The Historic, Reformed, Creedal Doctrine of the Image of God: Spiritual Perfection, Lost in the Fall
Kuhs argues that the Reformed confessions unanimously define the image of God as humanity's spiritual and ethical conformity to God's law, not merely rationality or sentience as commonly assumed in modern Evangelicalism. He demonstrates from the Westminster Confession and biblical passages (Colossians 3:10, Ephesians 4:24) that this image was lost in the Fall, contrasting this historic Reformed understanding with contemporary evangelical apologetics on human dignity.
Manuel Kuhs Almost all Christians assume that all men, even unbelievers, are still in the image of God. In fact, it is one of the most common explanations of the Christian rejection of murder and abortion—”all babies are in God’s image”—often referencing Genesis 9:6 and James 3:9.1 It is also an integral part of Evangelicalism’s apologetic for defending the biblical teachings on gender and “sexual orientation,” as exemplified by the Nashville Statement, released in 2017 by the Council for...