<P> Pope Benedict XVI wrote that the image of God has to do with relationality . Regarding the Imago Dei, he writes, "Its nature as an image has to do with the fact that it goes beyond itself and manifests something that it is not .... It is the dynamic that sets the human being in motion towards the totally Other . Hence it means the capacity for relationship; it is the human capacity for God ." </P> <P> The twentieth and early twenty - first centuries saw the image of God being applied to various causes and ideas including ecology, disabilities, gender, and post / transhumanism . Often these were reactions against prevailing understandings of the Imago Dei, or situations in which the Biblical text was being misused in the opinion of some . While some would argue this is appropriate, J. Richard Middleton argued for a reassessment of the Biblical sources to better understand the original meaning before taking it out of context and applying it . Instead of various extra-biblical interpretations, he pushed for a royal - functional understanding, in which "the imago Dei designates the royal office or calling of human beings as God's representatives or agents in the world ." </P> <P> In Christian theology there are three common ways of understanding the manner in which humans exist in Imago Dei: Substantive, Relational and Functional . </P> <P> The substantive view locates the image of God within the psychological or spiritual makeup of the human being . This view holds that there are similarities between humanity and God, thus emphasizing characteristics that are of shared substance between both parties . Some proponents of the substantive view uphold that the rational soul mirrors the divine . According to this mirroring, humanity is shaped like the way in which a sculpture or painting is in the image of the artist doing the sculpting or painting . While the substantive view locates the image of God in a characteristic or capacity unique to humanity, such as reason or will, the image may also be found in humanity's capacity to have a relationship with the divine . Unlike the relational view, humanity's capacity to have a relationship with the divine still locates the image of God in a characteristic or capacity that is unique to humanity and not the relationship itself . What is important is that the substantive view sees the image of God as present in humanity whether or not an individual person acknowledges the reality of the image . </P>

What does image and likeness mean in hebrew