PODCAST: Imago Dei and Cultural Mandate with Dr. Russell Moore

By Knowing Faith | 40m
Published in October of 2020

SUMMARY: What does it mean to be created in the image of God? What are some of the essential implications of this truth? Does the restlessness of human beings point to God? Dr. Russell Moore answers these questions and more in an insightful, practical 40 minutes. Moore states that the doctrine of the image of God cannot be boiled down to one thing, but suggests that if he had to choose one thing that is unique to humans it would be our innate feeling that there is something out there for us.

KEY QUOTE: “I think it is wrong to try and boil down the image of God to one thing. And sometimes people want to do that and want to say, ‘The image of God means you are rational.’ But angels are rational, the serpent is hyperrational in Genesis 3. Or to say that you are morally accountable and in communion with God, again angels are as well. Some sects have tried to say it’s because you look physically like God and I don’t think that is right either. I think instead it means that humanity is created as a sign of God’s presence in a unique way that just can’t be boiled down to one thing.”

“If I had to point to one thing that would indicate the image of God I would say restlessness. The sense of what Walker Percy used to talk about when we said humanity is not just an organism in an environment. That there is a sense of longing for something else…So when you come to Romans 8 and Paul talks about that creation is groaning for the revelation for the sons of God, I think that is what image is — a longing for a future and also pointing a way from itself and pointing towards something else. There is a sign that is being given, in humanity, that the fact that the world is not just a machine. That there is a personal involvement from God.”

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