If We Are Created In God's Image, Why Is He Nothing Like Us?

[AngryAtheist8]

According to Catholic doctrine God created us in His image, yet He is virtually nothing like us.

We humans learn by experimentation and studying our environment, as well as by sharing knowledge with one another. God has never learned anything, He is All Knowing and always has been. As soon as God asks Himself a question He has the answer.

Humans are relatively weak for creatures of our size. We are not that strong, we have no natural defense like an exoskeleton or stink gland, and we have no natural weapons such as claws or fangs. The only reason we have dominated our environment is our intelligence, ability to make and use tools, and talent for organizing ourselves into efficient groups. God is All Powerful and does not need to use tools, think through problems, or employ group tactics to accomplish anything. He simply wills it, and it is done.

Humans come in 2 distinct sexes, woman and man, male and female. It is how we reproduce, how we relate to one another, and (for better or worse) a big part of how we organize our societies. God has no sex, yet He is in some way masculine (God the Father), lacking a feminine aspect observed in half of humanity.

It seems to me that if a god like the one described above made creatures in his own image they would be more like him. Can Catholic theology explain this apparent inconsistency?

 

[1ke]

According to Catholic doctrine God created us in His image, yet He is virtually nothing like us.

To be made in God’s image means we have an immortal soul and the two principles of the soul-- intellect and will.

We humans learn by experimentation and studying our environment, as well as by sharing knowledge with one another. God has never learned anything, He is All Knowing and always has been. As soon as God asks Himself a question He has the answer.

Humans are relatively weak for creatures of our size. We are not that strong, we have no natural defense like an exoskeleton or stink gland, and we have no natural weapons such as claws or fangs. The only reason we have dominated our environment is our intelligence, ability to make and use tools, and talent for organizing ourselves into efficient groups. God is All Powerful and does not need to use tools, think through problems, or employ group tactics to accomplish anything. He simply wills it, and it is done.

Humans come in 2 distinct sexes, woman and man, male and female. It is how we reproduce, how we relate to one another, and (for better or worse) a big part of how we organize our societies. God has no sex, yet He is in some way masculine (God the Father), lacking a feminine aspect observed in half of humanity.

It seems to me that if a god like the one described above made creatures in his own image they would be more like him. Can Catholic theology explain this apparent inconsistency?

You have described the two principles of the soul–knowing and loving. Intellect and will.

Although we know and love in ways that are different from God, our spiritual soul makes us like God and different from the rest of material creation.

 

[buffalo]

Paragraph 6. Man
355 "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them."218 Man occupies a unique place in creation: (I) he is “in the image of God”; (II) in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; (III) he is created “male and female”; (IV) God established him in his friendship.
** I. “IN THE IMAGE OF GOD” **
356 Of all visible creatures only man is “able to know and love his creator”.219 He is “the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake”,220 and he alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God’s own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity:

What made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly the incalculable love by which you have looked on your creature in yourself! You are taken with love for her; for by love indeed you created her, by love you have given her a being capable of tasting your eternal Good.221
357 Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead.
358 God created everything for man,222 but man in turn was created to serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him:

What is it that is about to be created, that enjoys such honor? It is man that great and wonderful living creature, more precious in the eyes of God than all other creatures! For him the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rest of creation exist. God attached so much importance to his salvation that he did not spare his own Son for the sake of man. Nor does he ever cease to work, trying every possible means, until he has raised man up to himself and made him sit at his right hand.223
359 "In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear."224

St. Paul tells us that the human race takes its origin from two men: Adam and Christ. . . The first man, Adam, he says, became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit. The first Adam was made by the last Adam, from whom he also received his soul, to give him life. . . The second Adam stamped his image on the first Adam when he created him. That is why he took on himself the role and the name of the first Adam, in order that he might not lose what he had made in his own image. The first Adam, the last Adam: the first had a beginning, the last knows no end. The last Adam is indeed the first; as he himself says: "I am the first and the last."225
360 Because of its common origin the human race forms a unity, for “from one ancestor [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth”:226

O wondrous vision, which makes us contemplate the human race in the unity of its origin in God. . . in the unity of its nature, composed equally in all men of a material body and a spiritual soul; in the unity of its immediate end and its mission in the world; in the unity of its dwelling, the earth, whose benefits all men, by right of nature, may use to sustain and develop life; in the unity of its supernatural end: God himself, to whom all ought to tend; in the unity of the means for attaining this end;. . . in the unity of the redemption wrought by Christ for all.227
361 “This law of human solidarity and charity”,228 without excluding the rich variety of persons, cultures and peoples, assures us that all men are truly brethren.

