God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them...

I am not a lawyer, but would like to inject a paradigm shift if I may.

This Word within a Word can be referred to as the microcosm within the macrocosm each containing all the qualities of the other. That is why we can say we are made in the image and likeness of God.
"And God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
We are like a mirror facing God, our microcosmic mind being more outward and objective and God's macrocosmic mind being inward and subjective. As ordinary men and women we see everything in its outward appearance. God the Father sees everything in His inward appearance because all of creation is within Him. All that exists in this world from the vast universe down to the minutest atom exists in God so only the form changes. God the Father is the eternal witness seeing everything inwardly, and in reference to us he sees everything internally and externally through our eyes. God's Pure Consciousness pervades everything and is the linking force of all that is. Therefore, our duty is to expand our minds and make contact with this force that maintains our life.
 
From my experience, I have had the inspiration that God may have multiple personalities. It may or may not be considered a disorder, certainly not in th higher and highest realms, but in the lower realms of existence, most certainly a disorder. Consider geopolitics.

My experience informs my that everyone has multiple personalities. When one's identity is maintained across personalities, this is termed ego states. There is always some degree of poor dissociation and disorder, but most people have low levels of disorder, though there is always a degree of codependency, as well.

Everyone has some level of mental illness and this is the source of sin.

God has no mental illness and has integrated all personalities which may have mental illness. What exactly does it mean to have sanity emerge and transcend from the mentally ill?

So, man is made in God's image as both have multiple personalities. This is the meaning of the Lord's Prayer, which starts off "Our Father". The Our refers to the collection of personalities within an individual. God is the collection of individuals and man is the collection of personalities and egos. Man has multiple egos.
 
GK-

Well yes there are a lot of good and bad in the world. But there's a reason for us to focus more on the bad. Bad is something that needs our attention and requires a fix. Good, is good. Makes us feel all fuzzy inside, but doesn't need any further action. (unless of course it inspires one to do good onto others)

So if we reported positive news and cut back on the bad, we might feel good, but then we would be ignorant of what needed to be changed for the good.

As far as peoples evil actions. Why are they so ungodly. Many convince themselves that their actions are for the greater good ordained by their God. They don't see themselves as being evil, but as doing God's will. I would say a very large percentage of bad behavior is done from an erroneous perspective.
 
Ok, time to jump into the deep end of the pool! :p

God created man in his own image. To me, that statement means just that. We are created in the image of our creator. In other words, we have the same appearance and emotional attributes of our spiritual Father.

So, if we are so much like God, why do we not behave more Godly? Well, there is one very important difference between us and God. Having no physical mass, God has no restraints or limitations. By contrast, we are bound by our own physical existence.

God sees the past present and future all at the same time. While our knowledge is limited to what has been and to what is now. Thus, our reaction to future events is often based on prior circumstance. The problem is, prior circumstance is not always the best indication of future events. Take the recent school shootings in the US for instance. The logical response has been to impose stricter gun laws. Then, while everyone is breathing a sigh of relief, a student comes to school yielding a knife, injuring more kids than some of the past shooters. No one was prepared for this because, there was no past event to base preparations on and our limited perspective prevented us from foreseeing it.

So, why does God let things like this happen? A Rabbi friend of mine put it rather succinctly when asked this very question. He said,

"Instead of asking God why he lets such things happen, ask yourself, why do (you) let these things happen?"

As stated in the scripture, God created us giving us full reign over the planet and it's inhabitance. It is solely within our power to do good or to do bad. To love or to hate. To do right or to do wrong.

So then, why do so many chose to do wrong? Well, it all comes back to limited perspective. Inclinations are often based on past experience and since we do not all share the same experiences, our perspectives differ. Unfortunately, there is a natural tendency to distrust those who do not share our opinions and to view their ideas as less than correct. Some even regard individuals with opposing views as somehow less deserving than themselves. Most of us are content to avoid those whom we do not identify with, but a few chose to lash out against them. Next thing you know, all out war!

So, why does God not intervene? I think in some cases he does. Just not in a way one would expect. Unlike us though, God gets the big picture. He's not bound by what lies directly in front of him. He understands both sides of every argument and how the outcome affects the long term. God is simply not going to intervene on our behalf in all cases.

