BibleProject: Humans as God's Image, and How It Compares

Deep dive from What Is the Chief End of Man?

BibleProject (Tim Mackie and Jon Collins) answers "what are humans for?" with a story rather than a one-line definition. The answer is representation and priesthood. God builds creation as a cosmic temple and places humans in it as his living images: royal priests who represent his rule and character on earth, tend his sacred space, and cultivate the world. Humans grasp at defining good and evil for themselves, and they are exiled. Israel is called to take up the same royal-priestly vocation, and it fails too. Jesus is the true image of God and the true royal priest. Through him a new humanity is formed, and it will reign as kings and priests in a renewed creation where heaven and earth fully overlap. This page lays out the scriptures behind each step of that story. It notes where the text states the idea outright and where BibleProject is drawing an inference. It then compares the view with other Christian answers.

Sources. Quotations from BibleProject come from the official script references (transcripts) of the videos Image of God, Heaven & Earth and Eternal Life, and from the published show notes of the Image of God and Royal Priest podcast series. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (public domain). Some Hebrew and Greek terms are given where the argument depends on them.

1. The story in seven movements

BibleProject's answer only makes sense as a plot. Each movement adds something to "what humans are for," and each has its own scriptural basis.

How to read the "Strength of the link" notes:

• Explicit: the text states it directly.
• Inferred: BibleProject builds it from verbal or structural parallels between passages.
• Background: it depends on knowledge from outside the Bible, such as ancient Near Eastern (ANE) texts.

1. Creation is a temple

The claim. In the ancient world, a temple was where a god's space and human space overlapped. BibleProject reads Genesis 1–2 as God building a cosmic temple, with Eden as its inner sanctuary. Temple video: "God creates a cosmic temple and, in Jesus, takes up residence in his temple-world." Heaven & Earth: Eden is "a place where God and humanity dwelt together perfectly, no separation."

Scripture

The cosmos as God's house:

"Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?" (Isaiah 66:1)

"And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever." (Psalm 78:69)

God "rests" in creation, and "rest" is temple language:

"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made." (Genesis 2:2)

"For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it." (Psalm 132:13–14)

God "walks" in Eden as he later walks in the tabernacle (the same Hebrew verb, hithallek):

"And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day." (Genesis 3:8)

"And I will set my tabernacle among you… And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people." (Leviticus 26:11–12)

"…but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle." (2 Samuel 7:6)

Cherubim guard Eden's eastern entrance, and cherubim adorn the temple:

"So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." (Genesis 3:24)

"And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without." (1 Kings 6:29)

Eden's gold and onyx reappear on the priest's garments:

"And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone." (Genesis 2:12)

"And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel." (Exodus 28:9)

A river flows out of Eden, and a river flows out of the future temple:

"And a river went out of Eden to water the garden." (Genesis 2:10)

"…behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward." (Ezekiel 47:1)

Eden is called God's holy mountain (spoken of the king of Tyre):

"Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God… thou wast upon the holy mountain of God." (Ezekiel 28:13–14)

Strength of the link: Explicit + Inferred.

• Explicit: Isaiah 66:1 and Psalm 78:69 openly describe the cosmos as God's house or sanctuary.
• Inferred: No verse says "Eden is a temple." That reading is a cumulative case built from many parallels: the walking presence, the cherubim, the eastward entrance, the gold and onyx, the river, the "rest."
• Background: The ANE parallels, such as temple dedications that last seven days and gods "resting" in their temples, support it but come from outside Scripture. Most evangelical Old Testament scholars accept this reading today (Walton, Beale, Wenham), though some think the parallels are overstated.

2. Humans are the image in the temple: representatives and priests

The claim. Ancient temples housed a statue (tselem, "image") of the god, and kings called themselves the god's image. Genesis gives that title to all humans. Image of God: "this task that once belonged only to elite kings is, here in the Bible, the task of every human being." That is why Israel may not make images of God: "God has already made images of himself." Priests of Eden adds that Genesis 2:15 describes the human as a priest serving in the garden-sanctuary.

Scripture

Image and rule are joined in the same breath:

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." (Genesis 1:26–27)

The image is royal ("crowned"):

"What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet." (Psalm 8:4–6)

The image carries the idea of sonship:

"And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth." (Genesis 5:3)

"…which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God." (Luke 3:38)

The same Hebrew word, tselem, is used for idols and cult statues:

"…and destroy all their molten images [tsalmê], and quite pluck down all their high places." (Numbers 33:52)

"…his altars and his images [tsalmayw] brake they in pieces thoroughly." (2 Kings 11:18)

The priestly task: "dress and keep," Hebrew abad and shamar:

"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." (Genesis 2:15)

The same verb pair is used for the Levites at the tabernacle:

"And they shall keep [shamar] his charge… before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service [abad] of the tabernacle. And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle… to do the service of the tabernacle." (Numbers 3:7–8)

Strength of the link: Explicit + Inferred + Background.

