Who gets to count as fully human?

What you will be able to do after this investigation:

1. Examine Genesis 1:26–27 within its canonical context — the creation grant, the post-fall appeal (Genesis 9:6), James's contradiction (3:9–10), and the renewal demand (Colossians 3:9–14).
2. Distinguish what the passages explicitly state about the image of God from what interpreters infer — including the difference between an ethical application and a Scripture quotation or dictionary definition.
3. Explain your reasoning: why a person's wrongdoing does not erase their God-given image — and why dignity must not be confused with innocence, exemption from accountability, or fitness for trust.
4. Teach the passage faithfully in a two-minute explanation — keeping the text, your inferences, and your application distinct, and addressing disagreement without attacking anyone's humanity.