The central thesis of Lorberbaum's book is that according to the rabbis, the meaning of imago dei is that there is tangible divine presence within every human being. This concept impacted primarily upon two areas of halakhah: the death penalty and procreation. Since humans are physical representations of God, execution is equivalent in some ways to deicide. Conversely, procreation is strongly mandated because it increases God's physical manifestation in the world by creating more vehicles in which to embody God's presence. Importantly, as “images” of the divine, human beings function as icons in a manner similar to the way idols function in the pagan world; they draw God's presence into themselves, blurring the borders between representation and form. Finally, the drawing of God's presence into the human body dictates that human beings are embodied with significant theurgic powers.