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Candler Connection | Summer 2015
God’s gracious desire to be known. Smith recounted
rative of decline does not take into account the fact
ety comes down not to secularization, but to a lack
Puritan pastor John Winthrop’s 1630 sermon to his
that humans are finite beings that develop over time.
of reverence for humankind. “I find myself having
congregation aboard a ship heading for New Eng-
“We cannot undo the deep shifts of many centuries
to explain that yes, I am a Christian, but I’m not
land, where Winthrop declared that God’s deliver-
simply by changing the way we tell sermon stories.”
angry. I don’t hate anybody.” Soskice described
ance of the Puritans to the New World had created
Secondly, a narrative of decline fails to see that the
prophetic Christians as those who act when called
a covenant between them, making the Puritans an
shift from elect-conscious typological sermons to
upon, even when there are grave consequences.
antitype to the Israelites, God’s original covenant
more democratic illustrative sermons fit with the
“Jesus calls us ‘friends,’ not servants,” she said.
people. In Winthrop’s sermon, the relationship be-
cultural reforms “in the name of equality for all.”
“The servant does what he is told, which doesn’t
tween the two communities was no mere persuasive
Finally, a narrative of decline does not recognize the
require initiative. Friends take initiative. A friend
invention of the preacher’s imagination; it was seen
richness that comes from the role that humans play
sees his friend’s need and says, ‘I can help with this.
as real, Smith said.
in making meaning.
Here I am, Lord. Send me.’”
The rise of modern science, religious pluralism, and
“Stories about this world have meaning not because
The Image of God in the Contemporary World
increasing social and geographic mobility in the late
we tell them in a particular way, but because the
Associate Professor of Christian Ethics and Conflict
18th and 19th centuries catalyzed the shift from the
world itself is part of a much larger story,” he said.
Transformation Ellen Ott Marshall presented “Af-
typological sermon narrative to the illustrative. “The
“Points of stories, even if we make them, declare our
firmation and Accountability: Ethical Dimensions
shift happened because deep changes in background
hope for something more. They declare our trust in a
of ‘That Blessed Image.’” The “blessed image” she
beliefs made typology less plausible than illustra-
story with a better ending.”
referred to is the concept of imago Dei, the idea that all humans are made in the image of God. Affirming
tion,” Smith explained. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson
this idea, Marshall said, is one of the great prophetic
Acknowledging that some may view this shift as
and Janet Soskice of the University of Cambridge
challenges for the 21st century. “If we take the imago
a narrative of decline in theological imagination,
served as guest panelists at the session. Robinson
Dei seriously, we cannot dismiss anyone as unworthy
Smith argued against that perspective. First, a nar-
suggested that perhaps the lack of faith in our soci-
of care or beyond redemption.” The imago Dei has its basis in Scripture but comes to a fuller depiction in life as we live it, Marshall said. “The imago Dei is informed by our experiences in the world. We understand more fully [its] profound meaning…by truly attending to bodies, in their destruction, brokenness, healing, restoration, and transformation.” For Marshall, the image of God in contemporary society is not so much an exercise in doctrinal definition as an engagement with an expansive and dynamic project of faith comprising three elements: universality, relationality, and process.
LISA STONE
Ellen Ott Marshall
“All inequities, whether based on economics, race, gender or other elements of difference, are violations of the imago Dei.”
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