CaptainOfOuterSpace

Forgive me if this has been discussed before, but I've been wondering: what is the generally-accepted interpretation of "in his image"?

Surely it cannot mean that God has arms and legs and a head... (is there anyone who still believes this?)

So does it mean that the "consciousness" of God is somehow similar to our own? If so, what about the following argument:

Our consciousness is shaped almost entirely by our environment. All of our thoughts are derived from real-world objects and phenomena. Without all of these stimuli, consciousness (if it would exist) would have a completely different shape, a completely different image. The question is, how could God's "image" have resembled ours before he created the world that makes our image possible?

Division By Zero

The typical response seems to be that we are made in his "Spiritual Image."

Whatever THAT'S supposed to mean. I've never really gotten an explanation.

CJD

Talk about overstatements. All of our thoughts? Some, to be sure, but not all. That's hardly provable.

If this were the case: "that the 'consciousness' of God is somehow similar to our own," then philosophical empiricism is not even an option.

BUT if we agree to start with your empiricism, then maybe the sheer existence of the stimuli as it is (as well as the common 'consciousness' derived from that stimuli) actually points to that Image in which we are all created?

Regards,

CJD

CX

It seems pretty clear to me that the ancient Yahwists conceived of a mostly anthropomorphic god as did the majority of cultures in antiquity. Likely "in his image" means just that. Yahweh made us to look like him. In the earliest layers of the biblical narrative god does very human things like walking around in Eden, talking out loud etc.

Volker.Doormann

The error in that thinking is, that existence shell be created out of nothing. But a universe cannot created out of nothing, as an energy can not be created out of nothing. Existence is. Timeless and alocal. Maybe you know that all matter is of oscillating electrons and nucleons. Stones, flowers, atheist. Each appearance is an illusion in the mind. Music, light, joy. Illusions. Nothing of this has a physical reality beyond Watts. If there is an existence beyond physical existence, for example the arguing you, then it seems, that it is first up to you to give a prove of your reality before you argue on a hypothetical thesis of a perpetual motion machine, that shell create a universe out of nothing. If you and the universe was ever, then your question would be unnecessary.

Volker