The Significance of God’s Image in Man

Abstract

It is now nearly a quarter of a century since David Clines gave his 1967 Tyndale Old Testament lecture 'The image of God in Man'.1 Since that time, the flood of articles and books dealing with the image and likene.ss of God in man has multiplied a good deal, and the theological climate has changed considerably .2 Whereas Clines' radical repudiation of theological tradition went hand in hand with a most generous readiness to accept Ancient Near Eastern influences of all kinds, scholars now tend to insist that the question of the image must be addressed in theological terms, even though most of them continue to be unhappy with the way in which the classical tradition actually developed.3 This article outlines (i) the current state of exegesis; (ii) the problems connected with the traditional theological interpretation of Genesis 1:26; (iii) the newly recognised importance of intertestamental Judaism for a Christian doctrine of the image of God; (iv) an extended commentary on the relevant New Testament passages; and (v) a new theological reconstruction of the doctrine based on the evidence which the New Testament provides.