- Published: September 29, 2022
- Updated: September 29, 2022
- University / College: University of Chicago
- Level: Undergraduate
- Language: English
- Downloads: 27
Image of God in Man Introduction Based on the Old and New Testaments, man had been created in the image of God. The paper is aimed to present one of the issues in the society in related to the concept that man is created in the image and likeness of God. Specifically, the paper focuses on the social responsibility of human beings in relation to being seen to have the likeness of God.
Brief Summary
The article under study is entitled “ The New Testament Approach to Social Responsibility” by Donald Guthrie. The main objective of the article was to present evidences that can be found in the New Testament which can be related to the manner by which social responsibility can be defined and interpreted. According to the author, the results of such study were based on specific details which were recognized as important points of framework to the general idea. There are different issues that have been covered by the article. One is the theological basis in the New Testament which is focused on the totality of the man (thus including the surroundings). In the said part, the nature of man and the nature of God had been discussed along with theological limitations to social involvement and the New Testament concept of ideal society. 1
Critical Interaction
The author presented numerous concepts related to the image of God in man with respect to social responsibility. The article is leaning on the importance of human’s social responsibility in showing the image of God since in the totality of the man, the environment can be considered as a significant part. The author’s view is clearly targeted on promoting social responsibility. In every part of the article, clear references were given and multi-faceted discussion of the importance of social responsibility is given. In the first part which is about the theological basis, he presented the nature of man which is being a sinner and in need of redeeming himself by showing social responsibility. The concept presented regarding the nature of God revolves around giving love from Himself to man (1 John 4: 8). Being in the image of God, the author pointed out that for man to be able to redeem himself, there should be an expression of love towards his environment which can be equated to social responsibility. The third point presented under the theological limitations of to social involvement since there were no clear rules on what to do, the author pointed out that man needs to decide for himself taking into consideration his free will and his need to redeem himself – which again indicated that social responsibility is the key action to be taken. 2
The second part of the paper extends the author’s presentation on the importance of social responsibility by stating that the New Testament also promoted social responsibility which can be observed in the kingdom idea, church idea and the family idea. 3
The author was able to develop his thesis logically. He presented evidences that supported his claims. This can be considered as his main strength in terms of writing the paper in addition to a well researched topic. In terms of weaknesses, the author discussed a lot of concepts that took away the focus of the paper. The first part is clearly presented but the part where he imposed on the view of the New Testament on social responsibility can be viewed as a desperate attempt to strengthen his evidences but led to the lost of focus.
The article was able to point out the need for social responsibility which was described in the last part which was able to summarize the author’s view that although social responsibility was not directly taught in the bible, it should come as an effect of being a Christian. 4 Thus, social responsibility and outward act of love can be considered as the applications that can arise from the author’s view.
Conclusion
The author successfully conveyed his views and achieved the goal of the paper to present the image of God in man through social responsibility. Although by covering a wide and holistic approach to the concept somewhat made the paper less focused, the author was able to successfully affirm that social responsibility is an act that signifies and represents the image of a loving God in man.
Bibliography
Guthrie, Donald. “ The New Testament Approach to Social Responsibility.” Vox Evangelica 8 (1973): 40-59.