Description: "This book examines the central role that the biblical idea the "image of God" has played in the development of Western civilization. Focusing on five themes-selfhood, freedom, conscience, equality, and meaning-it presents a cultural history of the Judeo-Christian tradition, from biblical times through modernity, suggesting also an answer for the troublesome question: Why the West?"--
Brief description: Tomer Persico is a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, and a Senior Research Scholar at the UC Berkeley Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He is the author of The Jewish Meditative Tradition (Hebrew) and Liberalism: Its Roots, Values, and Crises (Hebrew).
Review Quotes: "A fascinating intellectual history that tells the story of how one biblical idea--the idea that people are created in the image of God--helped shape the values of Western civilization... In God's Image is an engaging and thought-provoking book. It makes a clear case that one ancient idea has had extraordinary staying power and continues to shape the way we see ourselves and each other"-- "Association of Jewish Libraries"