THE IMAGE OF GOD: The Glory of Man
by Ric Ergenbright
Click on images below to see chapter contents.
In The Beginning…
The Image of God begins in an unusual way, with six double page spreads telling the Genesis account of Creation before the title page and front matter of the book. This was done to set the stage for the biblical narrative that follows, and to highlight the...
Image of God: Front Matter
TO THE READER The photographs in this book represent selected moments from my travels over the past thirty years, particularly those moments involving people. Some of these encounters were brief, without a word begin spoken; yet something was shared—a look, a smile, a...
Image of God: Introduction
A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9 Journeys, great and small, often take us where we least expect. Seventeen years ago I could not have imagined I would someday write a book about the perfections of God...
Made to Love: Introduction
Girl with Grandmother, Calbuco, Chile MADE TO LOVE By Dana Ergenbright What a gift it is to be unique. Of the billions of people on earth, and the billions who have lived before, no one else shares your exact combination of characteristics. The shape of your nose, the...
Made to Love: Man
Prince “Zia,” Chitral, Pakistan God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him. Genesis 1:27 God formed the first man, Adam, from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Everything...
Made to Love: Woman
Woman in Kimono, Miyajima, Japan The LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Genesis 2:18 Man was glorious, but he was incomplete. To show Adam what he lacked, God brought all the animals to him to study...
Made to Love: Marriage
Newlyweds, Rajasthan, India A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24 As equal yet distinct persons, Adam and Eve reflected the relational aspects of God’s triune nature. And because Eve’s body was...
Made to Love: Children
Friends, Kashgar, China God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Genesis 1:28 God gave Adam and Eve a remarkable wedding gift: the ability to have children. As they portrayed God’s unity by becoming one flesh, they would further reflect His...
Made to Love: Community
Friends, Otavalo, Ecuador God said to them, "...fill the earth.: Genesis 1:28 By virtue of being image-bearers of God, every man, woman, and child is a reflection of God and therefore has great worth. The clearest way to show one’s love for God—who cannot be seen—is...
Made To Rule: Introduction
Farmer, Great That Desert, Rajasthan, India Each person is wonderfully different, yet we are remarkably the same. From north to south and east to west, we act in surprisingly similar ways. From 2004 B.C. to 2004 A.D., human behavior has been amazingly consistent. The...
Made to Rule: Learning
At the Beach, Santa Monica, California Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made. Romans 1:20 niv In order to rule over God’s creation, Adam had to...
Made to Rule: Labor
Working The Well, Rajasthan, India “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.” Genesis 1:26 With the knowledge Adam and Eve gained through...
Made to Rule: Art & Architecture
Painter, Rumtek Monastery, Sikkim, India Out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight... Genesis 2:9 As the supreme artist, God filled the world with masterpieces that reflect His beauty and glory—fiery gemstones, delicate flowers,...
Made to Rule: Evaluation & Trade
Spices, Forcalquier, France God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. Genesis 1:31 God evaluated His works after each day of creation. As He surveyed the light; the land and sea; the grasses and trees; the sun, moon, and stars; the fish and the...
Made to Rule: Rest & Enjoyment
School’s Out!, Leh, Ladakh, India On the seventh day God ended His work which He had done…God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. Genesis 2:2-3 In six days God made the heavens and the...
Made to Worship: Introduction
Ganges River, Varanasi, India From the dawn of time, all people have been worshipers. Consciously or not, we inevitably place our trust in something—whether it is money, education, science, technology, tradition, or love; or whether it is a...
Made to Worship: The Garden
Machu Picchu, Peru The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed…. A river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. Genesis 2:8, 10 God planted a garden on the east side of...
Made to Worship: The Guardian
Man Praying, Swat Valley, Pakistan The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall...
Made to Worship: The Attack
Kali Statue, Kathmandu, Nepal Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Genesis 3:1 Before creating Adam and Eve, God had...
Made to Worship: The Defeat
Withered Cornfield, Arizona “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.” Genesis 3:17 Adam and Eve’s rebellion was disastrous, shattering their ability to love, rule, and worship as God intended. Cursed was their...
Made to Worship: The Victory
Statue of Christ overlooking Yungay, Peru “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15 For thousands of years, God told Adam and Eve’s descendants more and...
The Image of God: Photographic Notes
Indus River, Northern Pakistan PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES The following notes are for readers with an interest in photography who would like to know how the pictures in this book were made. A detailed introductory discussion of equipment and general photographic technique is...