In our own likeness

Creative authors still cannot create a different human nature | Janie B. Cheaney

THE CONTRAST COULD NOT BE MORE OBVIOUS: "When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God." So reads Genesis 5:1, which then continues, "When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth."

Theologically we know what this means. Adam's likeness and image is a perverted nature that inclines all his children away from God and dooms them to perdition unless divine mercy intervenes. Other ramifications of image-casting are less tragic, ranging from Grandpa's red hair to character traits that might lead Mom to sigh, "You're just like your father." Even when adults speak of children not their own, what they often have in mind are unpolished reflections of themselves.