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Week 1 - Made in the Image of God

Welcome to the start of your Justice Year journey. Conveniently, the Bible gets right to the point in Genesis chapter 1 and gives us the basis for honoring the dignity of every man and woman.

Theme Scripture

"So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27

Justice Resources

As you meditate on and discuss the theme scripture, use the resources below to go even deeper in your study.

?Word

Imago Dei

Imago Dei is a Latin phrase that translates as Image of God. Imago Dei is the shorthand for the theology that all humans are created in God's image, and that truth is the basis for our worth and rights in society, not our wealth, ethnicity, gender, ect.

Because Imago Dei is based on Genesis 1, and the creation of humans, it is a doctrine that is honored by across Christina, Jewish, and Muslim faiths.

?Book

"Martin Luther King Jr. and the Image of God" by Richard Wayne Wills Sr. (Amazon)

This book traces the origins of Dr. King's theology, with a focus on how he interpreted the "Image of God".

You'll find references to many theologians, ministers, and civil rights leaders who impacted Dr. King, including Reinhold Niebuhr and Frederick Douglass.

I love this book because it focuses on what animated Dr. King to do justice, not just write about or debate justice.

Photo by Matheus Bertelli from Pexels

How to Start Studying Justice in Your Bible

Learning about Biblical Justice can be confusing. I offer this guide below to help you focus on learning and doing, rather than wasting time trying to create your own learning journey from scratch.

First, Choose Your Justice Learning Plan

What's your goal? Do you want to know justice, teach justice, or defend justice? I wrote a guide to help you decide - 3 Ways to Study Biblical Justice

Next, Gather Your Bible Resources

In the guide I listed study resources for each learning plan. However, each plan has the following resources in common:

1. God's Justice Study Bible (website / Amazon). This Bible has chapter introductions that talk about the justice themes you will encounter. There also helpful study notes at the bottom of passages that deal with key or difficult concepts. And there are surprisingly insightful questions at the end of the books that will help you reflect or discuss the Word with your family or friends.

On the site you can read a sample of the Bible's content. And as I write this, it's selling for $ at Amazon and even less at other bookstores.

2. Youversion / Bible.com App. There are a lot of Bible apps to choose one, but Justice Year recommends YouVersion because it has several Bible study plans that can take you through justice-related themes, or a year-long Bible study. You can also share the study plans with friends and read it together. The app is free for Android and iPhone.

3. BibleProject (website / YouTube channel / app). As much as possible, when Justice Year recommends a resource, I will include not just books, but videos, and podcasts, and infographics. We all have different learning styles, and the BibleProject is great for explaining Bible themes visually.

Lastly, Find Your Learning Community

Bible study is meant to be done in a community, through conversation between friends. I highly suggest finding friends at church, in your family, or in a Facegroup group who will be willing to talk to you about what you're learning, even if they are not focused on the same topics.

Photo by Bayu Syaits on Unsplash