Made in the Image of God - What Does That Mean?

Genesis 1:26-27 says God created man in His “image” and likeness. Both terms are meant the same, so it is generally called “the image of God” (imago dei). Some people take the image of God to mean the qualities that make us human, such as: having a soul, higher-order reasoning, self-awareness, awareness of God, and being capable of having relationships with Him. This seems like a good definition, as humans are the only ones who are made in the image of God, and those are the qualities that make us human. Understanding the idea of Gods image as the soul has also helped some people reconcile evolution with Christianity. Images of God are an important theological issue, and it is an open-ended discussion–but this is not a free-for-all. Genesis, other Old Testament passages, and Israels surrounding culture provide a good picture of what images of God meant. Rulers could not go all at once, and travel was slow. So, they would build monuments, or statues, to themselves all over their realm.