Mankind’s scientific, technological, artistic, and intellectual capacities are complemented by an impressive list of physical achievements; nevertheless, it is the remarkable inner abilities that testify to the human being as God’s crowning creation. The single most distinctive aspect of Adam’s creation is that he was created in the image of God and his nature bears that image. But what exactly is the image of God in man? The image of God consists of the spiritual part of a human that reflects the character of God and is the only firm basis for advocating human dignity and the gracious redemption of sinners. Although modern scholarship, particularly Old Testament scholarship, have argued for man’s function through his physical body as the meaning of or forming an integral part of the image of God, the view that God’s image is found in the spiritual aspect of the human being is more faithful to the biblical text. This dissertation argues for the spiritual interpretation of God’s image by providing a historical-grammatical reading of the relevant texts and a proper theological understanding of the image and likeness of God. The first chapter provides the history of interpretation by describing the important personalities and their methods, and explaining the evolution of the topic that has lead to the modern departures from the traditional view. The second chapter discusses the data that supports the thesis by analyzing selected issues in current scholarship that leads to a physical and functional view of the image of God and why I disagree with their conclusions. The third chapter provides a historical-grammatical reading of selected texts that demonstrate the reasonableness of a spiritual interpretation of the image of God, and why it should be defended. The fourth chapter examines the counter claims to the thesis and presents a defense to the findings of this study. The fifth chapter briefly summarizes the most important findings and provides a conclusion.

Endeavoring to invigorate a Pascalian approach to Christian persuasion, this dissertation asks: How might the doctrine of the imago Dei strengthen Pascal’s anthropological argument? The central claim is that the doctrine of the imago Dei strengthens Pascal's anthropological argument by supplying greater detail to the explanation stage and accounts for more instances of humans’ paradoxical condition. Chapter 1 demonstrates the need for this study. Even though Pascal’s method appears to be a formidable tool for Christian apologists in a postmodern culture, it has received surprisingly little attention and clarity in apologetic literature. Moreover, no efforts have been made to strengthen his anthropological argument by correlating it with insights from the doctrine of the imago Dei. Chapter 2 reveals that the anthropological theme within Pascal’s Pensées may be properly understood as a three-stage abductive argument consisting of data (instances of humans’ paradoxical behavior), explanation (Christian anthropology), and elimination (other religions or worldviews fail to explain the human condition). Chapter 3 surveys the history of interpretation of the doctrine of the imago Dei. Despite their many differences, interpreters generally agree that (1) imagedness means that humans are ontologically constituted for a relationship with God, but that (2) human sin conflicts with their God-oriented constitution. Chapter 4 presents six propositions about imagedness. These propositions support the observation that imagedness and sinfulness conspire to render the human condition paradoxical: humans are self-opposing. Chapter 5 applies this understanding of the imago Dei to the explanatory stage of Pascal’s anthropological argument, showing that the doctrine of the imago Dei provides a finer level of detail and explains more instances of humans’ paradoxical condition. Chapter 6 shows that the Christiformic journeys of Augustine, C. S. Lewis, and Jonathan Edwards represent flesh-and-blood instances of Scripture’s portrait of Christiformic image-bearers. These instances supply evidence that the doctrine of the imago Dei plausibly explains the human condition. Thus, they also strengthen Pascal’s anthropological argument. Chapter 7 explains two larger aims of this dissertation: to contribute toward a broader vision of Christian persuasion and to exemplify how the disciplines of apologetics and biblical theology can be powerful allies.

Revelation is God's Word addressed to the human being and so speaks of God in relation to the person and the world. Revelation can therefore only be fully understood, proclaimed and lived through an encounter with the world and its conceptions. To understand the evolution of human consciousness and the creation of the soul, we look to the sources of revelation (scripture and tradition) in dialogue with secular anthropology. The latter's paradigm of development and growth is not foreign to the former's understanding of conversion and growth in grace . The image of God, which characterises the human person, is shown to be an emergent likeness, which is created and drawn to its fullness by God. This accounts for Pius XII' s insistence that the soul is created immediately by God, who is responsible for the physical dynamics that bring forth consciousness and the personal dynamics that empower the human soul to develop. / Philosophy Practical &Systematic Theology / M.Th (Systematic Theology)