So, why does God allow those to suffer who had nothing to do with either side? Why does he allow suffering at all for that matter? Again, it's not God who allows this, but rather us. It amazes me how some people are completely willing to accept credit for the good, yet the minute something bad occurs, it's, "Why did God let this happen?"

God simply does not see pain and suffering the same way we do from our limited perspective. Life on earth is temporal. What happens here shapes us, but does not define us. It merely prepares us for the next phase in God's plan. As Hindu scripture states, pain is but an illusion and death but rebirth.

So, why did God create us in the first place? Simply put, God created us out of love. He knew full well all the problems our existence would create and the turmoil that would ensue. Yet, he carried out his plan anyway, because he knew that, eventually, that love would be returned. Hindu scripture said it best when Krishna told Radha in effect, that God is all powerful and that nothing is beyond his capability, but that even God needs love. And so it is for us as we are created in his own image.
 
Thomas said "In the Greek tradition, there is the Logos, and creation, which is the many logoi. Each logoi has its exemplar in the Divine Mind. Thus the 'quest within' is for each creature, each created thing, to naturally seek its own exemplar, which is its Final cause or End, its rest, and its peace, and its fulfilment."

Of all the suggestions made, this one, by far, makes the most sense to me. Translating this to a Christian perspective, man must seek his exemplar, which would be God. Man, the logoi, is made in the image of the exemplar, God.

But then I have always had a special fondness for the ancient Greeks!
 
Gordian Knot said:
Thomas said "In the Greek tradition, there is the Logos, and creation, which is the many logoi. Each logoi has its exemplar in the Divine Mind. Thus the 'quest within' is for each creature, each created thing, to naturally seek its own exemplar, which is its Final cause or End, its rest, and its peace, and its fulfilment."

Of all the suggestions made, this one, by far, makes the most sense to me. Translating this to a Christian perspective, man must seek his exemplar, which would be God. Man, the logoi, is made in the image of the exemplar, God.

But then I have always had a special fondness for the ancient Greeks!
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This isn't tangible to me. What is the image of the exemplar?

The idea of multiple personalities in the godhead, with multiple personalities, or at least ego states, in the individual, makes more sense to my thinking. It provides the mechanism of being "made in the image of". The devil is disorganized emotions or thinking, causing sin, while God is perfect clarity in transcendence of mental disorder. It is probably somewhat distasteful to traditionalists, but then some of them feel so righteous that they punish and kill those with different views. And so it goes....
 
I'm speaking in philosophical terms. You are speaking in psychological terms. Neither is better or worse than the other. It is more how we each can best make sense in our own heads of a concept. Which is a good thing!
 
echos of grace said:
The idea of multiple personalities in the godhead ... makes more sense to my thinking.
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But I don't think that's acceptable to the Abrahamic idea of the Deity.

God in the Abrahamic sense transcends individuation, He is neither a composite nor a collective. God is One, and God is Simple. Multiples of things a priori signify a single, unique thing, which differ between themselves in the categories – shape, size, colour — but those categories alone do not themselves define what it is to be 'human'.

In short, there is a distinction between the universal and the particular. Universals give rise to particulars outside of themselves. Human nature does not increase or decrease according to the number of people alive on the planet.
 
Gordian Knot said:
I'm speaking in philosophical terms. You are speaking in psychological terms. Neither is better or worse than the other. It is more how we each can best make sense in our own heads of a concept. Which is a good thing!
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Ok, that's fine. Still what is the mechanism of the image of God in philosophical terms? I don't get it.
 
Thomas said:
But I don't think that's acceptable to the Abrahamic idea of the Deity.

God in the Abrahamic sense transcends individuation, He is neither a composite nor a collective. God is One, and God is Simple. Multiples of things a priori signify a single, unique thing, which differ between themselves in the categories – shape, size, colour — but those categories alone do not themselves define what it is to be 'human'.

In short, there is a distinction between the universal and the particular. Universals give rise to particulars outside of themselves. Human nature does not increase or decrease according to the number of people alive on the planet.
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That's the point. Just like we have a single identity, with multiple personalities or ego states, likewise God has a single identity with multiple individuals.
 
