Comments on: Shadows of the Almighty

By: The creative plurality of God in Genesis 1 « He is sufficient

The creative plurality of God in Genesis 1 « He is sufficient — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:01:56 +0000

[...] 15, 2007 genesis 1 Tags: david clines, image of god, spirit, word In the aftermath of my ruminations on the nature of humankind vis-a-vis Genesis 1:27, John Hobbins kindly pointed me to an essay by [...]

By: ElShaddai Edwards

ElShaddai Edwards — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:09:24 +0000

Thanks, John. I've printed David Clines' essay and look forward to reading it.

By: John Hobbins

John Hobbins — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:39:51 +0000

Hi ElShaddai, and thanks for a thoughtful post. If you want to pursue the subject od “image of God” further, check out the posts listed under Genesis 1:26-28 and 1:27 in the text index of my blog. The essay I link to, by David Clines, contains much food for thought.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:35:36 +0000

Numbers 31, all the people listed as Adam are women, 32,000. Doesn’t Alter use “humankind” for Adam? He calls Adam a generic term for the human race.

By: ElShaddai Edwards

ElShaddai Edwards — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:10:22 +0000

Thanks for the note, Kevin. Somewhere in Suzanne’s voluminous posting this summer, she (or one of her commenters) had some notes on the context of the Hebrew adam and whether it was specifically male or actually did denote “humankind” as rendered by many modern Bibles. I’ll see if I can find the reference…

By: Kevin Sam

Kevin Sam — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 04:34:12 +0000

My answer would be that woman is a shadow of God, just as man is! Both male and female forms are imperfect copies of God. When we are yoked together, we may come closer in fidelity to the qualities of our original than we do separately….why not see all of those qualities reflected in humankind, just as God created us.

Elshaddai, thanks for a really good post. I have feeling that you are right on there. Even though man was created in God’s image, who are we to say that woman was also not created in God’s image? If the OT writer of Genesis could have used today’s rendering of “humankind”, maybe he would have.

By: ElShaddai Edwards

ElShaddai Edwards — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:55:41 +0000

Don’t forget Seth however. He was in the image of his father.

Genesis 5:1b-3 — “On the day when God created human beings he made them in his own likeness. He created them male and female, and on the day when he created them, he blessed them and called them man. Adam was one hundred and thirty years old when he begot a son in his likeness and image, and named him Seth.” (REB)

A shadow of a shadow… I read that as affirming that the descendants of Adam were made of the same flawed substance [flesh + spirit] as the original copy, not a different copy of the original, e.g. a different image of God.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:09:18 +0000

My posts on Shaddai are quite a ramble as well. I had no idea it would be so complex. See my latest post. I once did a study of “in the image of” but have forgotten it all. Don’t forget Seth however. He was in the image of his father.

By: ElShaddai Edwards

ElShaddai Edwards — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 03:44:24 +0000

P.S. I have no idea of the theological implications of this ramble. If I need a corrective, rebuke or challenge, please jump in.