It is difficult for the idea that human beings created Imago Dei to resonate with those who have no connection to the historic beliefs of the Judeo-Christian faith. It is not a physicalist faith, but a faith of spiritual relationships. To understand Imago Dei is to understand that human beings created in the image of God is not a facsimile or copy of an idea. But a being created to have an immediate, direct, and experiential relationship with God. Science has rejected such a philosophical construct because it rejects the idea of a divine creator.
My perspective is that the more I have learned about science, the more plausible the idea of God becomes. My doctoral cohort studied the relationship of the Christian faith, its tradition, in relation to the created order. I specifically wrote about the idea of humanity being created imago dei as a basis for understand why all persons are capable of being leaders because of their capacity to take personal initiative to create impact.
This essay includes what I wrote in the early 1990s and my subsequent reflections about humanity and its relationship to God. It is long, but worthwhile.