The image of the Holy Trinity in living cells is
PREDICTED in GENESIS
"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our own image, according to our likeness' "
- Genesis 1:26
This is one of the most memorable lines in the entire Bible, if not all literature, but what exactly does it mean? In what way are human beings the image of God? Irrespective of whether you believe in the existence of God or not, or what your opinion happens to be about the creation accounts in the book of Genesis, wrapped-up in this famous line of scripture is a scientific prediction. That's not all. This prediction may turn out to be the most consequential in the history of science.
1. The Soul
The obvious interpretation of this passage, which we find throughout Christianity, is that the image is spiritual - the human is the soul image of God.
But there is a problem with this interpretation. Genesis does not mention the soul. Or anything spiritual for that matter. According to Genesis, God makes man in his own image. In other words, the entire human person is the image of God.
In Judaeo-Christian belief, the human person consists of the union of a material body and a spiritual soul. In which case, the image of God can either be in the body and soul combined, or individually. Question is, which one is it?
2. The Body
Jews and Christians believe that the soul separates from the body at the point of death.
If Judaism and Christianity believe that separated souls in heaven are still the image of God (which is perfectly consistent with their belief system), then the image of God cannot depend on the body. But neither is it just in the soul either. Why? Because it doesn't say so in Genesis.
All of this logic leads to the following profound conclusion: the image of God is in the soul, and it is also distinctly in the body too. When a person dies, the image of God disappears from the body, but it continues to exist in the soul. If you do not believe human beings have a spiritual soul, that's fine. I'm not interested in souls here. What I'm interested in, is the image of God in matter.
3. Living Cells
This now raises the obvious, though no less tantalising, question: where exactly in the body is the image of God?
It is perfectly reasonable to assume the image of God is not something which emerges over time, once a sufficient stage of physical development has been reached. The image of God must be present in the human body right from the very beginning, when the human body starts to form, which happens at the moment of fertilisation. The very first cell must therefore contain the image of God. This, in turn, means that every other cell of the body must also contain the image of God. In other words, the image of God is in every living cell of a person's body.
4. Other Organisms
This raises the question: what about the cells of all other organisms?
It is perfectly reasonable to assume the image of God is not something which emerges over time, once a sufficient stage of physical development has been reached. The image of God must be present in the human body right from the very beginning, when the human body starts to form, which happens at the moment of fertilisation. The very first cell must therefore contain the image of God. This, in turn, means that every other cell of the body must also contain the image of God. In other words, the image of God is in every living cell of a person's body.
5. The Holy Trinity
This raises the question: what about the cells of all other organisms?
It is perfectly reasonable to assume the image of God is not something which emerges over time, once a sufficient stage of physical development has been reached. The image of God must be present in the human body right from the very beginning, when the human body starts to form, which happens at the moment of fertilisation. The very first cell must therefore contain the image of God. This, in turn, means that every other cell of the body must also contain the image of God. In other words, the image of God is in every living cell of a person's body.
6. A Scientific Prediction
This raises the question: what about the cells of all other organisms?
It is perfectly reasonable to assume the image of God is not something which emerges over time, once a sufficient stage of physical development has been reached. The image of God must be present in the human body right from the very beginning, when the human body starts to form, which happens at the moment of fertilisation. The very first cell must therefore contain the image of God. This, in turn, means that every other cell of the body must also contain the image of God. In other words, the image of God is in every living cell of a person's body.
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