Review of The Imago Dei: Humanity Made in the Image of God

Peppiatt, Lucy. The Imago Dei: Humanity Made in the Image of God. Eugene, OR: Cascade Press, 2022, pp. 150, $23, paperback.

Peppiatt’s introduction is stellar, and it should be a standard text for any classroom discussion of the image of God going forward. Perhaps, if we are fortunate enough, a more thorough constructive theology text from her on the image will be forthcoming.

Lucy Peppiatt is Principle of Westminster Theological Centre in the United Kingdom. Prior to this volume, her most recent scholarly work has primarily revolved around exegetical and theological issues concerning the ministry and participation of women in early Christian worship. This book leaves that discussion mostly, though not entirely, to the side in order to offer us a survey of the ontological and ethical emphases that emerge from studies—both ancient and contemporary—on the imago dei (i.e., image of God). But, as any moderately informed reader will be aware, the questions of the image of God and the proper relationship between men and women in scripture coalesce at various scriptural points (e.g., Genesis 1 & 2, 1 Corinthians 11 & 14, etc.). Thus, I would encourage the reader to consider—perhaps in conversation with some of Peppiatt’s other work—how the views surveyed in this book either jive with or buck up against her own readings of the problem texts concerning women’s ordination.

In The Imago Dei, Peppiatt’s goal is to (1) provide a survey of historic Christian views—which she labels substantialist, functional, and relational—concerning what the image of God is, (2) discuss difficulties confronting each of these views, and (3) reflect on the viability of the different accounts of the image dei given concerns particular to our modern perspective (e.g., sex & gender, technology and AI, contemporary disability studies, etc.). Admittedly, no text could dream of succeeding in dealing with such a wide range of issues in significant depth, especially in such a small book, so it is important to remember that this text is intended as an introduction to the issues rather than an exhaustive assessment of them. With that caveat in mind, then, it is worth being up front that I highly recommend this book for any interested reader. Peppiatt’s prose makes for easy reading, and she exhibits a rare skill of rendering even the most technical matters precise without loss of clarity. Moreover, each chapter is accompanied by helpful discussion questions making this volume ideal for small group reflection.

In the first three chapters of the book, Peppiatt presents the basics of the substantialist, functional, and relational accounts of the imago dei. One strength of her treatment in these pages is her emphasis that these accounts are families of, rather than monolithic understandings of, each type of view. Thus, there is no reason to think that two substantialists (who identify the image with some ontological part of humanity shared with divinity) agree with each other on every detail—e.g., perhaps one thinks humans are identical to their body-soul composite while another thinks humans are identical to only their immaterial soul. Moreover, Peppiatt reminds us that often the determining factor regarding whether a theologian is categorized as ‘substantialist’, ‘functionalist’, or whatever is a matter of emphasis. For instance, while Gregory of Nyssa receives his treatment in the substantialist chapter—since he sees the rational part of humanity as the locus of the image of God—Gregory clearly affirms the royal role often associated with certain functionalist accounts. He, like most ancient theologians then, affirms various aspects of the image but tends to identify the fundamental image of God with its substantialist form.

While chapter 1 is marked by its survey of patristics plus Aquinas, chapter 2 leans much more into the work of contemporary biblical scholarship. These authors—e.g., Richard Middleton, Carmen Imes, Sandra Richter—question the substantialist accounts of the image since the Genesis text and context favors identifying the image with an expected action—e.g., priestly service, loving rule, or wise stewardship—rather than some mere part of human ontology. Of course, to be able to dosomething presupposes that one has a capacity to do it—and thus, such functionalist views presuppose some substantialist element—but such a shift in emphasis to a divine mandate for humanity readily extends the issue of anthropology into ethics.

The third chapter on relational models, which associate the image of God with humanity’s capacity to be in relationship to God, move toward questions of theological ethics. For if humanity is defined by its capacity for relationship, then it is defined socially. And any robust social entity bears responsibilities to other members of the same group as well as responsibilities to see to it that the group acts well. Thus, while Peppiatt begins mostly with Reformation theologians in offering historical precedents to this model, the chapter quickly turns to a discussion of such things as holiness, kinship, and friendship as those concepts exist in contemporary systematic theology.

In The Imago Dei, Peppiatt’s goal is to (1) provide a survey of historic Christian views—which she labels substantialist, functional, and relational—concerning what the image of God is, (2) discuss difficulties confronting each of these views, and (3) reflect on the viability of the different accounts of the image dei given concerns particular to our modern perspective (e.g., sex & gender, technology and AI, contemporary disability studies, etc.).

The real meat of the book, however, comes in the final three chapters that present disputed issues and contemporary perspectives regarding the image—e.g., whether it has been merely damaged or obliterated by the Fall, whether the image exists in humanity rather than in some sort of divine fiat (as with some functionalist models), or how the image relates to sexuality and gender especially in light of contemporary science. The fifth chapter homes in on questions of embodiment with a particular emphasis on how different accounts of the relationship between the image and embodiment have resulted in different forms of oppression. And the sixth chapter ties up some loose ends by discussing the image’s relationship to sex and—what is arguably more fundamental—desire, disability studies (especially as it relates to supposed standards for human flourishing that fail to account for differently abled rather than disabled persons), transhumanist perspectives, the ethics of AI, and deification, all of which are bound together by a seemingly intractable network of ethical threads.

Turning now to one minor criticism (if it can even be called that): I was mildly disappointed to not see more discussion of a relational anthropology claiming that humans are beings defined by their relations to each other. This kind of view is not to be confused with the claim that human beings were made for relationships—though that claim is of course presupposed. Rather, it is the view that we are defined by our relationships in the sense that who we are is bound up in the particular relationships we have with other persons. The question of the particularity of individual persons and how it relates to both the image of God and considerations of atonement is especially relevant in today’s day and age. Indeed, it is fairly plausible to think that Christ’s assumption of human nature might have healed not only those universally shared properties of humanity but also particular aspects of persons that have been affected by the fall. Combining this atonement perspective with the need for our image-defining relationships to be healed bears relevance to virtually all of the contemporary issues touched on, and so, would have been worthy of at least a bit more mention.

But don’t get me wrong. Peppiatt’s introduction is stellar, and it should be a standard text for any classroom discussion of the image of God going forward. Perhaps, if we are fortunate enough, a more thorough constructive theology text from her on the image will be forthcoming.