Are women created in the image of God? Someone sent an article to my wife and the article it was addressing the different types of men or husbands. It defined the three different kinds of men and why they were the way they were. It also spoke about the roles of women to their husbands. While discussing these different things, the woman writer said, "A female's type is not as predominant as a man's. Remember, man was created in God's image and we in man's image, so we are one step removed from the original, which, thankfully, tempers our extremes.". She used Genesis 2:23 - "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man," as the foundation for her statement.
Are women created in the image of God?
The question is, is she correct? Are women created in the image of God? Or are women created in the image of man? Are they somehow removed from God's original because God took a man's rib to make a woman? Let's see what the Bible says.
It says in Genesis 1:26-27 - And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
This passage says that God said let us make man in our image and after our likeness. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God, created He him. If it stopped there, this person might have an argument, but God clarifies this and further defines what He means when He says that male and female created He them. It is also important to note that the term "man" in this passage refers not just to "males" but to the whole of humanity, both men and women. We will see why in a moment.
This is again confirmed and made very clear in Genesis 5:1-2 - This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
We often think of the name Adam as the first man. That is correct but not complete. The word also designates humanity or all of mankind, including both males and females. Tying Genesis 1:26-27 and Genesis 5:1-2 together, we see that God defines Adam as male and female and that He created Adam, comprising males and females, in His image.
So saying man was created in God's image and women in man's image is inaccurate. To further say that women are one step removed from the original is disturbing because that is entirely untrue and places women in a created position lesser than a man. If this were true, it could lead to troublesome thoughts and questions regarding women, salvation and fellowship with God. We won't look at that here.
So why does this writer think this? Maybe she feels that women are somehow different because God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, and Eve was taken from the side of Adam.
Something to think about: remember what Paul says in 1 Corinthans 11:11-12 - Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.
Paul is saying here, yes, Eve was formed out of Adam's body, but also, every man (after Adam) comes through the woman's body. So then, are men or women today less in the image of God today because they weren't physically formed out of the dust of the ground as Adam but created through natural birth? Is the means or method of creation what determines whether someone is made or a step removed in the image of God? No!
So to conclude, starting with Eve, females are made just as much in the image of God as men. Women are not one step removed from His image or likeness. Indeed, men and women have different temperaments, strengths, attributes and functions. However, both are fully created in God's image, designed to complement each other and are not inferior to each other.
I feel Galatians 3:28 is a good reminder of God's perspective in relationship to this subject, There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, and there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
This example shows that when you read or listen to something, take and examine what is being said. Put it against the Bible and ensure it is saying what scripture says.
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