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Archive for the Creation Category

Genesis 1:26

יֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים

נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ

וְיִרְדּוּ בִדְגַת הַיָּם

וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם

וּבַבְּהֵמָה

וּבְכָל-הָאָרֶץ

וּבְכָל-הָרֶמֶשׂ, הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל-הָאָרֶץ.


وَقَالَ اللهُ:

«نَعْمَلُ الإِنْسَانَ عَلَى صُورَتِنَا كَشَبَهِنَا

فَيَتَسَلَّطُونَ عَلَى سَمَكِ الْبَحْرِ

وَعَلَى طَيْرِ السَّمَاءِ

وَعَلَى الْبَهَائِمِ وَعَلَى كُلِّ الأَرْضِ

وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ الدَّبَّابَاتِ الَّتِي تَدِبُّ عَلَى الأَرْضِ».


Y dijo Dios:

Hagamos al hombre á nuestra imagen, conforme á nuestra semejanza;

y señoree en los peces de la mar,

y en las aves de los cielos,

y en las bestias,

y en toda la tierra,

y en todo animal que anda arrastrando sobre la tierra.


And God said,

Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:

and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,

and over the fowl of the air,

and over the cattle,

and over all the earth,

and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.


Additional LDS scriptural sources:

Moses 2:26
And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and it was so. And I, God, said: Let them have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Abraham 4:26
And the Gods took counsel among themselves and said: Let us go down and form man in our image, after our likeness; and we will give them dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.


Notes/Questions:

This is a verse that shows up in the LDS scripture mastery verses that seminary students study. From the LDS perspective, we take the idea that we are created in God’s image very literally - because we believe God has a physical body. Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 reads:

The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.

It has never seemed strange to me to believe in a God who has a physical body - particularly from a Christian vantage-point - since the New Testament teaches that Jesus was resurrected in a physical manner - that he made a point of eating and allowing himself to be touched after the resurrection.

There is something else interesting in this verse - the phrase “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” which seems to point to a plurality of Gods.

On his home page, which is titled “Thoughts on Science & Religion”, Dr. Robert D. Gardner has written the following:

This site contains thoughts developed over my lifetime as I have studied to earn a Ph.D. in Physics from Stanford University while still maintaining my deep faith in the teachings of the LDS (Mormon) Church.

He has written a very interesting paper titled “Abraham’s Vision of the Creation.” You can find it online here (divided into various sub-sections - simply click on the links in the left-hand side) and there is a link on the same page for download (as a Microsoft Word document).