A. Man before the fall.
(De statu hominis ante lapsum.)
1. Created in the divine image.
The original state of man is generally described by the predicate "very good" (Gen. 1:31). But this predicate comes also to all other creatures. The more detailed description of the good nature that belongs to man in contrast to all other creatures is contained in the statement that God created man in His (God's) image, Gen. 1:26-27: נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֛ם בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ כִּדְמוּתֵ֑נוּ [HEBREW].1534)
1534) Details for the determination of the divine image. 1. The question has been discussed whether v. 26 צַלְמֵ֖ ["image"] and XXXX ["likeness"] denote different things or the same thing. Those who assume the former have determined the difference in such a way that with XXX mind and will are ascribed to man, with XXXX a mind that knows God and a will that wills what God wills. This view is untenable because v. 27, which reports the execution of v. 26, is not XXXX but only XXX repeated. Because now the divine execution certainly corresponds to the divine resolution, so also XXX alone designates the whole of the divine image. The fact that XXXX is added to XXX in v. 26 has the purpose to emphasize the concept of the divine image. Thus Luther in the translation, v. 26: "an image that is like us"; Baier II, 143: imago simillima. Likewise Gerhard, locus De Imagine Dei; differently Luther in a passage in the commentary on Genesis, Op. Lat., Erl. II, 87 ff.; St. Louis I, 410 ff. — 2. It is in the nature of things, namely, in the difference of the Creator and the creature, that God's image in man does not refer to all divine attributes, e.g., not to aseity and eternity, and that the divine attributes which find representation in man, e.g., wisdom, the position of ruler, etc., belong to man in a lesser degree. God is wise, and man is wise; God rules, and man rules. But to God belongs infinite wisdom, dominion, etc., limited to man, as has been stated in the doctrine of God. — 3. With regard to the correct understanding of Genesis 1:26-27, the following should be noted: For the assumption that man was created in the image of the human nature of Christ (according to Origen and Andr. Osiander) or in the image of the
618 ><w:t xml:space="preserve">The doctrines of man. [English ed. 516-517]