• Explicit: "Image" and "dominion" sit side by side in Genesis 1:26–28, so representation tied to rule is explicit. Psalm 8's "crowned" makes the royal sense clear.
• Background: The specific claim that "image" means "king-like representative" draws on ANE royal inscriptions.
• Inferred: The priestly reading of Genesis 2:15 rests on the abad/shamar pairing. The pairing is real, but the priestly connection is an inference, since abad commonly means simply "to work/till" (Genesis 2:5; 3:23).
• Caution: The idol prohibition in Exodus 20:4 uses a different word (pesel, "carved image"). The tselem–idol link is real, but it comes through passages like Numbers 33:52, not the Ten Commandments itself.

3. Ruling means cultivating

The claim. Humans represent God's rule by cultivating the world. Image of God: "they rule the earth by cultivating it, by harnessing all of the earth's raw potential and then making something more and new out of it… We take the world somewhere. This is humanity's divine and sacred task."

Scripture

The commission:

"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28)

The world awaits human work:

"…and there was not a man to till the ground." (Genesis 2:5)

Humans share in God's naming authority (God names day, night and sky in Genesis 1, and the human names the animals):

"…and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." (Genesis 2:19)

Raw materials are placed in the land for development:

"…the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good." (Genesis 2:11–12)

Culture develops even outside Eden: cities, herding, music, metalwork:

"…and he builded a city… Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron." (Genesis 4:17, 20–22)

Strength of the link: Explicit + Inferred.

• Explicit: The commands to "fill," "subdue" and "have dominion" are explicit.
• Inferred: That this rule is exercised mainly by cultivating, rather than by force or domination, comes from reading Genesis 1:28 together with 2:15.
• Interpretive: "Taking the world somewhere" (the idea of a human project of developing creation) is BibleProject's framing. It is consistent with the text, but the text does not state it outright.

4. The choice between two trees: the representatives fail

The claim. The test is how humans will rule. Image of God: will they "use their authority for the benefit of others, which is God's definition of good, or… define good and evil for themselves and use their authority for self-advantage?" Eternal Life: taking from the forbidden tree "means seizing life for themselves, on their own terms, apart from God's wisdom." Humans keep the image, but they represent God badly.

Scripture

The two trees:

"…the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." (Genesis 2:9)

"Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:16–17)

Grasping at God's role:

"For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food… she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat." (Genesis 3:5–6)

The phrase "saw that… was good" echoes God's own judgment in Genesis 1, so the human takes God's place as judge of the good:

"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31)

Discerning good and evil as royal wisdom, rightly received:

"Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad." (1 Kings 3:9, Solomon's prayer)

Exile from God's presence:

"Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil… Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken." (Genesis 3:22–23)

The earth is "filled," but with violence, a grim echo of "fill the earth":

"The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence." (Genesis 6:11)

"In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." (Judges 21:25)

The image remains after the fall:

"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." (Genesis 9:6)

"…men, which are made after the similitude of God." (James 3:9)

Strength of the link: Explicit + Inferred.

• Explicit: The fall, the exile and the survival of the image are all explicit.
• Inferred: BibleProject's reading of "knowledge of good and evil" as seizing the right to define good is one of several scholarly interpretations. Other readings include moral maturity, omniscience (good-to-evil as "everything"), and experiential knowledge of evil. The Solomon parallel (1 Kings 3:9) is a strong support for the royal reading.

5. Israel: a royal priesthood for the nations

The claim. God calls Abraham's family to restore the human vocation. At Sinai he names Israel a "kingdom of priests," and the tabernacle and temple are mini-Edens where God dwells among them. Heaven & Earth: the temples were "decorated with fruit trees and flowers, and images of angels… designed to make you feel like you're going back to the garden." Israel repeats Adam's failure and goes into exile.

Scripture

Blessing is meant for all nations through one family:

"And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee… and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 12:2–3)

The national vocation is royal and priestly (Hebrew mamlekhet kohanim):

"…ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." (Exodus 19:5–6)

Genesis 1:28 is echoed in Israel's growth:

"And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them." (Exodus 1:7)

God dwells among them again:

"And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." (Exodus 25:8)

"Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle." (Exodus 40:34)

The priest bears God's name on his forehead (keep this in mind for Revelation 22:4 below):

"And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it… HOLINESS TO THE LORD… And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead." (Exodus 28:36, 38)

Failure and exile:

"But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy." (2 Chronicles 36:16)

Strength of the link: Explicit + Inferred.

