How do I respond to someone who think's that God is "selfish" for making man in his own image?

[sidetrack]

I once heard a person say that how can God be so selfish as to make man in his own image.I think he later on said that why did’nt he choose another creature to be made in his own image.When I heard this I thought “selfish”?.He’s not selfish for making us in his image.It’s a huge sign of respect,trust and love.That however was probably one of the more “unique” questions I’ve encountered.I’m curious to know what people in this forum think I should respond to a person who would think this?.

Also as a bit of an aside I would like to thank everyone who has responded to the what I now see as a few various “How do I respond to” threads

Thank you all very much so for your time.

 

[Waiting]

I once heard a person say that how can God be so selfish as to make man in his own image.I think he later on said that why did’nt he choose another creature to be made in his own image.When I heard this I thought “selfish”?.He’s not selfish for making us in his image.It’s a huge sign of respect,trust and love.That however was probably one of the more “unique” questions I’ve encountered.I’m curious to know what people in this forum think I should respond to a person who would think this?.

Also as a bit of an aside I would like to thank everyone who has responded to the what I now see as a few various “How do I respond to” threads

Thank you all very much so for your time.

I don’t understand how “selfish” fits in here. Being made in the image of God simply means that God has given us intellect and free will. Without either of these attributes, where would we be? How would we function? Certainly we wouldn’t be above the level of the average animal.

 

[Earnest_Bunbury]

No one could understand how selfish fits in as it is not a reasonable conclusion. There is much underlying this that is in error.

The problem is the myriad of philosophies and ideals today that are false and contrary to reason. The good thing is that most of them are unlivable and lead to problems that can be identified and rectified. It is possible that some don’t want to be reasonable, and they like the error as it feeds the hate and despair they prefer. They actively work to thwart God’s Grace.

It isn’t just a statement that will fix this but a life lived in union with the source of reason and truth, God. It is when the unreasonable are humbled that they begin to be open to accept what they don’t yet understand but see as producing peace in others. Offering them the knowledge we have of God may set them on their own search for this peace. And as we all know, all those who seek shall find. But not all want to find.

 

[Theophorus]

I once heard a person say that how can God be so selfish as to make man in his own image.I think he later on said that why did’nt he choose another creature to be made in his own image.When I heard this I thought “selfish”?.He’s not selfish for making us in his image.It’s a huge sign of respect,trust and love.That however was probably one of the more “unique” questions I’ve encountered.I’m curious to know what people in this forum think I should respond to a person who would think this?.

Also as a bit of an aside I would like to thank everyone who has responded to the what I now see as a few various “How do I respond to” threads

Thank you all very much so for your time.

God it the ultimate and perfect good, I can’t think of another in whose image I would prefer to have been made. As for the other creatures bit, that is rather weird. God created and called humanity in order that we might share in the Divine life. Other creatures have their purpose and we have ours rather than grumble this person should be thankful of the gift they were given. Failing that has this person considered joining PETA and getting a copy of their animally inclusive Bible?

 

[Joel_PF]

God is, in a sense, Being itself. Everything that exists necessarily reflects Him, and it couldn’t be otherwise, since the opposite of being is nothingness.

Now, man reflects God more perfectly than the rest of material creation. We are said to be in His image because we have a spiritual nature, like Him (that is, we think and will, we have the capacity for rational thought). We couldn’t ask for much more than being in His image.

And also, what is so bad with being “selfish”, when the self that is loved is good? Of course God loves Himself above all.

Even human beings ought to love themselves, since we are images of God, and therefore also good.

This is something that Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas touched upon: most people, when they say that someone “loves himself”, mean something bad, namely that the person loves the lower part of his nature (carnal pleasures, for instance) more than the higher, spiritual, part of his nature. We say that these people are “selfish”, that they “love only themselves”, but in fact they do what is bad for themselves, and thus they don’t really love themselves (to love is, after all, to want what is truly good for someone).

A proper love of self is a very virtuous thing. The man who loves God above all things and his neighbors as himself does exactly what is best for himself, so he is the one that truly loves himself; so you see that, in the good man, selfishness and selflessness are harmonious, two sides of the same coin.