Human Life as an "Imago Dei"

God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Gen 1:27)

There are numerous views regarding human life such as philosophical, sociological, psychological, biblical, to mention a few but, in my opinion, the biblical view is the most fruitful one, especially for people living in the modern societies.  The book of Genesis (Gen 1:27) depicts human life as an “imago Dei” or image of God.  This view contributes a much positive outlook on human life in a very challenging, fast-changing world.

Before the spread of Christianity in Mediterranean region, the Greeks developed a secular, philosophical outlook on human life.  Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, argued that human life is unique among other forms because it is the only form of life which is rational.  Human beings, so to say, differ from plants, animals and other forms of life because we are rational.  Being rational is also our very end.  Ethically, we act according to the dictates of reason, yet not according to our desires, emotions, or impulses. 

The merit of this classical view lies in the affirmation of our greatest power –our reasoning power.  This truth has been affirmed by a number of prominent thinkers in the West.  Sigmund Freud is famous among them.  The tendency of those thinkers advocating this view is that they limit their understanding of human beings only in terms of our inherent power and purposive end.  For them, there is no other end for humanity aside from being rational.  Our happiness is attained when we realize our nature.  For Freud, the main goal of man is “to become conscious of what is unconscious.”

However, to view human life as essentially rational is inadequate in substance.  We know that we are multi-dimensional and maybe the most special (if not essential) aspect of being human is that we are spiritual.  Our spiritual aspect is something higher in our human nature.  Our happiness cannot only be attained in full realization of being rational but also when we have gone back to our real place –the heavenly paradise or in the bosom of the heavenly Father.  Using a parable, Jesus positively affirmed this very aspect of us, saying: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” (John 12: 23-25). 

The metaphor of a grain of wheat tells us two important things about life: first, life is not simply physical or as it appears to us, and second, life has “hidden potentialities to die, to grow, and to live in the eternal glory of God,” the heavenly Father.  This is all true because God created us in his image and likeness.

WHY FRUITFUL?

To revisit this paradigm of life as Imago Dei is a fruitful one especially for us striving amidst consumerism and materialism.  With consumerism and materialism, the world is telling us that to become real person in modern times is to consume a lot.  The world has a lot to offer.  If we go, for example, to the downtown area, almost everything we need is already there, and alluring us to buy and buy things even unnecessary.  Little did we know that if we consume a lot, we also produce a lot of wastes, and these wastes cause us a big problem on how to dispose or recycle them.  I suppose, our problem on wastes is not only due to unscrupulous consumption of goods, which is a moral one, but mainly due to a misguided living.  We no longer live according to the Gospel values.

Christ once admonishes us saying, “man cannot live by bread alone, but by the words of God.” 

In conclusion, our modern world forms, in-forms and even transforms us to be materialistic, and this materialistic belief deadens our spiritual sense.  Lastly, we need to be heedful of some views that neglect the important aspect of our humanity –that is, the spiritual one.

(published in the PRO-LIFE ADVOCACY newsletter, St Paul University Dumaguete)