• Explicit: Israel's priestly vocation for the sake of the nations is explicit (Exodus 19:6; Genesis 12:3).
• Inferred: The link back to Eden is inferred from verbal echoes (Exodus 1:7 ↔ Genesis 1:28) and from the garden imagery in the temple (1 Kings 6:29). The echoes are strong and widely recognized.

6. Jesus: the true image and the true royal priest

The claim. Jesus is what a human was meant to be: the perfect image who represents God fully and rules by serving. Image of God: "Jesus ruled by serving and by seeking the best for others by putting himself underneath them and loving not just his friends but also his enemies." He is also the temple where heaven and earth meet. Heaven & Earth: "Jesus is a temple. He is now the place where Heaven and Earth overlap."

Scripture

Jesus is "the image":

"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." (Colossians 1:15)

"…Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Corinthians 4:4)

"Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person…" (Hebrews 1:3)

The New Testament reads Psalm 8's royal human vocation as fulfilled in Jesus:

"Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet… But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour." (Hebrews 2:8–9)

He is the second Adam:

"The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." (1 Corinthians 15:45)

"…Adam, who is the figure of him that was to come." (Romans 5:14)

He is a royal priest, both king and priest, as foretold:

"The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool… The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." (Psalm 110:1, 4; applied to Jesus in Hebrews 5:5–6; 7:17)

He rules by serving:

"Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them… But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister… For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:42–45)

He is the temple ("dwelt" translates the Greek eskēnōsen, "tabernacled"):

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory…)." (John 1:14)

"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up… But he spake of the temple of his body." (John 2:19, 21)

Strength of the link: Explicit. This is the strongest movement. The New Testament itself calls Jesus "the image of God," the "last Adam" and a royal priest. It applies Psalm 8 to him and calls his body the temple. Little here depends on inference.

7. New humanity, new creation: kings and priests forever

The claim. Those joined to Jesus are being remade into God's image, and they become a royal priesthood and a temple. Image of God: "the new humanity that God wants to create in us, so that we become people in whom God's image is being restored." The story ends with them reigning in a renewed creation: "his servants are all around him. But they're the ones ruling over this new world." Temple: "By the end of the biblical story, all of creation has become God's sacred temple."

Scripture

The image is being restored:

"…seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." (Colossians 3:9–10)

"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son." (Romans 8:29)

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18)

The church is a royal priesthood. Peter quotes Exodus 19:6, and the stated purpose is representation:

"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices…" (1 Peter 2:5)

"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." (1 Peter 2:9)

The church is a temple:

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16)

Kings and priests who reign on the earth:

"And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father." (Revelation 1:6)

"And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." (Revelation 5:10)

God dwells with humans again:

"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." (Revelation 21:3)

The whole city is a Holy of Holies. It is a perfect cube, like the temple's inner sanctuary:

"And the city lieth foursquare… The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal." (Revelation 21:16)

"And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof." (1 Kings 6:20)

"And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it." (Revelation 21:22)

Eden returns, and the redeemed serve as priests (God's name on their foreheads) and reign as kings:

"…on either side of the river, was there the tree of life… And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads… and they shall reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 22:2–5)

Strength of the link: Explicit + Inferred.

• Explicit: The restored image, royal priesthood, reigning, and God's dwelling with humans are all explicit.
• Inferred: The cube ↔ Holy of Holies and forehead-name ↔ high priest's plate parallels are inferences, but strong ones.
• Interpretive: BibleProject's picture of humans "taking [the new world] into new uncharted territory" goes beyond what the text describes.
• Textual note: Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 read "kings and priests" in the KJV. Modern critical texts read "a kingdom and priests," which is an even closer echo of Exodus 19:6.

The backbone of the argument

BibleProject's "proof" is not a single verse. It is a thread the Bible itself traces from beginning to end, and at each key point a later passage explicitly picks up an earlier one:

The explicit parts (image + dominion, royal priesthood, Jesus as image and priest, the redeemed reigning) are solid. The inferred parts (Eden as temple, Genesis 2:15 as priestly service, "good and evil" as grasping at rule) are where interpreters disagree. They are well supported by parallels, but they are not stated outright.

So what is the chief end of man, on this reading? Humans exist to represent God's character and rule in his world as royal priests: to mediate his presence, tend his creation, and serve him in his temple-world. Worship and work are not separate, since abad means both "work" and "serve."