 

[AngryAtheist8]

Paragraph 6. Man
355 "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them."218 Man occupies a unique place in creation: (I) he is “in the image of God”; (II) in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; (III) he is created “male and female”; (IV) God established him in his friendship.
** I. “IN THE IMAGE OF GOD” **
356 Of all visible creatures only man is “able to know and love his creator”.219 He is “the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake”,220 and he alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God’s own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity:

What made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly the incalculable love by which you have looked on your creature in yourself! You are taken with love for her; for by love indeed you created her, by love you have given her a being capable of tasting your eternal Good.221
357 Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead.
358 God created everything for man,222 but man in turn was created to serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him:

What is it that is about to be created, that enjoys such honor? It is man that great and wonderful living creature, more precious in the eyes of God than all other creatures! For him the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rest of creation exist. God attached so much importance to his salvation that he did not spare his own Son for the sake of man. Nor does he ever cease to work, trying every possible means, until he has raised man up to himself and made him sit at his right hand.223
359 "In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear."224

St. Paul tells us that the human race takes its origin from two men: Adam and Christ. . . The first man, Adam, he says, became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit. The first Adam was made by the last Adam, from whom he also received his soul, to give him life. . . The second Adam stamped his image on the first Adam when he created him. That is why he took on himself the role and the name of the first Adam, in order that he might not lose what he had made in his own image. The first Adam, the last Adam: the first had a beginning, the last knows no end. The last Adam is indeed the first; as he himself says: "I am the first and the last."225
360 Because of its common origin the human race forms a unity, for “from one ancestor [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth”:226

O wondrous vision, which makes us contemplate the human race in the unity of its origin in God. . . in the unity of its nature, composed equally in all men of a material body and a spiritual soul; in the unity of its immediate end and its mission in the world; in the unity of its dwelling, the earth, whose benefits all men, by right of nature, may use to sustain and develop life; in the unity of its supernatural end: God himself, to whom all ought to tend; in the unity of the means for attaining this end;. . . in the unity of the redemption wrought by Christ for all.227
361 “This law of human solidarity and charity”,228 without excluding the rich variety of persons, cultures and peoples, assures us that all men are truly brethren.

You make no mention of the fact that God apparently lacks a feminine aspect. This would not necessarily mean anything, except for the fact that he is stated to have a masculine one.

 

[buffalo]

You make no mention of the fact that God apparently lacks a feminine aspect. This would not necessarily mean anything, except for the fact that he is stated to have a masculine one.

** III. “MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM”**
Equality and difference willed by God
369 Man and woman have been created, which is to say, *willed *by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. “Being man” or “being woman” is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator.240 Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity “in the image of God”. In their “being-man” and “being-woman”, they reflect the Creator’s wisdom and goodness.

370 In no way is God in man’s image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But the respective “perfections” of man and woman reflect something of the infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and husband.241
"Each for the other" - "A unity in two"
371 God created man and woman together and willed each for the other. The Word of God gives us to understand this through various features of the sacred text. "It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him."242 None of the animals can be man’s partner.243 The woman God “fashions” from the man’s rib and brings to him elicits on the man’s part a cry of wonder, an exclamation of love and communion: "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh."244 Man discovers woman as another “I”, sharing the same humanity.
372 Man and woman were made “for each other” - not that God left them half-made and incomplete: he created them to be a communion of persons, in which each can be “helpmate” to the other, for they are equal as persons (“bone of my bones. . .”) and complementary as masculine and feminine. In marriage God unites them in such a way that, by forming “one flesh”,245 they can transmit human life: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth."246 By transmitting human life to their descendants, man and woman as spouses and parents cooperate in a unique way in the Creator’s work.247
373 In God’s plan man and woman have the vocation of “subduing” the earth248 as stewards of God. This sovereignty is not to be an arbitrary and destructive domination. God calls man and woman, made in the image of the Creator “who loves everything that exists”,249 to share in his providence toward other creatures; hence their responsibility for the world God has entrusted to them.

