John Calvin's Images

Introduction: The term "image of God" occurs three times in the Bible. In Genesis 1:26-27 and 9:6, we find out that man is created in the image of God. In 2 Cor. 4:4 we see the phrase used in reference to Jesus who is the "image of God." There is no exact understanding of what the phrase means, but we can generalize. It would seem that the first two verses refer to God's character and attributes that are reflected in people. The term cannot be a reference to a physical appearance of God since Jesus says in John 4:24 that God is Spirit, and in Luke 24:39 Spirit does not have flesh and bones. Therefore, we can conclude that the image of God deals with humanity's reflection of

There have been many works of literature written over time that would be classified as ‘religious’, but only a portion of these pieces are graced with the approval of the Catholic Church. In 1536, John Calvin published his Institutes of the Christian Religion, which both criticizes and reforms various aspects of the practices that make up the Christian religion. St. Teresa of Avila also published a religious piece in regards to Christian meditation practices in 1588. Rather than reforming the religion, in Interior Castle, St. Teresa illustrates how Christians can reach a final destination of a union with God through seven stages of spiritual development. Although Calvin and St. Teresa have both written religious pieces of literature; Calvin’s

He explains the significance of mankind’s creation and the original sin’s effect on creation. St. Athanasius states that humans were created in the Image of God to be aligned with God’s will, and remain incorrupt. Furthermore, man was created with a unique and special grace from God. However, mankind’s relationship with God was broken through the Fall, and death was the penalty. St. Athanasius argues that because of the original sin, the Word took on human form in order to rescue mankind, and grant salvation, so that death was no longer the penalty for sin.

In John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion he spends a great deal of time expounding his doctrine of God's Divine providence in all of creation. He explains not only how God continually governs the laws of nature, but also how God governs man's actions and intentions to bring about His own Divine Will. Calvin believes that God's providence is so encompassing in creation that even a man's own actions, in many ways, are decreed by God. Because of this belief there arises the question, "Does Calvin leave room for the free will of man?"

The Image of God clearly Wesley understands it better than any traditional, In general, it seems that Wesley understands that the image of God is a relational and social. In other word, he “described as a vocation or calling to which human beings are called the fulfillment of which constitutes their true destiny” (Runyon 13 – 14). Furthermore, Wesley agree that the biblical account clearly teaches that humans are created God's image and that understanding that image is central to understanding God's will for human nature. However, the problem is Wesley differs in their interpretation of the definition of the image of God. Wesley favored what Runyon and Collins cites as natural, political, and moral images (Collins 51).

Throughout these stories God and humans are both described in similar ways. When God first created man, he "created humankind in his image"(Genesis

Man was made in the image of God. “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27). How could a non-personal being create people with personalities? God has a loving relationship with man.

God set us apart from the animals and made us in his image. We are mentally smarter, emotionally deeper, rationale beings not animals. Being made in his image doesn't mean I look exactly like God, but that parts of me reflect God. That

God created man in His own image. Some traces of God 's characteristics can be seen in mankind such as love, kindness, compassion and justice.

I believe that human beings, who have the image of God, are the best creature in the world. Therefore, they can instinctually recognize the existence of God and have capacities to choose somethings and to create somethings creatively. For John Wesley, human beings are created by God in the image of God, which means that they have similar characteristics to God. Scott J. Jones insists, “we share God’s nature in that we are immortal spirits who have various divine capacities: understanding, freedom of the will, and affections.” In this view, in the beginning, the human beings have capacities not only to understand God in the communication between God and them, but also to choose and do anything which they want. However, at the Fall, their characteristics given by God became malfunctioned by Adam’s exploiting their free will not obey God, but disobey God, which generates the original sin. John Wesley explains about this in his sermon ‘The New Birth,’ “The natural consequence of this is that everyone descended from him

What does it mean for God to be “sovereign?” This is the question that has perhaps caused more controversy than any other. For John Calvin, God was completely sovereign. Nothing outside the will of God could take place, because everything that has taken place, is taking place, or will take place has been divinely ordained before time began. God is the source of all good, and evil cannot take place without His permission. According to Calvin, all of humankind are lost in their sins, and so depraved that they are incapable of finding salvation without God performing an inner-miracle within them. This being said, God has elected to Himself a chosen people from the beginning of time, not off of merit, but sola gratia.

The Lord God created man in his own image. He used the dust from the ground and molded it to create the first ever human, Adam. The

Since we are Imago Dei, we cannot truly understand humanity unless we refer to God. We are “His own image” , so to understand who we are as beings, we must come to know God – the Ultimate Creator. Hence, God created us with the desire and capability of knowing and loving God; Capax Dei i.e. “The mind is the image of God, in that it is capable of Him and can be partaker of Him” – Augustine . Christ and the Holy Spirit revealed God to us, so we can imitate Him in order to become truly human. We are rational and free, and thus it is up to us whether we want to become in God’s likeness or not. By accepting this invitation, we are able to communicate and build a relationship with Him, and as we learn in eschatology, we eventually arrive and see God face-to-face and be

In the beginning of the Bible in the Book of Genesis, it is revealed to use in 1:26-27 that God has created man in his image. The text verbatim states “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” From this distinct text we can clearly conclude that when ad created man and woman, they were destined to be in God’s image and carry his image throughout his creation. Today we can see that many of us do not live in God’s image due to society becoming more secularized as it progresses through the years, however as Christians we can verse this by living in God’s image in our chosen vocations, churches, and even in the

God created humankind exactly how He pictured them to be. In Genesis, God created Adam from the dust on the ground to give him life. From Adam He took a rib to make it into Eve. They were created to serve Him and were beautiful in His eyes. In Ephesians 2:10, Paul implores that “…we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do” (New International Version). Throughout the Bible people are reminded that God created mankind in His image.