Identity and Idolatry: The Image of God and Its Inversion

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them' (Genesis 1:27). Genesis 1:26-27 has served as the locus of most theological anthropologies in the central Christian tradition. However, Richard Lints observes that too rarely have these verses been understood as conceptually interwoven with the whole of the prologue materials of Genesis 1. The construction of the cosmic temple strongly hints that the 'image of God' language serves liturgical functions. Lints argues that 'idol' language in the Bible is a conceptual inversion of the 'image' language of Genesis 1. These constructs illuminate each other, and clarify the canon's central anthropological concerns. The question of human identity is distinct, though not separate, from the question of human nature; the latter has far too frequently been read into the biblical use of 'image'. Lints shows how the 'narrative' of human identity runs from creation (imago Dei) to fall (the golden calf/idol, Exodus 32) to redemption (Christ as perfect image, Colossians 1:15-20). The biblical-theological use of image/idol is a thread through the canon that highlights the movements of redemptive history. In the concluding chapters, Lints interprets the use of idolatry as it emerges in the secular prophets of the nineteenth century, and examines the recent renaissance of interest in idolatry with its conceptual power to explain the 'culture of desire'.

Publisher: IVP
Type: Paperback
ISBN: 9781783593064

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Richard Lints is Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of the Hamilton Campus and Andrew Mutch Distinguished Professor of Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts. He is the author of 'Renewing the Evangelical Mission', 'The Fabric of Theology' and 'Progressive and Conservative Religious Ideologies', and co-editor of 'Personal Identity in Theological Perspective' and 'The Westminster Dictionary of Key Terms in Philosophy and Their Importance in Theology'.

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"Lint's placement of imago Dei as a main theme of biblical theology is appreciated. One cannot read the history of redemption without being moved at the inversion of mankind’s purpose. Created to reflect God's glory, mankind now reflects his own humanity in dead idols. Thanks be to Christ Jesus who righted this inversion by his sinless life. Lints' warning against the modern church's own consumeristic idolatry is welcomed. May God rescue us from the unsatisfying, unfulfilling, 'plastic narratives' of our times through the power of the gospel." Stuart Bell, Credo Magazine,