I-dol or Image?
There are many ways to get at the heart of the biblical message. One way is by considering the contrasts between i-dolatry (I’ll explain the spelling below) and image. Created as God’s image-bearers humanity has insistently if inexplicably turned away from God to other supposed deities. This i-dolatry is the fundamental human problem according to the Bible. The difference between the 1 st Commandment and Jesus’ 1 st Beatitude makes this clear. God commands exclusive commitment to him above all and in place of all other deities. Jesus blesses his followers with “poverty of spirit” – being bankrupt to stand before God and knowing and embracing it. That Jesus has to gift his followers with such an awareness speaks volumes about how far and how deep we have “fallen.” Created to be God’s glorious image-bearers, that is, his royal representatives reflecting and implementing God’s will and way throughout the creation and oversee...