Imitatio dei (Latin, imitating god) is a religious concept by which man finds virtue by resembling God (to which man should aspire.) It is found in several World religions.
The concept of imitatio dei - generally taken to be a Mitzvah - in Judaism is derived, in part, from the concept of Imago Dei - being made in the image of God. Not only do people in the Torah aspire to take on godly virtues, they are aided by the depiction of God as a man - anthropomorphism. The concept is arguably best expressed in the following quote, taken from the Torah, which also forms the Old Testament in Christianity:
Leviticus 19:2: "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.'"
In later time, this concept was part of the basis of rabbinic Judaism. Jews are exhorted to perform acts of kindness similar to the ones ascribed to God. Examples are burying the dead (as God buried Moses), visiting the sick (as God visited Abraham) and some very similar mitzvot (tractate Sotah 14a). The Talmud (tractate Shabbat 133b) states: "So as He is merciful, so should you be merciful".
In Christianity
The Christiandisciple is told to imitate God on several occasions. Matthew 5:48 states: "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." See also Expounding of the Law. Luke 6:36 states: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." In Ephesians 5, he is told by Paul to: "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children". The believer is also advised to follow the ways of Jesus, notably in 1 Corinthians 11:1: "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."
The Catholic church fully endorses the concept of imitatio dei/Christi, see also Evangelical counsels. In Protestantism, however, the picture is different. In the Anglosaxon tradition Imitatio dei is widely accepted, whereas the Lutheran tradition prefers to talk of conformitas, or in German of "Nachfolge" instead of "Nachahmung" (imitation), because Jesus was singular and cannot and need not be imitated, but followed in his spirit, to which the believer is not forced, but enabled.
In Deism
Though lacking an official scripture, the practice of Deism is described by Thomas Paine in The Age of Reason: "The true Deist has but one Deity, and his religion consists in contemplating the power, wisdom, and benignity of the Deity in his works, and in endeavoring to imitate him in everything moral, scientifical, and mechanical." He also explains that the works of the Deity are strictly found in "the Creation we behold" where "God speaketh universally to man." Paine gives an example when he condemns the doctrine of loving the enemy, in which he states, "We imitate the moral character of the Creator by forbearing with each other, for he forbears with all."
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