I could never perform a somersault in my life, it made me afraid. When I couldn't sneak away, without being noticed (I think), in Physical Education classes, I refused to do the dreaded acrobatics. Well, I managed it now, after getting old... But it was only mentally... 😄 It's my brother, Mário Domiciano, who has showed me this incredible acrobatic leap of thought and, after I was able to do so, the solution seemed to an "egg of Columbus" [1].
No one seems to have performed this somersault. The fact is that I did not find the solution given by my brother, to the theme that I will address next, in any of the extensive treatises of St. Augustine, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Thomas Aquinas. I must clarify that I have not read these treatises, but some studies on them (theses published in Universities, abstracts, lessons, etc.), which I found on the Internet. It is a very interesting subject.
It is about understanding the meaning of man being created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1: 26: Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.)
In addition to all the considerations about the meaning of image and likeness, about the fact that God speaks in the first person plural, the dominion over other beings on earth, about the fact that God is incorporeal and man has a body, etc. , etc., scholars similarly conclude, with some variations, that man would have been made similar to God by his ability of reasoning (intelligence, reason), by having a soul, by being capable of free choice (free will, freedom), by the ability to relate to others (interaction for good). Some make an analogy with the Holy Trinity, like St. Augustine, who speaks at length about it. Some say that Jesus is the man in the image and likeness of God.
If anyone wants to read some of the works I read, check the related links at the end of this text (or go to Portuguese version because I found more texts in Portuguese). Regarding the considerations of the Jews on the subject, I read some texts that seemed to be similar to those I cited above, others that consider man an "image" not because he is endowed with reason or soul, but in the sense of being God's representatives in creation, as administrators/kings of creation. As what I found are more comments than properly treatises, I didn't list them in the links. But they were enough to give an idea. When I find more profound work that genuinely corresponds to the Jewish tradition, I will add the appropriate references.
But the "somersault" changed everything. For having forged themselves in mathematics to design, build, in different circumstances, engineers have a precise, objective and sensible reasoning, which travels through space and time as well as through their absence. The Divine Grace of knowledge walks through these "mental platforms" in a special way, it seems. That's how my brother has performed this acrobatics, like someone drinking a glass of water, connecting who-knows which points, lines and angles. And he made me understand with sudden clarity!
How fruitful our conversations were in "Rio Doce", our parents' house. We still exchange ideas. A little of everything stays forever ("De tudo fica um pouco")... and it happens still a lot, thanks God! Long live the Internet that allows our communication.
Continuing the somersault, here we go... Attachez vos tuques !
The "time" parameter for God is not ours, that is, God is not subject to our time, because God is absolute, -omni-, because He does not change, He always is (Exodus 3 :14: "I am who I am. You shall say to the children of Israel: I AM has sent me to you"). While, for us, everything is relative.
It is very difficult to understand, but I'll try, although in a very rudimentary way, because we only have a very vague idea, nobody really knows what it's like. Do you remember the old film tapes, with those little squares showing each movement, frame by frame? Looking against the light, we could see several sequences, go through the tape, following with the gaze and see the whole film.
God sees, or rather, knows the tape of the entire universe, of all times, past, present and future, as if looking at everything at once, always. As if, for Him, this whole movement was static, in a tiny instant. His "look" encompasses everything at once. There is no before and after, as for us, who perceive everything in a confused way.
What God says, or rather, what the writer of Genesis manages to convey as -"in our image, according to our likeness"-, is focused by the cited authors (Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas, etc.) on a time of Creation, a "time" before everything.
In the "somersault", the focus is on Jesus - He, the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity, having two natures (human and divine) is the MOULD. We were created in His image and likeness, although He was born in this world a long time after Creation, for our weak temporal perception. He is the Word of God that has always existed. He himself said to Philip: "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?" (John 14: 9). And He said to the Jews: "Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8: 58).
Jesus is not the man made in the image and likeness of God, as some authors say. He is not a creature, He was begotten, not created. He is God the Son, the firstborn, and we are made in His image and likeness, we are the other children of God, even those who were born "before" the Baby Jesus... "For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters." (Romans 8: 29).
Update:
In my searches for this idea that man was made in the image and likeness of Jesus, I found confirmation in the work of St. Irenaeus of Lyons, who lived between the years 135 and 203 AD, and who was recently acclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Francis. According to the document of Pope Benedict XVI, "in Irenaeus' teaching, the dignity of man, body and soul, is firmly anchored in divine creation, in the image of Christ and in the Spirit's permanent work of sanctification." Hence it seems that God created man already thinking about Jesus (see links at the end).
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Note: since Jesus is God and God is one and triune, the interpretation that considers reason, soul and interaction is also valid, remembering that it focuses on the Person of Jesus Christ.
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"Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul."
Thank you so much, Our Lady, for leading me to Jesus with such a sweetness, my Heavenly Mother. Saint Joseph, merci pour tout.
My Guardian Angel, protect me.
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Related links:
[1] Egg of Columbus
[2] The Imago Dei
[3] Anthropology of St. Gregory of Nyssa
[4] John 14: 6-9
[5] Romans 8: 29
[6] John 8: 58
[7] Benedict XVI General Audience
[8] Saint Irenaeus, the new doctor of the Church
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