Carmen Joy Imes is a gift to the Church and for that matter, anyone who wants to understand the Bible. Her first book, Bearing God's Name, was one of the best books I have read on the Old Testament. Being God's Image is every bit as good as her first book and an essential read for all who want to understand what it means to be truly human. Imes is a Biblical Theologian and her writing is anchored in obvious research and deep knowledge and passion for the Scriptures. The book is accessible and written in a way that communicates a love for God and compassion for people. The book is written in 3 Parts. Part 1 discusses the Creation narratives of Genesis and the place of humans in God's good creation. Imes draws out the beauty of the narrative that challenges the reader to see and hear the text as it was written. Part 2 looks at the place of Wisdom as a call for humans to respond to God's created order. The discussion of sexuality and pornography in this section alone is worth the price of the book. Part 3 looks at Jesus and the Church as the model what it means to be human. This book was recommended by J Richard Middleton and I am so glad I have read it. I have put "Being God's Image" on my list of most important books to read.

This book builds on Carmen Imes fine research on bearing the name of God that led to her previous book "Bearing God's Name: Why Sinai Still Matters." This current title is framed as a response to questions she fielded about the relationship between bearing the name of God and being made *as* the image of God (emphasis hers). The book doesn't just cover Genesis 1 but surveys the canon on what it means to be human and why "image" is not something we do but something we are.

As in her previous work, Imes is well-read and has a conversational style of writing that makes complex topics and recent research accessible. This work is less focused than her previous work. Some of that is due to the book being a broad canonical survey addressing a big topic. However, it also is hard to keep track of the thread that holds the book together. The writing and organization are uneven and could be tighter. Several places (e.g. the disciples 'stepping up' after Jesus' departure and the section on singleness) had sentences that strongly imply things that I'm confident Imes did not mean to imply. Overall, the book covers helpful ground but could use tighter editing.

Carmen Imes is a true gift to the body of Christ. This book was a joy to read and Imes does a great job of tracing the idea of humanity being the image of God through the entire Bible. The image of God (Imago Dei) is a concept that is so theologically rich and holds so many immediate ethical and pastoral implications for us in our day-to-day lives. Imes summarizes the image as being both kinship (an inherent, dignified, capacity to relate to God) and kingship (an inherent calling to rule and steward God's creation). Throughout the book she walks through the image in Genesis through to Jesus being the ultimate image, and along the way spells out the implications in everything from racial justice to stewardship of the environment to sexual ethics. This book is the holistic treatment of both deep theology and practical application of the image.

The thing I appreciate most about Imes' work as a whole is that she writes in a way that takes such rich theological topics and Biblical themes and makes them accessible to anyone. In many ways, reading her books feels like watching a Bible Project video – so rich in information but incredibly engaging. I believe that many great discipleship conversations will be had walking through the content of this book and highly recommend giving this book a read.

Thank you to NetGalley and IVP Academic for the advanced copy, this is a book I have been waiting for many months to read and it was well worth it.