Well, this time just focused on “likeness.”
Genesis 1: 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
I have written about this passage before, noting that verse 27 only points to being created in the image and is silent regarding being created in the likeness. The same young person who prompted that first post then pointed out the following verse:
Genesis 5: 1 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.
So, what gives? Was man made according to God’s likeness or wasn’t he? After a lot of searching, I found this: IN THE LIKENESS OF GOD, by Frank W. Nelte. It took a lot of searching, because much of what I found focused on why “image” and why “likeness” (are these synonyms, do they mean different things, etc.?), or mostly focused on “image.”
To get something out of the way: Nelte is affiliated with Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God. I obviously have meaningful differences with what was taught during Armstrong’s time. However, I intend to evaluate what is offered here by Nelte on its merits…at least as I understand things.
I wanted to find something on the specific point: Genesis 1 does not say man was made according to God’s likeness (it is silent on the matter), Genesis 5 says he was. While Nelte does touch on “image,” and also on the difference between this and “likeness,” I am only going to stick to dealing with my question. (To get this out of the way…the Hebrew words for image and for likeness are different, yet these are sometimes, but not always, used as synonyms.)
Now, he may be wrong about this, but I have not yet found something more thorough – and, he is pretty consistent with what I have found in the early Church regarding this topic........
.......Conclusion
The Scriptures are not contradictory. Where there is a seeming contradiction, context must be understood. The different uses of “demuwth” in the examples offered by Nelte help to clarify this for me.
I looked up some of the other uses of “likeness” in the Old Testament. Many have to do with the prohibition of making idols and the like; Ezekiel also uses the term often.
An interesting one within the context of this study:
Psalm 17: As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.
David is writing of his hope in salvation. He is not yet satisfied, because he is not yet in God’s likeness.
My conclusion corresponds both with Nelte and with the early Church Fathers: we were given image upon creation; likeness is something we are to grow into via faith and obedience to God, with God’s help and requiring our participation. Call it theosis.
The use of “likeness” in the first verse of Genesis 5 conveys a meaning different than that in Genesis 1, and the context of each passage – combined with the context in use of the same Hebrew word elsewhere – helps to clarify this point.
