ABSTRACT

This volume illustrates the complexity and variety of early Christian thought on the subject of the image of God as a theological concept, and the difficulties that arise even in the interpretation of particular authors who gave a cardinal place to the image of God in their expositions of Christian doctrine. The first part illustrates both the presence and the absence of the image of God in the earliest Christian literature; the second examines various studies in deification, both implicit and explicit; the third explores the relation between iconography and the theological notion of the image

chapter |18 pages

Introduction

ByMARK EDWARDS AND ELENA ENE D- VASILESCU

part |2 pages

Part I What is the Image of God?

chapter 1|16 pages

Polycarp’s Martyrdom According to the Gospel

ByMARKUS VINZENT

chapter 2|16 pages

Growing Like God: Some Thoughts on Irenaeus of Lyons

ByMARK EDWARDS

part |2 pages

PART II Image and Eschatology: Deification

chapter 3|19 pages

“Love Never Fails”: Gregory of Nyssa on Theôsis

ByELENA ENE D- VASILESCU

chapter 4|15 pages

Deification in the Alexandrian Tradition

ByMARK EDWARDS

chapter 7|13 pages

Like a Glowing Sword: St Maximus on Deification

ByTORSTEIN THEODOR TOLLEFSEN

part |2 pages

PART III Image of God and Byzantine/ Meta- Byzantine Icon