“To be created in God’s image is to be called persons in communion…
Human ‘being’ is the result of our being said by someone else, namely, God. In this case, to be is to be mentioned.
The ethical implications of this view are apparent. Even those not mentioned by us – the infirm in nursing homes and hospitals, the unborn, those who are deemed ‘nothing’ by society, even the dead – are nevertheless somebody because they have been mentioned by God. God has called them into existence, and he will have the last word at the final resurrection. Neither their ability to reason nor to will, but God’s covenantal speech, is the source of their personhood.”
Michael Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 2011) [kindle edition], loc. 9663 of 25524.
In Anticipation 