 

[JackVk]

You make no mention of the fact that God apparently lacks a feminine aspect. This would not necessarily mean anything, except for the fact that he is stated to have a masculine one.

I can’t remember which Bible passage it is at the moment, but one says something along the lines of God “caring for us as a mother cares for a child.” This would obviously be a feminine attribute.

 

[TC2]

You’ve got it a bit backward, I think.

The true question should be, if we’re created in His image, then why arent WE more like HIM???

That should be our daily goal, in everything we do.

 

[AngryAtheist8]

You’ve got it a bit backward, I think.

The true question should be, if we’re created in His image, then why arent WE more like HIM???

That should be our daily goal, in everything we do.

Perhaps I have it backwards from a theological perspective, but not from a philosophical one. From a philosophical perspective its perfectly reasonable to say 'okay…this god is supposed to have created us in his image…according to his followers he is All-Knowing, All-Powerful, and sexless…doesn’t sound much like us does it?

 

[AngryAtheist8]

** III. “MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM”**
Equality and difference willed by God
369 Man and woman have been created, which is to say, *willed *by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. “Being man” or “being woman” is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator.240 Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity “in the image of God”. In their “being-man” and “being-woman”, they reflect the Creator’s wisdom and goodness.

370 In no way is God in man’s image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But the respective “perfections” of man and woman reflect something of the infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and husband.241
"Each for the other" - "A unity in two"
371 God created man and woman together and willed each for the other. The Word of God gives us to understand this through various features of the sacred text. "It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him."242 None of the animals can be man’s partner.243 The woman God “fashions” from the man’s rib and brings to him elicits on the man’s part a cry of wonder, an exclamation of love and communion: "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh."244 Man discovers woman as another “I”, sharing the same humanity.
372 Man and woman were made “for each other” - not that God left them half-made and incomplete: he created them to be a communion of persons, in which each can be “helpmate” to the other, for they are equal as persons (“bone of my bones. . .”) and complementary as masculine and feminine. In marriage God unites them in such a way that, by forming “one flesh”,245 they can transmit human life: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth."246 By transmitting human life to their descendants, man and woman as spouses and parents cooperate in a unique way in the Creator’s work.247
373 In God’s plan man and woman have the vocation of “subduing” the earth248 as stewards of God. This sovereignty is not to be an arbitrary and destructive domination. God calls man and woman, made in the image of the Creator “who loves everything that exists”,249 to share in his providence toward other creatures; hence their responsibility for the world God has entrusted to them.

If God is neither man nor woman, but pure spirit, then why does the Church insist on calling him God the Father. And get upset when he is called God the Mother.

 

[buffalo]

If God is neither man nor woman, but pure spirit, then why does the Church insist on calling him God the Father. And get upset when he is called God the Mother.

**WHY GOD IS FATHER AND NOT MOTHER **

 

[1ke]

If God is neither man nor woman, but pure spirit, then why does the Church insist on calling him God the Father.

It is not the Church who arbitrarily calls God “Father.” It is God himself who revealed this to us. It is not an attribute of sex but of relationship– both his relationship within the Godhead and his relationship to us.

And get upset when he is called God the Mother.

God did not reveal himself to be Mother. He revealed himself to be Father. But, again, not in sex but in relationship. Therefore, the qualities we associate with a mother are all present in God.

239 By calling God “Father”, the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children. God’s parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood, which emphasizes God’s immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature. The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this experience also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard: no one is father as God is Father.

240 Jesus revealed that God is Father in an unheard-of sense: he is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally Father in relation to his only Son, who is eternally Son only in relation to his Father: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

 

[1ke]

Perhaps I have it backwards from a theological perspective, but not from a philosophical one. From a philosophical perspective its perfectly reasonable to say 'okay…this god is supposed to have created us in his image…according to his followers he is All-Knowing, All-Powerful, and sexless…doesn’t sound much like us does it?

Because you misunderstand what “image” means. It means we have a spiritual soul with intellect and will. Ours is finite in that we are created, God’s is infinite.

