ABSTRACT
In an attempt to round off our study of the metaphors used in English mysticism to illustrate the union of man with God, we must now extend the theological background somewhat and outline as briefly as possible the essential characteristics of the doctrine of the soul’s creation in the image and likeness of God, which is of decisive importance for Christian mysticism. It is argued that even after the Fall man retained the natural image of God through his rational soul, anima rationalis, which enables man to have a natural form of knowledge of God just as before, even though, as Aquinas concedes, the anima rationalis too suffered some loss. The question arises as to how far the human soul’s attribute of being the image of God was impaired by the Fall. The term transformare is particularly popular in Latin mysticism because it is the term best able to express the actual process of man becoming transformed into God.
