It is written: "Let us make man in our image." But what in a human being is the image? Plato looked for it in the immortal soul, Aristotle in reason, Augustine in memory and will, Kant in dignity, Berdyaev in freedom and creativity. One question, passed from hand to hand.
Plato was the first to separate the human being from his body. A human being is an immortal soul, confined for a time in the flesh as in a prison; and while the other animals look down at the earth, the human soul remembers the eternal patterns — the Good, the Beautiful, the True — and longs for them. To be human is to have a share in the eternal.
Aristotle refused to set the soul against the body: the soul is the form of the body, its life and its end. Man is a "political animal," a rational and social being; what sets him apart is not flight from the world but reason (logos) and the fact that he lives among others. To be human is to think and to live together with others.
Augustine found the image of God within: in memory, understanding, and will — three powers of one soul, reflecting the Trinity. But this image is restless: "Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it rests in Thee." To be human is to be a creature that is not equal to itself and strains toward God.
Kant gave the human being dignity without appealing to where he came from: man is an end in himself, and may never be used merely as a means. The holy thing is not outside but within: the moral law, "the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me." To be human is to carry an unconditional worth.
Berdyaev said out loud what this road begins with: the image of God in a human being is freedom and creativity. Man is not merely created — he is called to create, to continue the creation, and in this he is like God. But the same freedom lets him say "no." To be human is to be a free co-creator — and therefore responsible.
If the image of God in a human being is freedom, what will he do with it next?