tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36100279.post5138291196234386461..comments2023-11-02T06:18:52.845-05:00Comments on Past Elder : The Divine Environment. An Essay on the Lifted Cross.Past Elderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10541968132598367551noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36100279.post-89039092430812517722014-09-24T15:49:57.347-05:002014-09-24T15:49:57.347-05:00Thanks for an enlightening and interesting post.
...Thanks for an enlightening and interesting post.<br /><br />With regard to man’s creation “in the image of God”, one of my Eastern Orthodox friends has told me that some early Church Fathers, including Saints Irenaeus and Gregory of Nyssa, as well as Gregory of Palamas (not a Church Father) believed that we were literally created in the image of God. God saw His Son, Who was to become incarnate many years later, and created Adam in His image. Apparently the Hebrew word, tselem, always refers to a concrete image in the OT, and is not used in the metaphoric sense. Genesis 5:3, “When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth”, appears to use the word in the same, concrete sense.<br /><br />I personally find this idea appealing, because it saves me the effort of reading all of those libraries of books about what it means to be “created in the image of God”, with all the speculative excesses about “the good in human nature.”<br />Peace and Joy!<br />George A. MarquartAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com