation of the universe began, imagine God the Father, Son and Holy spirit looking out into the vast empty void of space. They are thinking, we have the power to create anything we want, what is the greatest good thing that we can create?

God could create all the stars and planets and be the supreme builder. He could create plants; and be the unsurpassed gardener. God could create the animal kingdom; and be the best farmer. God could create children in his own image and be the greatest father. Can God create anything greater than children in his own image?

God could love each and everyone of his children as he loves himself. Could God do anything greater?

We are given the greatest commandments to love as God loves, can we do anything greater?

Just a collection of words to challenge the mind to think.
 
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The question have been solved.
Now, I will rephrase the question for clarification anyway. The title of topic and the description were awful.

How did Adam sin, when he was immaculate, which means no original sin, like Holy Mary? Even, he owns the likeness of God, according to Gen 1:26. Why did he sin?
So, I don’t get why a man like him an image of God?

Answer is; According to book 1 of the Mystical City of God, by Venerated Mary of Agreda, the Devil attacked Eve directly. Therefore she was possible to commit sin, regardless of her state of the immaculate and the likeness of God. Then Eve persuaded Adam.
 
An image is a mere representation of the original. When you look in a mirror, you see an image of yourself; but the image does not take in oxygen and produce carbon dioxide; the image does not make noise when its hands clap together; the image has no scent or taste; etc. it has qualities like the original, but it is not the original. And there are differences between the image and the original. So your assumption that Adam and Eve should have been just like God is incorrect.

God cannot sin. Man can. That is one of the differences between us and our Creator. The fact that we have differences does not mean we aren’t made in the image of God; it means that we are merely an image of God.
 
Needy1 said:
Answer is; According to book 1 of the Mystical City of God, by Venerated Mary of Agreda, the Devil attacked Eve directly. Therefore she was possible to commit sin, regardless of her state of the immaculate and the likeness of God. Then Eve persuaded Adam.
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Genesis holds rwo accounts. Genesis 1:26 is the creation of man & woman. Genesia 2:7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nost rils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
(https://www-biblegateway-com.cdn.am...erface=amp&usqp=mq331AQECAFYAQ==#fen-NASB-38f)

How does Genesis 1:26 read? Then on the 6th day scripture reads, “31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” And then, Genesis 2 reads, " 2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day…and sanctified it.

4 (Genesis 2 NASB - And so the heavens and the earth were - Bible Gateway)]This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.

End-completed! Then, God the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, snd breath into nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.(Genesis 2 NASB - And so the heavens and the earth were - Bible Gateway)]

God gave mankind the ability to discern and judge. In the account of the temptation- the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. The serpent poses the question, " Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

Sin comes tthrough the door by conversing - opening the entrance to the thought. When one entertains the thought and then acts out the sin, it then becomes flesh and blood when we “act on the thought” or when we engage with it physically.

If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." Genesis 4, Cain was jealous of his brother, so out of his emotions, Cain kills. If Cain kept those emtions to himself would he still be liable? Yes, by Christ’s standards

“What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” Matthew 15:11
 
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I understand the question but you are reading the account of sin as a whole of creation. God had blessed and sanctified what He had made! Meaning that both the heavens and earth are His!

…and, gave us free will something that angels do not have.
 
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Needy1 said:
I don’t find any likeness of God in the Adam and Eve. And I don’t see them as image of God.
Why? Because, they seems like any sinners on current generation. Yet they supposed to be immaculate like Virgin Mary. They’ve been created without sin.

How can it possible? It’s not realistic. It’s contradicting. I guess, the God created them as a failuer? So, Adam wasn’t similar to God’s image and likeness at all, at least, 99 percent of the part.

Or what.

If you’re gonna say, you should not read Gen literally, then please tell me how should the Gen 1:26 be interpreted.
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Being in the image of God means that they have a rational soul and therefore capable of being supernaturally good. It doesn’t in itself make a person good. Satan was created in the image of God, which as we know, was a gift he abused.
 
Please quote the verse that states that Satan was created in the image of God. Thanks.
 
Okay… deep breath… We all know from Genesis that humans were created “in the image and likeness of God.”

There’s room in Church tradition for wondering whether or not angels (when originally created, before Satan and the evil angels rebelled and fell) were created in the image of God or not, or in the likeness of God or not, or in both.

The usual solution among the Fathers was that either angels were created in one or the other, but not in both; and there was a lot of arguing about which represented what.

In the Summa Theologiae, Aquinas argues that the “image of God” is having an intellectual nature, and that therefore the angels were created in the image of God. And you can read his reasoning here, in a translation of Summa Theologiae Part I, Question 93, Article 3. Further along on the same page, there’s a discussion of his concept of what “image of God” and “likeness of God” actually mean.
 
Everyone knows that man was made of mud and mud isn’t a perfect blend of minerals and orgainic materials this I label Adam as the mud man and Eve as the skinny, boney one. Which is to say… does it matter? We are here!
 
Your question ignores the full story. You need to consider both Old and New Testament teachings.

Genesis never said God made Adam perfect. Interestingly enough, Genesis never says much about the cause of the fallen angels, even though satan’s trickery is introduced as the cause of the fall of man. satan is just “there”.

The full, complete and perfect story isn’t really revealed until Mary and Jesus come on the scene in the New Testament. The Old Testament sets the stage for the New Testament. And, it is through the New Testament that mankind learns to perfectly address the problems seen in the Old Testament. Or - in other words - we know through the Saints, man sees God only in part, but that perfection is possible through following the completely fulfilled teachings in the New Testament.

What’s ultimately the most perfect, then, would be for man to deliberately choose to Love God.

The first man was simply incomplete.

Our God, Jesus, is the One who completes and fulfills this within us.

I dont see how it could be any other way.
 
In his book In the Beginning , Ratzinger writes:
“We must have the audacity to say that the great projects of the living creation are not the products of chance and error. Nor are they the products of a selective process to which divine predicates can be attributed in illogical, unscientific, and even mythic fashion. The great projects of the living creation point to a creating Reason and show us a creating Intelligence, and they do so more luminously and radiantly today than ever before. Thus we can say today with a new certitude and joyousness that the human being is indeed a divine project, which only the creating Intelligence was strong and great and audacious enough to conceive of. Human beings are not a mistake but something willed; they are the fruit of love. They can disclose in themselves, in the bold project that they are, the language of the creating Intelligence that speaks to them and that moves them to say: Yes, Father, you have willed me.”
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Ratzinger argues that the appeal of Christianity in late antiquity was precisely its capacity to unite the desire of philosophers for a rational worldview based on perception and knowledge, as opposed to the irrational poetry of the gods, with the deepest longings of the human heart for truths about human existence. To allow a positivist philosophy of evolution to dislodge Christianity, he insists, would not be a victory for enlightenment, but ultimately the triumph of irrationality.

He makes this case in Truth and Tolerance:
"The question is whether reality originated on the basis of chance and necessity and, thus, from what is irrational; that is, whether reason, being a chance by-product of irrationality and floating in an ocean of irrationality, is ultimately just as meaningless; or whether the principle that represents the fundamental conviction of Christian faith and of its philosophy remains true - In principio erat Verbum - at the beginning of all things stands the creative power of reason. Now as then, Christian faith represents the choice in favor of the priority of reason and of rationality."
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God doesn’t force us to live up to our true potential. Man is left in the hands of his own counsel as the Church teaches. We have the freedom to choose, a scary power considering that it’s given to a merely created being. And yet God deemed this good and worthwhile, apparently because something very good occurs when man chooses rightly; he actually contributes to his own justice.
 
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