The Image of God in the Theology of Gregory of Nazianzus

Gregory of Nazianzus, known best for his Christology and Trinitarian doctrine, presents an incomparable vision of the image of God. In this book, Gabrielle Thomas offers a close analysis of his writings and demonstrates how Nazianzen depicts both the nature and experience of the image of God throughout his corpus. She argues that Nazianzen's vision of the human person as an image of God is best understood in light of biblical and extra-biblical themes. To establish the breadth of his approach, Thomas analyzes the image of God against the backdrop of Nazianzen's beliefs about Christology, Pneumatology, creation, sin, spiritual warfare, ethics, and theosis. Interpreted accordingly, Nazianzen offers a dynamic and multifaceted account of the image of God, which has serious implications both for Cappadocian studies and contemporary theological anthropology. Preface page ix List of Abbreviations xi Introduction 1 1 Being an Image of God 9 Gregory’s Hermeneutics 11 Christ, the Dynamic Image 14 Images and Idols 15 Becoming Divine 25 Ethics and the Image of God 27 The Devil 29 2 Jesus Christ, the Identical Image 35 Theological Context 37 The Identical Image of God 40 Image of God: Logos or Incarnate Christ? 45 Kenosis and Theosis 51 Conquering Evil 54 3 Creation of the Image of God 58 Creatio Ex Nihilo 59 Invisible Realm of Angels 61 Visible Realm of the Image of God 65 Female Images and Idols 77 4 The Image of God and the Devil 87 The Devil and Demons 88 The Fall 97 ‘Garments of Glory’ 102 The World, the Flesh, and the Devil 105 Resisting the Devil 114 5 Theosis and the Divine Image 118 Speaking of Theosis 119 The Holy Spirit and Theosis 127 Baptism and the Image of God 135 Baptism and the Devil 141 Worshipping the Image of God 147 Conclusion 154 Appendix 159 Bibliography 162 General Index 190 Scripture Index 194 Provides a full-length analysis of the human person as an image of God according to Gregory of Nazianzus, a key fourth-century theologian. The author draws from Gregory's whole corpus, including material previously untranslated into English, to demonstrate the breadth of Gregory's thought. Provides the first full-length analysis of Gregory Nazianzen's multifaceted account of the image of God against the backdrop of biblical themes