I enjoyed how Augustine's perspective differentiated from today's commonly taught views on several occasions. One of my favorites involves a statement that we are "made after the image and similitude of God, not as respects the mortal body in which he is clothed, but as respects the rational soul by which he is exalted in honour above the beasts". The different spin on the usual conception that we are strictly made in God's image by our appearance, but instead that we are made in God's image by our rational thinking and reasoning that sets us above the ability of animals was something I hadn't thought of or heard before. In my opinion, the idea that my thought processing is similar to God's is much more important than my physical similitude to Him.
p.s I commented on Brydon's.
This attitude towards the "image of God" is so frustrating to me. Why on earth would we choose the most perishable part of ourselves as the part that's "in the image of God"? The soul and the ration makes so much more sense - that's where a person's goodness is, not their physical appearance.
ReplyDeleteIn most old literature God is never represented as the form of man, however He is considered love, wisdom, and power. This is the difference of current theological materials and past theological materials (which are a seemingly more accurate than current materials).
ReplyDeleteI've tried to imagine God in another sense like James said, such as love, but my mind always wants to put him in a bodily form. Honestly, I think that's because we use our sense to relate to something, and the fact that God doesn't exactly fit in any of them is too hard for us to comprehend.
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