Thinking Out Loud with Alan Shlemon - The Imago Dei in Man

Episode Date: November 3, 2018

Alan explains the implications of being made in the image of God and why society is shooting itself in the foot for rejecting this principle. Download the mp3...

The other day, I lifted a cabinet in my garage and I saw two rats just scurry for cover. And that's not good. I don't want rats tunneling through my house or leaving, you know, feces in my garage or dying behind the drywall. So I did what every homeowner does and I laid two traps. And after a few hours, I heard this loud snap, you know. Then just an hour later, I caught the second one. Problem solved. No single police officer came after me. Now, had I accidentally hit a toddler with my car, well, that would be a big problem. And the police would probably get involved. And depending on the circumstances, I could go to jail.

Now, why is that? What makes rats so trivial and toddlers so treasured? It's a single thing that makes a world of difference, and that is the image of God, the imago Dei, as we say it. Now, the Judeo-Christian worldview teaches that human beings are different from animals, not just in degree, but in kind, right? Animals are creatures, but humans are a special kind of creature, one that is uniquely created in the image of their creator. Now, we get this here from Genesis 1, 27, where it says, God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him, male and female, he created them. Now, this short verse sets the foundation for human rights in Western civilization for the past 2,000 years.

And that's why the United States Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. And so in its attempt to jettison Judeo-Christian values, and consequently the idea that we're made in God's image, society is removing the sole justification for treating humans the way most people demand they be treated, and that is valuable and equal. Because if there's no image of God, it follows that people who identify, for example, as gay and lesbian aren't valuable. African Americans don't deserve to be treated equally. And you can't claim there's a right to an abortion. You see, it's the ultimate shoot yourself in the

foot move. And so people haven't thought through the implications. So let me spell out what I believe to be the significance of Genesis 127. Here's the first thing. Being made in the image of God makes humans valuable. You see, if there's no God, there's no chance we're made in his image. That means we're the result of an impersonal process like evolution. The same blind and mechanical forces that led to a swarm of mosquitoes led to humans. Nothing makes mankind more valuable than the 8.7 million other species on this planet. Had humans never evolved, it wouldn't have mattered because no species matters more than the next. In fact, it suggests that humans are special because we're humans is to be guilty of a form

of discrimination known as speciesism. It's only if we're made in God's image can we be something different than any other living thing. Here's a second implication. Being made in the image of God makes all humans equally valuable. You see, if there's no God, then we have no soul and we're merely material objects. Now, if we're just physical, what one trait does every human share equally that would make sense of the idea that every human is of equal value well nothing right i mean some people are taller than others some people are better at math than others some people have more bone density than others right every different human has different traits in varying degrees so then how can every human, whether African American, Chinese, or Swedish, be equally valuable? Only if we're made in God's image is it possible. Because notice, that's not

a degreed property. You can't have more of or less of the image of God. You either have it or you don't. It's the only thing that every human shares equally, and that's what can ground human equality. And here's a third implication of being made in God's image. Being made in the image of God gives value to those who are considered less than valuable. You see, if humans are not endowed with value by God, then what determines human worth? Well, according to societal standards, human worth is based on what people can do, Well, according to societal standards, human worth is based on what people can do, like create art or raise children or work at a job or contribute to society. But the moment humans lose the ability to do those things is the precise moment they lose their value.

And that's why in a culture that rejects the concept of being made in God's image, the strong prevail and the weak are discarded. And this is most obviously seen when we dispose of bonafide human beings at the very early stages of life, for example, in abortion, or in the late stages of life, for example, physician assisted suicide, or those who are disabled, for example, in the case of euthanasia. You see, devaluing them is tantamount to the most unjust and heinous discrimination possible. But if human worth is not determined by what they can do, but rather by who they are, that is image bearers of God, then the unborn, the elderly, and the disabled are as valuable as everyone else. Now, believing and treating everyone as valuable and equal is something our society takes for granted. And they've forgotten to their peril that such beliefs can only exist if they're grounded in the reality that humans are made in God's image. And the irony is that many of those

who demand equality, rights, and fairness are the very ones who reject God and its image-bearing value. For example, those who identify as gay and lesbian believe they're valuable and demand to be treated equally. But if they're not made in God's image, then there's nothing to ground their value and consequently the equal treatment they deserve. In my assessment, though, they are beautifully created, immensely valuable, and deserving of fair and equal treatment. But this view can only be grounded by the idea that they are made in God's image. Or here's another example, right? African

Americans also demand equal treatment, right? They claim that every person from every ethnic background is equally valuable to every other person and no one should be discriminated against. And I agree 100%. How, however, can you make sense of the view if humans are merely the collection of billions of molecules? Here's a hint. You can't. You can't make sense of that view. But if God stamped every person of every ethnicity

with his image on their soul, then every person is equally viable. The only way Martin Luther King Jr., for example, was able to ground his claim for equal rights of African Americans was with the idea that all men are endowed by their creator with equal value. And after all, he was a Baptist pastor, right? He believed in the image of God. And it's that truth that informed his civil rights advocacy. Now, this is not to suggest that those who reject our biblical claim aren't valuable or equal. On the contrary, we believe that those who vigorously oppose us or our ideas are still incredibly valuable, of equal value,

and are deserving of rights. We simply want them to see the cost of rejecting the one principle that grounds what they already know to be true.