In The Image of Man
Genesis 9:6 gives us one of the foundational teachings of the Bible. It tells us that man
was created in the image of God. The teachers of Judaism encourage us to place this
concept as one of the hubs of our world-view.
By telling us that man is created in the image of God, the Bible is teaching us the inherent
value of every human being. Each and every man and woman is capable of Godliness.
The desire for kindness truth, justice and morality is embedded in the soul of every
human being, no matter how deep we have to dig in order to find that spark of good.
When a human being lives a righteous life, he or she is living up to their true selves. And
every act of evil is not only a sin against God, it is a sin against the human being who
committed that act.
That the Church pushes back against this Biblical teaching is well known. The Church
places the inherent sinfulness of man at the center of their world-view. This is obvious
and clear. What is not as obvious but is just as clear is that the Church has actually
inverted this Biblical teaching. Not only does the Church discourage us from seeing every
person as created in the image of God, the Church teachers encourage us to see God as
created in the image of man.
By pushing the narrative that somehow all of God’s infinite righteousness was contained
in the personality of a finite human being, the Church has diminished our understanding of
God. But perhaps even more insidious is the effect that this Church teaching has on our
perspective of ourselves. By trying to create God in the image of man the Church has
diminished our understanding of man.
If being a very righteous person makes you divine, then being less than righteous is the
maximum limit of man.
This is not the teaching of the Jewish Bible. According to the Good Book, as righteous as
you can imagine a man to be, he will still remain man. And as righteous as you can
imagine a man to be, he could still attain more human righteousness and he will never
approach the righteousness of God. The calling of every man and woman that walk this
earth is to live up to their true selves and keep on striving for more righteousness. We are
all created in the image of God, that is who we are and that is what we are meant to be.
Yes, we all make mistakes. But mistakes do not take away from the central teaching of
the Bible. God knows about your mistakes and your faults. Yet He still sees you as
someone created in His image.
Put that truth at the center of your world-view and you will have allowed God to bring
you closer to Him with the power of His word.
1000 Verses - a project of Judaism Resources 
Sin is the evil in which we are enslaved, from which we need Divine redemption:
Every imagination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil continually.
The heart is deceitful above all things and incurable [by man]
For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
They hatch adder’s eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.
Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.
The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.
We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;
In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
That redemption is found in only one place:
As for Thee also, by the blood of Thy covenant I have sent forth Thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
charlessoper
That redemption is found in only one place”
20: Zechariah 9:11
Thats a lot of cutting and pasting. Did I miss anything?
Is there any point you are making here? I feel like I’m missing something.
I think many Christians believe that it is more than Jesus’ righteousness that makes him divine. They think that he, not just his body but his person, was the taking on of humanity by Eternal God.
There is a parallel to the Jewish concept of creation being founded upon God’s expression of himself. Christianity decided that this wisdom, word, glory, presence, breath, reflection of God in creation is in effect God. Not a created window but the point at which creation meets Creator. (That’s a different debate.) And they see this expression of God in the person of Jesus, regardless of the fact that what could be seen of a person’s righteousness could never match up to the fulness of God.
However, I agree that the concept of original sin de-emphasises the simple invitation to choose life, particularly in the Calvinist form of Christianity.
It also affects how Christians see others. They are more likely to see Christianity as an island of light that is hard for others to see. And they are less likely to have hope in humanity. We have selfish and cruel instincts, but also empathetic ones, especially when given the chance to develop those within emotional safety. And if you look at the state of the world without seeing all the inherent kindness in people, that can affect your ability to hope in society and find support in all the kindness (historical, present, and future) that runs alongside the selfish destruction.
In other words, I don’t think all Christians believe that God limited to the image of a man. They believe he transcends what they see as the revelation .
At the same time, I think it’s a true representation of the original sin idea to say that it involves part of the image of God being removed from people.
And original sin isn’t proven by the Hebrew scriptures, because any references to humanity’s inherent depravity must be read as poetic exaggeration. Otherwise, they would contradict the clearer concept of humanity’s ability to perceive, and then choose, goodness.
…which isn’t arbitrarily saying a scriptural passage is not literal, just in order to suit a belief. I think it makes sense that when poetry and clear law/teaching appear to conflict in the scriptures, then the poetry is considered the less literal teaching, written with emotional effect in its context.
And since the original sin belief includes the idea that only Christians have had restored to them the aspect of God’s image that is lost amongst the rest of humanity, there’s a sinister potential for subconsciously dehumanising those who ‘can’t see’.
This isn’t necessarily an inherently Christian attitude, but in exposure to the original sin concept, it’s hard to fully avoid the imagination that non-Christian consciousness is less lucidly aware. And quality of understanding is associated with human essence. For some, this may lead to dehumanisation and/or at least ‘othering’ of non-Christians, to whatever extent.
This may be behind some of the serious historical attitudes and events in Christendom’s relationship with Jews.
I heard a Jewish teaching (I don’t know who it was first said by) that sin is a form of insanity because no one in their right mind would choose hedonistically in the moment if they could see and feel the future consequences of deviating from the wise choice.
This means that people have a sensitivity to wisdom and goodness that means we would always choose to align with God’s calling, so long as nothing were obstructing our ability to feel the consequences, understand the right path, and believe we had the ability and resilience to take that path. In this view, sin is a result of brokenness in the world that impedes our understanding, but there is no inherent will to choose wrongly.
The concept of original sin says that when we don’t choose wisdom, it’s because we prioritise our personal interests above our relationship with God. This is why Calvinism becomes the logical end point of the original sin belief, because no one with truly free will would see the consequences of rejecting wisdom and yet still do so.
Rabbi
Your choice of using, G 9: 6 over G1:27 when quoting man was created in God’s image, helps drive the point home of the difference between man and God. Like the ten plagues, God shows man his complete control over our environment here on earth. Why indeed would the church want to confuse our understanding of the difference between God and man? Why do I need a savior when at the very beginning of the bible, page 4 of my bible, Genesis 4:7, I can improve myself, I can conquer sin, and most importantly, God will forgive me.
No savior required.