Chapter IX: The Loss of the Divine Image Through the Fall of the First-Formed Human Beings
CHAPTER IX: ON THE LOSS OF THE DIVINE IMAGE THROUGH THE FALL OF THE FIRST-FORMED HUMAN BEINGS
§ 129. This concludes our discussion on the image of God, after which the first man was created. It remains for us to investigate the question: Was the image of God in man lost through the fall? We respond. (1) If the divine image is taken for the actual essence of the soul, its intellect, will, and its other powers, then we should not say that it perished through the fall, seeing as the soul of Adam, as far as essence is concerned, remained the same after the fall as it was before the fall. (2) If the image of God is taken for a general congruence and analogy by which the soul of man expresses certain divine realities—for instance, that it reveals a shadow of the Holy Trinity; that it is incorporeal, spiritual, intelligent, and having free will in matters subject to its powers—then again we should not say that it perished through the fall, seeing as all these things can be observed in man’s soul after the fall. (3) If the image of God is taken for dominion over other creatures, especially living creatures (the image of God consists in this dominion secondarily), then again we should not say that the image of God completely perished in this sense and respect; for though the dignity of dominion has been weakened and diminished in many ways, some traces of it still survive. (4) If the divine image is taken for inborn elements in us which are tenuous remnants of the divine image in the mind and will of man and, as it were, the rubble of a beautiful building, then we again confess that the image of God has not been lost completely with respect to these tiny particles, because the work of the Law is still written even in the hearts of the unregenerate. (5) However, if the image of God is taken in accord with the explanation and definition of Scripture for the true righteousness and holiness after which man was created, for the concreated integrity and uprightness of all powers which were in man before the fall, then we must surely say that the divine image has been lost through the fall.
Arguments which confirm the loss of the divine image in man.
§ 130. The Holy Spirit bears witness to this statement every time He speaks about original sin, which was introduced into the human race through the fall of Adam; for He defines it as the absence of original righteousness and as the corruption of the entire human nature which took the place of man’s primeval integrity. “Before, we were light in the Lord; now we are in darkness” ([cf.] Eph. 5:8). Formerly our will was in harmony with the Law, but now “the mind of the flesh is enmity against God” (Rom. 8:7). Formerly there was an obedience in our members to the spirit of the mind and to the Law of God, but now “we see in our members another law at war with the law of our mind and taking us captive” (Rom. 7:23). Formerly we were the beloved children of God, but “now we are by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3). Formerly we were partakers of spiritual life which is of God, but now “we are dead in our sins” (Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:[13]; etc.). Consequently, to deny that the image of God has been lost is to deny original sin itself.
§ 131. Furthermore: According to whatever we are to be renewed through the Holy Spirit so that it is restored in us out of a new creation, that has surely been lost. But now, through the Holy Spirit we are to be renewed according to the image of God so that it is restored to us out of a new creation. Therefore surely the image of God has been lost. The minor premise is confirmed by the words of the apostle in 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:23; and Col. 3:10. Here one should observe these emphases: (1) The restoration of the image of God is a “transformation,” a renewal of the Spirit, the putting on of the new man. (2) This is done by the Spirit of God, the very one who once created the first man after this image of His. (3) The image of God consists of true righteousness and holiness, of the true knowledge of God. None of these is still left within the powers of man or can be expected to come from human might.
§ 132. And lest any doubt remain, we should compare the first man as he is described before the fall and as he is set before us after the fall. Likewise, compare how the descendants of Adam are described. Here it will appear quite clearly that man became wicked and unrighteous from being righteous and holy, poverty-stricken from being wealthy, sick from being healthy, dead from being alive, captive from being free, an enemy from being a child of God, guilty of damnation from being an heir of eternal life; he has taken off the most beautiful image of God and put on the foul mask of the devil. For this reason the apostle says, 1 Cor. 15:49: “We no longer wear the image of God, the heavenly Adam, but the image of the earthly Adam.” We have turned away from God and become destitute of concreated innocence and righteousness, subject to disasters, diseases, death, and damnation.
Statements of the ancients regarding the loss of the divine image.
§ 133. In this sense and respect the ancients at times clearly declare that the image of God in us has perished. Irenaeus (bk. 3, ch. 20): “The Son of God, incarnate and made man, recapitulated in Himself the long line of men and provided us with salvation in brief, so that what we had lost in Adam, that is, being after the image and likeness of God, we would regain in Jesus Christ.”
