This seminar will be lead by Dr. James DeMasi (Beatrice Institute).

In the second chapter of Genesis, we are told that human beings were created in God’s image and likeness: “Ait: “Faciamus [pl.] hominem ad imaginem et simultudinem nostram [pl.].” What does it mean to say that human beings are made in the image and the likeness of God? Christian tradition has interpreted this passage diversely, but patterns have emerged which variously comment on the nature of human beings and the nature of God, their Creator. We will read a selection from a recent synthesis of the interpretive traditions as well as a selection from Pico Della Mirandola’s famous Oration on the Dignity of Man, the acme of Renaissance humanism and the most bold attempt at a synthesis of classical models of human nature.

Reading: “Perceiving the Image of God in the Whole Human Person” by Mark Spencer.