Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

446 / CORNERSTONE CURRICULUM STUDENT WORKBOOK

understand the importance of both of these foundational realities when describing the nature and purpose of humanity in the world?

Let Justice Roll Down: The Vision and Theology of the Kingdom The Image of God as Basis for Social Concern and Action

Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis

CONTENT

The ground for doing justice and loving mercy among the poor in the city is the affirmation of the imago Dei in every boy, girl, woman, and man. Every person is worthy of care because they share in God’s unmatched, unique, and irreplaceable imago Dei . Because all are made in God’s image, all humankind is unique and precious. This image constitutes the reason why we ought to do justice and love mercy among all individuals, families, peoples, and nations on earth. Each of them as bearers of the imago Dei are to be considered as precious and irreplaceable. Our objective for this lesson, The Image of God as Basis for Social Concern and Action , is to enable you to see that: • A good working definition of the imago Dei (i.e., image of God) in Scripture, is “The unique condition of all human beings that they are made like God and therefore are worthy of our respect, protection, and care.” • The affirmation of humankind being created in the image of God is a unique affirmation , no other creature or angels are said to have been created in the image of God. • While the precise manner in which humankind is created in God’s image is not explicitly stated in Scripture, evidence exists to suggest that human beings share in corresponding traits of God’s own person, namely, our personality, our reason, our ability to choose, and our moral capacity. • The fact that humankind was made in the imago Dei suggests that all human beings share this image; all human beings, regardless of their individual or communal state, are therefore unique, precious, and priceless in and of themselves . • The biblical implications of the imago Dei in humankind transforms our understanding of human persons. They are

Summary page 193 & 5

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