Origen (on Genesis, homily 1): “Man produced an image of evil through sin; therefore Christ came, made in the likeness of man, that we might be shaped again after His image.”
Basil (on Psalm 48): “After man lost the image of his heavenly Creator, he took on the likeness of an earthly artisan.”
Ambrose (Hexaem., bk. 6, ch. 7): “A well-painted picture has in itself the gleaming grace of virtues, the splendor of piety,” etc. “Adam was according to this image before sin; but, when he fell, he put aside the image of the heavenly and put on the likeness of the earthly.”
Augustine (De Trin., bk. 14, ch. 16):
By being reminded, they are converted to the Lord from the deformity by which they were conformed to this world by their worldly lusts. Therefore they are reformed again from Him. They listen to the apostle as he says, “Be not conformed to this world but be conformed again by the renewing of your mind” [Rom. 12:2], so that the image may begin to be reformed by Him who first formed it. It could not reform itself as it could deform itself, etc. By sinning, man lost his true righteousness and holiness; because of this that image became deformed and depraved. It regains this when it is reformed and renewed.
Augustine again (De Gen. ad lit., bk. 6, ch. 27): “We are renewed in accordance with what Adam lost, that is, according to the spirit of our mind,” etc. “The apostle says: ‘Take off the old man with his actions and put on the new man who is renewed in the knowledge of God according to the image of Him who created him’ [cf. Eph. 4:22–24]. This image, which was impressed in the spirit of the mind, Adam lost through sin; we recover it through the grace of righteousness.”
Bede (on Job, bk. 3): “The seal of the image of God which had been rubbed away and destroyed is restored again through Christ by a second impression.”
Bernard (treatise De grat. et lib. arbit., ch. 1061): “In this body of death and in this evil world, let it be sufficient not to obey sin from the freedom of choice, from concupiscence,” etc. “In this way we repair the image of God within us. In this way we are prepared through grace to lay hold of that ancient honor which we lost through sin.”
Damascenus (Orthod. fid., bk. 4, ch. 4): “Through transgression of the commandment we erased the marks of the divine image, and now that we have become established in evil, we are justly deprived of communion with God.”
§ 134. Whenever the fathers say that the image of God is still in man, this is to be understood as a reference to one of the four meanings which we listed a little earlier [§ 129], not to the fifth and last meaning, of which the image of God truly and properly consists. On this subject one should also observe that many of the fathers distinguish between image and likeness such that they refer “image” to the essential powers of the soul: the mind, will, memory, etc.; and “likeness” to the qualities of the soul, such as righteousness and holiness. Why, then, according to this hypothesis, would it be strange for them to say that the image of God is still left in man? In fact, what is strange is that Bellarmine (De eccl., bk. 4, ch. 9) brings the charge of heresy against those who say that the image of God has been lost in spiritual matters, because he accepts the fathers’ opinion about the distinction between image and likeness. Likewise, modern Photinians argue that the image of God in man has by no means been lost (Catech. Racov., p. 22). This is no doubt because they hold a false assumption and claim that the image of God was nothing but dominion over other creatures (p. 23).
The statements of our adversaries.
§ 135. Even some of our adversaries acknowledge that Origen (who asserted that the image of God in man perished) and we (who embrace his opinion or, rather, the position of Scripture) cannot be branded with the mark of heresy if the image of God is taken to mean the concreated uprightness and integrity of all one’s powers. Alphonsus de Castro (Adv. haeres., bk. 2, title “Adam”): “Origen understood ‘image’ to mean either nature or rational substance, or he meant a likeness or quality of the soul. So if Origen employed this second meaning, who does not see that there is no reason to suspect him of heresy?” Maldonatus (on Luke 15): “The ‘substance’ which the prodigal [son] lost is generally interpreted by most people as his free will and his other natural abilities, as, for instance, Bede, Augustine, Euthymius, and Bernard. Nevertheless they said these things in a sound sense. Others think that the lost substance signifies the image and likeness.” Ambrose says, “He used up all the adornments of his nature.” Vasquez (In Thomae1.2., vol. 1, disp. 137, no. 14): “I answer that the image of God that has been impressed upon the intellect is one thing, namely, the memory and the will; none of this is diminished intrinsically, only extrinsically, and therefore it was never erased, however much it was diminished extrinsically. On the other hand, the image of God impressed upon man through grace and love is another thing, for by these qualities we are made like God. This image was utterly lost through sin.” Origen and Augustine should be understood in reference to this. In addition to these is Pererius, who does not recognize such a distinction between image and likeness as Bellarmine has made.
