IMAGE
IMMORTALITY
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Father' (cf. also 8^^- '•2). There are other modes of the Divine inanifestation ; through creation itself he who has an eye to see may behold ' the invisible things of God' (Ko 1^"), but there is no revelation or manifestation so sure, so adequate, so satisfying as that in Christ.
At this point we may notice the strikinar expression in He 13 where Christ, in a passajre reminding- us of Colossians, is spoken of as ' the verj' image of God's substance.' The word used is Xa-paK-rfip, which meant originally a graving tool and then the impression made by such a tool, especially on a seal or die, and the figure struck off by such seal or die ; hence the translations 'stamped with God's own character' (Moflfatt), 'the impress of God's essence ' (Peake). The Son is thus the exact counterpart of the Father, the exact facsimile, the clear-cut impression wliich possesses all the ' characteristics' of the original. Again it is noteworthy that Philo (de Plant. Nom, § 5) speaks of the Logos as the impression on the seal of God. Westcott (in Zoc.) distinguishes xapaKrqp from ei/cwv by saying that the former 'conveys representative traits only,' while the latter 'gives a complete representation under the condition of earth of that which it figures' ; and from /u.op<|)^, 'which marks the essential form.'
3. Man as the image of God or of Christ.— The
fundamental text, Gn P"- '-'', is the basis of St. Paul's statement in 1 Co 11^ (cf. Col S^"). Man is the image of God in those matters of rational and moral endowment which distinguish him from the humbler creation. St. Paul would no doubt have subscribed to Justin Martj'r's statement that God ' in the beginning made the human race with the power of thought and of choosing the truth and doing 'right, so that all men are without excuse before God ; for they have been born rational and contemjdative ' (Apol. i. 28). In neither the OT nor the NT are we to press for a diflerence between ' image' and ' likeness,' which are used as synonyms. The image has, however, been marred and obscured by men's sin. Yet there is the glorious possibility of its renewal and restoration. The new man in Christ Jesus bears once more the image of his Creator (Col 3'") ; he becomes akin to God, is able to know Him (eh iirlyvwaLv) and His will in all the ;i Hairs of life. In this perfected likeness to God humandistinctions,whetherof nationality, religious ceremonial, culture, or caste, fall away — 'in it there is no room for Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free man ; Christ is everything and everywhere.' This agrees ■with Ro 8-^, in which the elect are spoken of as sharing the image of God's Son — that He might be the firstborn of a great brotherhood. Thus it matters little whether we speak of bearing Christ's image or God's, and it is fruitless to debate which is prior in time. The two are one. To be con- formed to the image of Christ is to share not only His holiness but His glory — a thought brought before us in 2 Co 3^^ (' We all mirror the glory of the Lord with face unveiled, and so we are being transformed into the same image as himself, pass- ing from one glory to another') and in 1 Co 15^^ ('as we have borne the image of material man so we are to bear the image of the heavenly Man '). In the first of these passages the spirit of the be- liever is likened to a mirror which receives the unobstructed impression of the glory of the Lord. That glory takes up its abode in the Christian, and instead of fading as in the case of Moses, becomes ever more glorious (cf. Ro 8^'). The assimilation of Christ's mind and character involves the assimi- lation of His splendour. The outer man may perish but the inner man, the real man, waxes more and more radiant, strong, and immortal, till it dwells, like its Lord, wholly in the light. With these passages, and especially with the second, which points forward, we may compare 1 Jn 3-'-, •We are to be like him, for we are to see him as he is.' While the primary imjilication is ethical and spiritual it is not the only one in the NT thought of our likeness to Christ.
Literature. — Besides the Commentaries, especially A. S. Peake, EGT : 'Colossians,' 1903; A. Menzies, The Second
Epistle of the Apostle Paxil to the Corinthians, 1912 ; and B. F. Westcott, Epistle to the Hfhreivs, 1889 ; see, for Christ as the image of God, W. L. Walker, Christ the Creatine Ideal, 1913, pp. 52 f., 6U f. ; H. R. Mackintosh, The Doctrine of the Person o) Jesus Chriiit, 1912, pp. (55, S3 ; for man as tlie image of God. H. Wheeler Robinson, Christian Doctrine of Man, 1911, p. 164 f. ; on image-worship in the Roman Empire and its parallels to-day, C. Brown, Heavenly Visions, 1910, pp. 70 f., 175-183.
A. J. Grieve. IMMORTALITY. — The subject of immortality may be treated from many points of view — doc- trinal, metaphysical, biological. But the scope of this article is necessarily limited to the historical method of treatment, and is further confined to a definite portion of the historical field— the 1st cent, of Christianity. Hence many aspects of the sub- ject are excluded. For the previous development of the belief in immortality the reader is referred to the articles dealing with this and the related subjects in HDB, DC'G, and EBE. The following is the outline of the treatment of the subject in this article :