Revelation is God's Word addressed to the human being and so speaks of God in relation to the person and the world. Revelation can therefore only be fully understood, proclaimed and lived through an encounter with the world and its conceptions. To understand the evolution of human consciousness and the creation of the soul, we look to the sources of revelation (scripture and tradition) in dialogue with secular anthropology. The latter's paradigm of development and growth is not foreign to the former's understanding of conversion and growth in grace . The image of God, which characterises the human person, is shown to be an emergent likeness, which is created and drawn to its fullness by God. This accounts for Pius XII' s insistence that the soul is created immediately by God, who is responsible for the physical dynamics that bring forth consciousness and the personal dynamics that empower the human soul to develop. / Philosophy Practical andSystematic Theology / M.Th (Systematic Theology)

One of the central issues of early Christianity was the identity of Jesus Christ. Paul and other early Christians discussed this question within the framework of traditional Jewish monotheism and used the language of deity to describe Christ. This thesis explores how and why they integrated the two concepts of monotheism and the deity of Jesus. As a window into this process, it particularly examines Paul’s discourse in 2 Cor 3:16–4:6, employing grammatical-historical exegesis with insights from rhetorical criticism and Oneness Pentecostal Christology. We consider three fundamental questions: (1) What does the exalted language concerning Christ in this text represent? (2) How did Paul reconcile the deification of Jesus with his monotheistic heritage? (3) Why did Paul deify Jesus? What interests were served, and what were the practical consequences? The conclusion is that early Christians, prior to and including Paul, worshiped Jesus within a Jewish monotheistic context and not as a result of Hellenization. They viewed Jesus as the revelation of the one God, not as a second deity or a different personage. Although they reinterpreted their core beliefs in light of Jesus, they did not see their worship of Jesus as violating their core beliefs. The evidence from Paul’s Corinthian correspondence does not require an explicit binitarian or trinitarian model, but it reveals that many early Christians viewed God as both transcendent and immanent and worshiped Jesus as the God of Israel manifested in human identity. We identify four significant socio-rhetorical factors in the monotheistic deification of Jesus: (1) In a context of rapid social change it enabled Christians to combine Hebrew monotheism with Greek longing for universals, thereby claiming both traditional heritage and Christocentric distinctiveness. (2) It gave them a unique social identity and cohesiveness. (3) It affirmed their soteriological experiences, beliefs, and outreach. (4) It positioned the movement to attract all people, moving the new faith beyond Jewish ethnicity and traditional boundary markers so that it became a universal monotheism with a missiological focus. The socio-rhetorically constructed identity of Jesus Christ defined the identity of the early Christians. The result was a distinctively Christian faith. / New Testament / D. Th. (New Testament)

One of the central issues of early Christianity was the identity of Jesus Christ. Paul and other early Christians discussed this question within the framework of traditional Jewish monotheism and used the language of deity to describe Christ. This thesis explores how and why they integrated the two concepts of monotheism and the deity of Jesus. As a window into this process, it particularly examines Paul’s discourse in 2 Cor 3:16–4:6, employing grammatical-historical exegesis with insights from rhetorical criticism and Oneness Pentecostal Christology. We consider three fundamental questions: (1) What does the exalted language concerning Christ in this text represent? (2) How did Paul reconcile the deification of Jesus with his monotheistic heritage? (3) Why did Paul deify Jesus? What interests were served, and what were the practical consequences? The conclusion is that early Christians, prior to and including Paul, worshiped Jesus within a Jewish monotheistic context and not as a result of Hellenization. They viewed Jesus as the revelation of the one God, not as a second deity or a different personage. Although they reinterpreted their core beliefs in light of Jesus, they did not see their worship of Jesus as violating their core beliefs. The evidence from Paul’s Corinthian correspondence does not require an explicit binitarian or trinitarian model, but it reveals that many early Christians viewed God as both transcendent and immanent and worshiped Jesus as the God of Israel manifested in human identity. We identify four significant socio-rhetorical factors in the monotheistic deification of Jesus: (1) In a context of rapid social change it enabled Christians to combine Hebrew monotheism with Greek longing for universals, thereby claiming both traditional heritage and Christocentric distinctiveness. (2) It gave them a unique social identity and cohesiveness. (3) It affirmed their soteriological experiences, beliefs, and outreach. (4) It positioned the movement to attract all people, moving the new faith beyond Jewish ethnicity and traditional boundary markers so that it became a universal monotheism with a missiological focus. The socio-rhetorically constructed identity of Jesus Christ defined the identity of the early Christians. The result was a distinctively Christian faith. / New Testament / D. Th. (New Testament)