“image of God” (imago Dei) is not some de facto property of Homo sapiens (whether will or reason or language or what have you); rather, the image of God is a task, a mission. As Richard Middleton comments, “The imago Dei designates the royal office or calling of human beings as God’s representatives and agents in the world, granted authorized power to share in God’s rule or administration of the earth’s resources and creatures.”[15] We are commissioned as God’s image bearers, his vice-regents, charged with the task of “ruling”[16] and caring for creation, which includes the task of cultivating
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