Imago Dei in St. Thomas Aquinas: A Philosophical and Anthropological Analysis of Man Created in the Image of God
Imago Dei in St. Thomas Aquinas: A Philosophical and Anthropological Analysis of Man Created in the Image of God

Summary/Abstract: Image as a philosophical concept has a long and complex history that begins as early as antiquity. Christian scholars included it in their philosophical studies in the form of imago Dei. In this paper, I analyzed the works of St. Thomas Aquinas to determine the anthropological consequences that follow from the idea of human creation in the image of God. I first establish that humans as beings created in the image of God participate through their intellect in God’s nature. I then present three stages of human participation in God. Subsequently, I defend the classical theory of Aquinas against contemporary reinterpretation of his thought. I argue that Aquinas rightly claims that only the intellectual part of the human soul is, strictly speaking, created in God’s Image, while the human body (and other irrational creatures) resembles God in the likeness of a trace.

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