 

[AngryAtheist8]

It is not the Church who arbitrarily calls God “Father.” It is God himself who revealed this to us. It is not an attribute of sex but of relationship– both his relationship within the Godhead and his relationship to us.

God did not reveal himself to be Mother. He revealed himself to be Father. But, again, not in sex but in relationship. Therefore, the qualities we associate with a mother are all present in God.

239 By calling God “Father”, the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children. God’s parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood, which emphasizes God’s immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature. The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this experience also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard: no one is father as God is Father.

240 Jesus revealed that God is Father in an unheard-of sense: he is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally Father in relation to his only Son, who is eternally Son only in relation to his Father: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

I have never heard a satisfactory explanation for why this line of reasoning does not lead to the natural conclusion that fathers are better than mothers, and men are superior to
women.

 

[1ke]

I have never heard a satisfactory explanation for why this line of reasoning does not lead to the natural conclusion that fathers are better than mothers, and men are superior to women.

I’m not sure why. Fathers and mothers are different– not better or worse, superior or inferior.

If God were Mother, would that mean mothers are better than fathers and women are superior to men?

Why must one be superior and one inferior?

 

[illmatic]

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but humans before the fall were not the same as humans after the fall.

 

[1ke]

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but humans before the fall were not the same as humans after the fall.

You are not wrong, but I’m not sure your point is relevant to the discussion either. Even with preternatural gifts and supernatural grace, we still were not *like *God in the way AA suggests.

 

[buffalo]

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but humans before the fall were not the same as humans after the fall.

Two humans, Adam and Eve were endowed with preternatural gifts including immortality.

They fell and all humans thereafter lost these gifts and are subject to corruption.

 

[AngryAtheist8]

**WHY GOD IS FATHER AND NOT MOTHER **

I just read that article.

It has most of the traditional arguments for why men are supposedly more holy/close to God than women (except the ones that simply claim women are dumber, more lustful, etc.). It basically boils down to the idea that because men begin (initiate) the process of pregnancy/reproduction and do not go through the work of creating a child in their body, they are more like God.

This is essentially the same old idea that many of the ancient Greek philosophers had.
Which is that women are more base and therefore less spiritual because they go through pregnancy and give birth.

I have heard more than one female comedian joke that giving birth is enough to show that the (human) design isn’t intelligent. But if we assume that the woman was designed solely for the man’s benefit (with no thought for her regard) that design makes a bit more sense.

Many of the ancients, Jew, Greek, or otherwise seemed to operate on that assumption.

 

[buffalo]

I just read that article.

It has most of the traditional arguments for why men are supposedly more holy/close to God than women (except the ones that simply claim women are dumber, more lustful, etc.). It basically boils down to the idea that because men begin (initiate) the process of pregnancy/reproduction and do not go through the work of creating a child in their body, they are more like God.

This is essentially the same old idea that many of the ancient Greek philosophers had.
Which is that women are more base and therefore less spiritual because they go through pregnancy and give birth.

I have heard more than one female comedian joke that giving birth is enough to show that the (human) design isn’t intelligent. But if we assume that the woman was designed solely for the man’s benefit (with no thought for her regard) that design makes a bit more sense.

Many of the ancients, Jew, Greek, or otherwise seemed to operate on that assumption.

Remember two essentials:

Eve came from Adam
Eve was punished with the pain of childbirth

 

[bhall0689]

Hello!

I would like to give you a hypothesis from someone who considers themselves spiritually inclined, though not necessarily Catholic or even strictly Christian. I just enjoy theology.

We have something very special called a soul - it is what animates us, and allows us the ability to imagine the divine. Our ability to imagine, doubt, question, and believe in the divine makes us distinct from every other living thing, which does not have the mental capabilities to comprehend such a thing.

In a sense this is “God” - our ability to reason, to decipher good and bad, to have a religious experience (using the word in a loose sense). God Himself would be the ultimate manifestation of that - love, reason, awe, justice, all noble and distinctly “human” concepts. We are imperfect and the divine is perfect - therefore we are imperfect reflections of His perfect ideals.

I think this is somewhat compatible with more than one religion, seems to be a common vein that runs through many.