2. How it compares with other Christian worldviews

At a glance

Reformed / Westminster: closer than it first appears

Where BibleProject pushes back

• In the Image of God podcast (Part 3, "The Garden Was Not Perfect"), BibleProject challenges the popular reading of WSC Q1 that makes humans "bystanders" whose job is mainly praise: "Glorifying and enjoying God is only a small part of bearing the image of God."
• It leads with temple and vocation where Reformed theology leads with covenant and courtroom.

Where they converge

• Everyday glory. Westminster's own proof text for Q1 is 1 Corinthians 10:31, "whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." That is the same everyday-glory text BibleProject uses in its Glory of God episode.
• Eden was not the end. Reformed covenant theology also teaches that Eden was not the final state. Under the "covenant of works," life was promised to Adam "upon condition of perfect and personal obedience" (WCF 7.2). Reformed biblical theologians (e.g. Geerhardus Vos) read this as a probation leading to a higher, confirmed state that Adam never reached. That is not far from "the garden was good, but only the beginning."
• Cultural mandate. Neo-Calvinism (Abraham Kuyper's "not a square inch… over which Christ… does not cry 'Mine!'") makes Genesis 1:28 a mandate for culture-building, which is close to BibleProject's "ruling = gardening, building cities."
• Shared temple scholarship. Much of the "Eden as temple" and "image as royal priest" scholarship BibleProject draws on was developed by scholars in Reformed settings, such as Meredith Kline and G. K. Beale.

So what? The real difference is emphasis: God-centered contemplation and enjoyment versus active royal-priestly representation.

Lutheran: vocation without the "chief end" frame

• Agreement: Lutherans also locate the Christian life in ordinary vocation: parent, worker, citizen. That is close to BibleProject's "ruling is really the day-to-day acts of our work and creativity."
• Difference: Lutheranism puts justification by faith at the absolute center (Augsburg Confession IV) and is wary of any framing in which human performance takes center stage. A Lutheran might ask whether "partnering with God to move the human project forward" quietly shifts attention from God's gift to human achievement. BibleProject would answer that the partnership is itself a gift, enabled by the Spirit.

Wesleyan: the closest Protestant match

• Wesley defines real religion as "a restoration… to the image of God… the being filled with the fullness of God" (Sermon 62). That is very close to BibleProject's "people in whom God's image is being restored."
• Wesley also preached a renewed creation that includes animals (Sermon 60, "The General Deliverance"; Sermon 64, "The New Creation").
• Wesley's ending blends both Westminster and BibleProject accents: new creation, and "a continual enjoyment of the Three-One God."

Catholic: surprising overlap

• Unfinished creation. CCC 302: creation "did not spring forth complete from the hands of the Creator. The universe was created 'in a state of journeying' (in statu viae) toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained." This is nearly BibleProject's "the garden was not perfect."
• Co-workers. CCC 307: God entrusts humans with "subduing" the earth, "to complete the work of creation." Humans "fully become 'God's fellow workers' and co-workers for his kingdom." This is BibleProject's representation language.
• Renewed cosmos. CCC 1047: "The visible universe, then, is itself destined to be transformed."
• Difference: The Catholic crown of human destiny is the beatific vision, seeing God's essence (Aquinas). That is contemplative. BibleProject's crown is reigning in new creation, which is active. Catholic teaching also keeps a distinct ordained priesthood alongside the priesthood of all the baptized (CCC 1547). BibleProject emphasizes the shared royal priesthood of all believers.

Eastern Orthodox: a natural ally

• Eden as childhood. St. Irenaeus (2nd century) taught that God could have made humans perfect from the start, "but man could not receive this [perfection], being as yet an infant" (Against Heresies 4.38). So Eden was a beginning to grow from. This is the patristic version of "the garden was not perfect."
• Glory as human life. Irenaeus again: "the glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God" (Against Heresies 4.20.7).
• Priest of creation. Alexander Schmemann's For the Life of the World describes humans as priests who receive the world from God and offer it back to him in thanksgiving. That is a close cousin of the "royal priest" in Eden.
• Difference: Orthodoxy frames the goal as theosis, participation in God's life (2 Pet 1:4). BibleProject frames it as vocation: representing and ruling. The two are compatible, but the center of gravity differs: mystical union versus royal task.

Popular evangelicalism: BibleProject's main foil

• Heaven-going. The Heaven & Earth script names the contrast directly: "we talk a lot about going to Heaven after we die. But this idea of Heaven and Earth overlapping, we don't talk a lot about that."
• The disagreement: If the goal is mainly for the soul to leave earth, then work, culture and creation are temporary. BibleProject argues the Bible's story moves the other way: heaven comes to earth (Rev 21:2–3), and resurrected humans keep their royal-priestly vocation (Rev 22:5).
• The overlap: both affirm a conscious intermediate state "with Christ" (Phil 1:23).