The arguments of those who claim that the image of God is still whole in man.
§ 136. We shall briefly show how one should respond to the arguments of those who contend for the idea that the image of God in man after the fall is still whole [integra]. They say:
(I)“All things in the world submit to man; therefore men still bear the image of God.”
We respond. Such dominion is not the main part of the divine image, and besides, this dominion has been diminished extremely.
(II)“Adam begot a son after his own image (Gen. 5:[3]). Therefore the image of God remained in him.” We respond by inversion, because Adam, it says, did not beget children after the original image of God but explicitly after his own image, which had been corrupted by sin. Therefore surely the image of God had perished in him. Hugh (commentary on this passage): “Just as Adam was created innocent and immortal by an innocent and immortal God, that is, by a God who could not die, so he himself, having become a sinner and mortal, begot a mortal sinner.” This statement is in harmony with the words: “Who can make him clean who is conceived of unclean seed?” [Job 14:4 Vg]. “Behold, I was conceived in iniquity” [Ps. 51:5]. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” [John 3:6]. “We are by nature children of wrath” [Eph. 2:3].
(III) “Gen. 9:6 forbids the shedding of man’s blood because God created man after His own image. Therefore surely the image of God still continues to exist in man.”
We respond. The explanation added to the law can be applied to the murderer as well as to the murdered. For though the image of God perished in man as far as perfect righteousness and holiness and the remaining spiritual gifts are concerned, the remnants of practical knowledge are still in the mind of man—distinctions between virtuous and shameful acts. These ought to recall a murderer from bloodshed. This prescript of the conscience is a small part of the divine image which we should hold in reverence within ourselves. As far as the one murdered is concerned, he was created in Adam after the image of God and was restored to the same image through Christ. Consequently, in these and similar statements, Scripture has in view the first creation of man, seeing as in Adam all have been created after the image of God. Also, Scripture has in view the remnants of the divine image, seeing as even in the minds of the unregenerate some small part of that primeval beauty remains. And finally Scripture has in view the office and benefits of Christ, for He came into the world to destroy the works of the devil and to restore the image of God in us through rebirth and renewal.
(IV) “Ps. 39:6 says, ‘Man walks in the image.’ ”
walks in shadow and in darkness, so to speak, not knowing the day of his death. For this reason he patiently does his works which are destined to perish by anxiously heaping them up, as the context shows clearly. Therefore what Augustine and Cassiodorus say here about the image of God does not fit the text sufficiently.
(V)“Wisdom 2:23 says, ‘God created man in incorruptibility and made him after the image of His own likeness.’ ” We respond. The wise man is speaking about man as he was first created by God, not such as he was born into the world after the fall, for an adversative follows in v. 24: “But through the envy of the devil, death entered into the world.” Consequently, as man lost his immortality, so also did he lose the image of God.
(VI)“In 1 Cor. 11:7 we read that ‘the man is the image and glory of God.’ ” We respond. It is not dealing with the chief part of the divine image, which was common to both genders, but an external adornment and less important part of the divine image, namely, the dignity of dominion, remnants of which still survive.
(VII) “In James 3:9 we read: ‘With the tongue we curse1 men, who have been made after the likeness of God.’”
We respond. In Adam all people have been created after the image of God. In all of them, remnants of that divine image survive, and Christ came into the world to renew all people after the image of God by the benefit of spiritual rebirth. Moreover, the word ὁμοίωσις (“likeness”) is used here; yet Bellarmine establishes a distinction between the image and likeness of God, asserting that the latter is lost but that former survives and has remained.
Why God wanted some remnants of the divine image to survive in man.
§ 137. Therefore it is quite clear on the basis of the testimony of Scripture and of experience that the divine image perished in the descendants of Adam in such a way that there scarcely survive some insignificant remnants, albeit obscured and destroyed by sin. Nevertheless God wanted them to be left in us: (1) To be conspicuous witnesses of our nature such as it once was as created by God, just as rubble and ruins testify of the dignity of a building. (2) That we may learn from them the mercy of God toward us most unworthy sinners and that we may read on the tablets of our heart the goodness of God expressed in the living letters of those remnants. (3) That those remnants of knowledge may be instructors of outward discipline which God uses as an instruction for the renewal of His image imparted to us through Christ. (4) “That the wicked may be made inexcusable while they suppress the truth in their wickedness and exchange the truth for a lie” (Rom. 1:18, 25).
1 Read maledicimus instead of benedicimus.