If we are accepting the mythology as a premise...

.. why are we neglecting the fall?

Beyond that there is potential.... and history shows we as a whole are making better choices, becoming less violent, more peaceful
 
EoG said "Ok, that's fine. Still what is the mechanism of the image of God in philosophical terms? I don't get it."

I will try to explain, though in translating the concept something might be lost in the process. Fortunately there are those here who will jump in and correct me if I get it wrong.

In this ancient Greek philosophical tradition, every object, be it a chair, or a mule or a person - everything on this plane of existence are imperfect shadows, or some say reflections, of the one Supreme Form.

These supreme forms were the perfect originals and resided in the divine world. In the divine world there is the perfect form of a chair, the perfect form of a mule, etc. All material chairs and mules are but imperfect reflections of that perfect original beyond our realm of existence.

From the Christian perspective of this ideology, the perfect originals were in the mind of God, or perhaps it is better said, the perfect originals are God.

The perfect original was called by the Greeks the Logos. The logoi are the imperfect copies that we see around us in the material world. From the Greek tradition the point was that people were the imperfect copies (logoi) of the perfect original on which they are based, which is the Logos.

Again, translating this to a Christian viewpoint, people (the logoi) are imperfect reflections of the Logos, which is God. Our journey is to attempt to reshape ourselves as close to the divine form, as close to God, as we can become.

Does that help?
 
Gordian Knot said:
EoG said "Ok, that's fine. Still what is the mechanism of the image of God in philosophical terms? I don't get it."

I will try to explain, though in translating the concept something might be lost in the process. Fortunately there are those here who will jump in and correct me if I get it wrong.

In this ancient Greek philosophical tradition, every object, be it a chair, or a mule or a person - everything on this plane of existence are imperfect shadows, or some say reflections, of the one Supreme Form.

These supreme forms were the perfect originals and resided in the divine world. In the divine world there is the perfect form of a chair, the perfect form of a mule, etc. All material chairs and mules are but imperfect reflections of that perfect original beyond our realm of existence.

From the Christian perspective of this ideology, the perfect originals were in the mind of God, or perhaps it is better said, the perfect originals are God.

The perfect original was called by the Greeks the Logos. The logoi are the imperfect copies that we see around us in the material world. From the Greek tradition the point was that people were the imperfect copies (logoi) of the perfect original on which they are based, which is the Logos.

Again, translating this to a Christian viewpoint, people (the logoi) are imperfect reflections of the Logos, which is God. Our journey is to attempt to reshape ourselves as close to the divine form, as close to God, as we can become.

Does that help?
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It does help. It is Plato's Ideals, right?

I see this as supporting my idea that God is the set of alll people, the perfect set, and since this is the Many, each person being made in the image of God is a Many. This is Many personalities and it is why the Lord's Prayer starts as "Our Father". We are a multiplicity.
 
We are made in the image and likeness of God, which I feel is realized in consciousness. A stained photograph is an image of a person, but it is disfigured or not clear only because it has not been cared for. When the mind works through the layers of the mind and becomes conscious of God and has a spiritual understanding of the soul, the image in the picture is perfected in accord with the image and likeness of God. A distorted photograph can have an image and not a likeness, but if the picture is not overexposed the image can have a likeness. Pure consciousness comes to our consciousness to remove all obstacles to peace that blur the image and likeness of God. When our vision of God is developed and realized, our image can be modeled with God’s likeness.

The physicist say the same thing in that everything is made up of energy in a Quantum Unified Theory. The Quantum packets of energy in space contain information so we react in an entanglement that connects us to everything. Those that think they are separate and yes many Christians have distorted their photograph with this image, but we live and are a part of the Quantum soup so will some day see a clear image according to our thoughts.
 
It is far more likely humans created the deity in their own image, as it seems to have all the worst characteristics.
 
Quirkybird said:
It is far more likely humans created the deity in their own image, as it seems to have all the worst characteristics.
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Wow! That's alot of venom! :eek: :(

I merely see this topic as people like to use images they can identify with or relate to in some way ... :D
 
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