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The Imago Dei

July 28th, 2020 | 2 min read

By Caleb Wait

The Imago Dei is one of the most used theological categories to argue why all humans deserve dignity and sanctity. However, is this all that the imago dei should be used for? The entire cast and crew of Matt, Derek, Alastair, and Andrew are here to discuss how to think and speak about the imago dei: was Barth right about the image, should it be used to describe human rights, and what are the actual contents of the imago dei? Listen in to hear answers to all of these questions and more.

Timestamps:

The imago dei is used all of the time in popular discourse. Although, as a formulation in scripture, it doesn’t seem to be that pervasive. How should we think about that paradox and how should we think about its use in scripture? [0:00 – 8:45]

Is there a reason to see a kind of Barthian Christocentricity in the imago dei? [8:45 – 11:11]

The contents of the imago dei [11:11 – 19:00]

We often use the imago dei as an argument for why humans deserve to be treated with dignity and sanctity. Are there biblical images and phrases that support this popular use? [19:00 – 25:42]

How mankind grows into the imago dei as a role [25:42 – 29:00]

Our tendency to lose the biblical content regarding the imago dei and merely replace it with western ideas about one’s rights [29:00 – 39:40]

How should we encourage others to use the theological category of the imago dei rightly? [39:40 – 48:32]

 

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Finally, as always, follow DerekAndrew, and Alastair for more tweet-sized brilliance. Thanks to Timothy Motte for his sound editing work. And thanks to The Joy Eternal for lending us their music, which everybody should download out of gratitude for their kindness.