Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

the body. Spirituality, freedom, and immortality, are natural endowments, and as such
constitute the natural image of God. Moreover, God “attempered” (adjusted) the natural
powers of man to one another, placing the lower in due subordination to the higher. The
harmony thus established is called justitia — natural righteousness. But even so there
remained in man a natural tendency of the lower appetites and passions to rebel against
the authority of the higher powers of reason and conscience. This tendency, called
concupiscence, is not itself sin, but becomes sin when it is consented to by the will and
passes into voluntary action. In order to enable man to hold his lower nature in check,
God added to the dona naturalia certain dona supernaturalia. These included the donum
superadditum of original righteousness (the supernatural likeness to God), which was
added as a foreign gift to the original constitution of man, either immediately at the
time of creation, or at some later point as a reward for the proper use of the natural
powers. These supernatural gifts, including the donum superadditum of original
righteousness, were lost by sin, but their loss did not disrupt the essential nature of
man.
4. OTHER VIEWS OF THE IMAGE OF GOD. According to the Socinians and some of the
earlier Arminians the image of God consists in man’s dominion over the lower creation,
and in this only. Anabaptists maintained that the first man, as a finite and earthly
creature, was not yet the image of God, but could become this only by regeneration.
Pelagians, most of the Arminians, and Rationalists all, with little variation, find the
image of God only in the free personality of man, in his rational character, his ethicoreligious
disposition, and his destiny to live in communion with God.
D. THE ORIGINAL CONDITION OF MAN AS THE IMAGE OF GOD.
There is a very close connection between the image of God and the original state of
man, and therefore the two are generally considered together. Once again we shall have
to distinguish between different historical views as to the original condition of man.
1. THE PROTESTANT VIEW. Protestants teach that man was created in a state of relative
perfection, a state of righteousness and holiness. This does not mean that he had
already reached the highest state of excellence of which he was susceptible. It is
generally assumed that he was destined to reach a higher degree of perfection in the
way of obedience. He was, something like a child, perfect in parts, but not yet in degree.
His condition was a preliminary and temporary one, which would either lead on to
greater perfection and glory or terminate in a fall. He was by nature endowed with that
original righteousness which is the crowning glory of the image of God, and
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