Latter-day Saints: similar words, different metaphysics

• Surface similarity. Both speak of God wanting to share his rule, of a parent–child relationship, of progression beyond Eden, and of humans reigning. LDS teaching even calls the Fall a necessary step ("Adam fell that men might be," 2 Nephi 2:25).
• Deep difference. BibleProject works within historic creedal Christianity:
  • God created everything else from nothing. In LDS teaching, the human spirit is co-eternal with God ("intelligence… was not created or made," D&C 93:29).
  • There is a permanent Creator–creature distinction. LDS exaltation means becoming like Heavenly Father in kind.
  • In BibleProject's telling, the Fall is a tragic rebellion, not a fortunate necessity.

So what? "Ruling with God" means sharing a creature's delegated rule for BibleProject, and progressing toward godhood for LDS.

Jehovah's Witnesses: shared earth-centered hope, different framework

• Overlap: Both insist God's purpose for humans is earthly and will still be fulfilled: the earth was "formed to be inhabited" (Isa 45:18), and paradise is restored, not abandoned.
• Differences:
  • Witnesses divide the redeemed into a heavenly 144,000 who rule as kings and priests and an earthly "great crowd." In BibleProject's reading, all the redeemed share the royal-priestly vocation (Rev 5:9–10).
  • Witnesses deny the Trinity and Jesus' full deity. BibleProject's story depends on Jesus being "God's own life become human."

3. The scholarship behind the view

BibleProject is a popular-level synthesis of a strong stream of biblical scholarship. Some of these scholars are cited directly in BibleProject show notes; others are leading voices in the same stream.

4. Tensions and questions this view raises

• How much weight should ancient Near Eastern background carry? The "image = royal representative" and "Eden = temple" readings lean partly on parallels from other ancient cultures (see the strength notes in §1).
• Does "ruling" in new creation sideline worship and the vision of God? Catholic, Orthodox and Westminster readers might ask. Revelation 22:3–5 holds both together: "his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face… and they shall reign."
• Is the priestly reading of Genesis 2:15 secure? Abad and shamar appear together for Levites, but abad alone often just means "till." How much should one verb pair carry?
• Does a vocation-centered purpose drift toward works? Lutheran and Reformed readers may press this. BibleProject's answer is that the Spirit enables the vocation, and that it is a gift.

Go Deeper

BibleProject primary sources

• 🎥 Image of God (video): the core script quoted throughout §1.
• 🎥 Heaven & Earth (video): the overlap framework and the "heaven comes to earth" ending.
• 🎥 Temple (video): creation as cosmic temple, through Pentecost to Revelation.
• 🎥 Royal Priesthood (video): the priestly side of human vocation traced through the whole Bible.
• 🎥 The New Humanity (video) and Covenants (video): the restored human family and God's partnership with humans across the covenants.
• 🎧 Image of God podcast series: four episodes, especially Part 3, "The Garden Was Not Perfect" and Part 4, "Glory of God".
• 🎧 Priests of Eden (Royal Priest series, ep. 1): abad and shamar, Eden as sanctuary, prophet/priest/king as fragments of the image.

The scholarship

• 📖 The Lost World of Adam and Eve, John H. Walton (2015): cited by BibleProject; Eden as sacred space and humans as its priestly caretakers.
• 📖 The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1, J. Richard Middleton (2005): the academic case for the royal, "democratized" image.
• 📖 The Temple and the Church's Mission, G. K. Beale (2004): Eden as the first temple and humanity's mission to expand it. The fullest treatment of the Movement 1 and Movement 7 parallels.
• 📖 A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology, J. Richard Middleton (2014): the renewed-earth hope behind Movement 7.

Comparison sources

• 📜 Westminster Confession of Faith (OPC): ch. 4 (creation) and ch. 7 (covenant of works).
• 📜 Wesley, Sermon 64: "The New Creation" and Sermon 60: "The General Deliverance" (Wesley Center Online): Wesley's renewed-creation hope.
• 📜 CCC 279–308, "The Creator" (vatican.va): ¶302 (in statu viae) and ¶307 (co-workers); and CCC 1042–1050, "Hope of the New Heaven and the New Earth".
• 📜 Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.38 and 4.20 (New Advent): humanity's "infancy" in Eden, and "the glory of God is a living man."
• 📖 For the Life of the World, Alexander Schmemann (1963): the Orthodox vision of humans as priests of creation.