The Human Being as Image of God according to Gregory of Nazianzus

Starting from pictorial language in the poetry of Gregory of Nazianzus and looking
back at the density of his anthropological account in the Orationes, I investigate the notion of image of God which defines the human being, as well as its relationship to human composition of body and soul. I analyse how the divine image makes possible the ascent (return) from a state of mortality, suffering, fallibility and corruption, to resplendence, purity, stable knowledge and incorruption. I question the role of this conception regarding the vision of the human person as microcosm, linking anthropology to cosmology in the view of Gregory the Theologian. I also consider the transfiguration of the human being through contemplation, connecting the doctrine of the image of God with Gregory’s views on theoria and theosis.