Imago Dei: Both Male and Female Created in God's Image (Genesis 1:27)

Complementarian position: Some complementarians argue that while both male and female bear the image of God, the man bears it in a "primary" or "representative" way. Ortlund (RBMW ch. 3) claims the man has "primary responsibility to lead" based on creation order. Wayne Grudem argues that the man's prior creation establishes a pattern of male authority. Some cite 1 Cor 11:7 ("man is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of man") to suggest a tiered image-bearing.

Egalitarian rebuttal: (1) Genesis 1:27 is unambiguous: "in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Both sexes bear the image equally and simultaneously. There is no qualifier, no hierarchy, no "primary" image-bearer. (2) The dominion mandate of v. 28 is given to "them" jointly — God blessed "them" and said to "them." If the man were the primary image-bearer, the commission would be addressed to him. (3) Genesis 5:2 confirms God named both of them "Adam" (humanity) — the name and identity belong equally to both. (4) Paul in 1 Cor 11:7 is making a point about worship practice in Corinth, not overturning Genesis 1:27. Even in that passage, Paul immediately corrects any inference of female inferiority: "However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman" (1 Cor 11:11). (5) The ancient Near Eastern background of tselem (image) refers to function — representing the king's authority. Both male and female function as God's representatives on earth. No text in Genesis assigns this function to the male alone.

Key point: Any theology that makes the woman a secondary or derivative image-bearer contradicts the plain text of Genesis 1:27 and must be rejected as eisegesis.