Lucas F. Mateo-Seco e-mail(Login required)

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Lucas F. Mateo-Seco e-mail(Login required)

Abstract

218
The conviction that humankind is made in the image of God sustains the theological and ascetic thought of Gregory of Nyssa. The iconic character of man is the reason why he has in him the calling to seek and love God; it is also the reason why his heart and his capacity for desiring are also in a certain sense infinite. Man’s desire is ardent, and in describing it Gregory does not hesitate to use strongest expressions, including those related to erotic love: «impassive and happy love». It is a desire that is called to grow in a never-ending fashion, in an epéctasis without end. This consideration of man as image finds one of its firmest expressions in the reading that Gregory makes of two key Bible texts: Gn 1,26 and Col 1,5. The first of these texts goes back to the original project of God when He created humankind in His image and likeness; the second presents Christ as the perfect Image of the visible God and the Firstborn of all creation.

Keywords

Patristics, Gregory of Nyssa, Anthropology

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Article Details

Section
Research Studies
Author Biography

Lucas F. Mateo-Seco, Universidad de Navarra.

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