“Vera iustitia et sanctitate praeditum…”

Subtitle
The content of imago Dei according to the 6th article of the Heidelberg Catechism
Contributor

Theis paper analyses the concept of “imago Dei” based on the 6th answer of the Heidelberg Catechism. I chose this topic as it is one of the most controversial questions of systematic theology. If one browses through the dogmatic and ethical works written from the earliest period of Christianity to the most recent times, they will find a large variety of answers. All of these attempt to explain what the writer of Genesis meant by the expression na‘aśęh ’ ādām beṣalmenu kidemutenu. The Heidelberg Catechism deals with this topic in the 6th answer where the authors attested that God did not create the first human being godless and malicious. After stating that as a matter of fact, God created man according to his own image and likeness, the Catechism explains the term imago Dei in a twofold way: first, it seeks to define the inner content of the image and similitude of God, and secondly it expands upon the purpose of man given by God as the image of his creator within the creation. Henceforth, we shall seek to develop the meaning of this definition of imago Dei.

Bibliográfiai hivatkozás

Bibliographic reference

Papp György: “Vera iustitia et sanctitate praeditum…”. The content of imago Dei according to the 6th article of the Heidelberg Catechism. In: Papp György (ed.): In aetatum confiniis. A Dialogue between Early, Early Modern and Contemporary Church on Various Topics of Christian Doctrine. (2021), 146--158