Zugl.: Tübingen, Univ., Diss., 2007

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The aim of this work is to introduce Gregory of Nyssa's doctrine of man as the image of God, based especially on his work Περ κατασκευ ς νθρώπουὶ ῆ ἀ (De hominis opificio). In his work Gregory created quite a systematic anthropological treatise based on Stoic sources, Biblical interpretations inspired by Philo of Alexandria and Origen, as well as on ancient medicine. In contrast to the ancient philosophical school views concerning human being, Gregory refuses the parallel of man as a small world and says that the dignity of man consists not in being similar to the created world, but to the Creator. There are many attributes that constitute human similarity to God, but especially due to the incomprehensibility man is the image of God. The incomprehensibility consists in human mind (νο ςῦ ) in which the human likeness to God can most apparently be recognized. It cannot be placed anywhere in the body and the connection between mind and body is, according to Gregory, unspeakable: the mind does not reside in any particular part of the body, but yet it acts in and is influenced by the whole body. The image of God is the whole mankind, from the first up to the last created human being. When the planned number of souls is completed, the time and everything that happens in time will come to an end. In the...