What about that word man?

Barbara M. Vining

Regular readers of this magazine cannot have failed to note the prominent and consistent use of the word man to describe all of God's children. What is the basis for this? In the King James translation of the Bible, in the first chapter, man is the term that specifically identifies who each of us truly is as God's, Spirit's, image: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Gen. 1:27). Yet, some recent Bible translations have attempted to explain who we are by substituting language that suggests a human form is God's image. This would also assume that God Himself is like humans. The Contemporary English Version, for example, renders the above verse: "So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women." How can we resolve this apparent contradiction?

Man as God's image needs to be understood more clearly by every thinker.

In answer to the question "What is man?" Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, states in part: "The Scriptures inform us that man is made in the image and likeness of God. Matter is not that likeness. The likeness of Spirit cannot be so unlike Spirit. Man is spiritual and perfect; and because he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so understood in Christian Science. Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique. He is the compound idea of God, including all right ideas; the generic term for all that reflects God's image and likeness;..." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 475).

Man, then, is an inclusive term used to identify each man, woman, and child as the spiritual likeness of God, and not as a limited, frail, vulnerable mortal. Understanding that God's image is not a mortal awakens us to who we actually are—the sons and daughters of God. This frees us from any view of ourselves or others that would drag us down, and enables us to demonstrate in practical, immediate ways our divine heritage of health, holiness, and life in God.

Man as God's image needs to be understood more clearly by every thinker. Identifying ourselves correctly as God's spiritual reflection, we can break free from the limitations and inharmonies imposed through misidentifying ourselves as flesh-bound mortals. Christ Jesus leads the way for us.

When reading the New Testament, can't we see the truth of man's perfection as God's image shining brightly in the Saviour's thought and nature? Didn't this truth lift others right out of matter-bound ways of thinking? When people have restricted views of themselves, it doesn't allow them to see beyond imperfection, sin, and disease. Jesus lifted thought to a new model—perfect man as the expression of perfect God. And the acceptance of this real identity brought transformation to character and healing to the body.

Man as God's image has a permanent heritage of perfection, reflecting all the goodness, unlimited ability, health, and abundance of God Himself. But this perfect man is not a material, human personality clothed in flesh. Man is neither a male nor a female mortal. Man—your and my true being—is the immortal, spiritual reflection of the one perfect, divine Spirit, which includes every individual in that one spiritual heritage of life in God.

Realizing the truth of who we are as God's perfect man enriches the daily experience of every one of us—it regenerates and heals. Man, then, is a term we should all welcome, and one that should be retained in the language of spiritual discourse and of the Bible.

Barbara M. Vining
Associate Editor

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February 23, 1998

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