This book presents the first modern critical edition of the work of Gregory of Nyssa, On the Human Image of God (formerly known as On the Making of Man, De hominis opificio) and the first English translation since the nineteenth century. This treatise is one of the most important of Gregory's texts. Paralleling the structure of Plato's Timaeus, Gregory's work begins by offering two analyses of the human being. The first presents the human being as the culmination of the ascent made by nature through the various levels of life, and as made, body and soul, in the image of God. The second considers why this is not immediately apparent, the need for time to be able to grow, individually and collectively, to this status, as the body of Christ, the image of God, and the role of sexuality within this growth. The third part of the work brings both analyses together, to see the same movement in the life-span of each person. The extensive introduction provided in this volume examines the
philosophical and theological background of Gregory's text, beginning with Anaxagoras, Plato (the Timaeus), Philo, and Origen, and also compares aspects of Gregory's work with that of Irenaeus of Lyons and Maximos the Confessor.
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The volume will be useful to the patristic scholar,...Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * Choice * The treatise is offered to an interlocutor, Peter, as a gift. In conveying so vividly Gregory's wonder, illuminating groundbreaking textual parallels and relating this difficult treatise in accessible terms, Behr offers readers another. * Times Literary Supplement * Bringing into attention both an author and a work that are relevant for the contemporary theological space: Gregory of Nyssa, On the Human Image of God, Oxford edition from 2023 realized by John Behr is not only an interesting and necessary book for the Christian space, but also for the contemporary universal culture. * Iuliu-Marius Morariu, Anuario de Historia de la Iglesia * This edition is recommended as compulsory reading for the contemporary study of On the Human Image. * Sophia Theodoratos, Phronema 39 * Behr is to be thanked for making this important text available in considerably improved form and for giving important clues for its interpretation. It is to be hoped that scholars will make ample use of this resource. Gregory's treatise is one of the most remarkable products of late ancient Christian anthropology and deserves careful and sustained study. * Johannes Zachhuber, The Thomist * This volume is highly recommended to patristic scholars and those with a penchant for mystical theological reflection. * Owen Kelly, Southeastern Theological Review * Behr's edition will undoubtedly renew an interest in Gregory and will become the standard for the understanding of Gregory's work for the contemporary world. It is, in every way, a brilliant landmark edition. * Hemchand Gossai, Society of Biblical Literature * In both the layout of the Greek and English translation, as well as Behr's insightful introduction to this dense and often confusing treatise, the volume is a much needed contribution to the field of Gregorian studies. * J. Warren Smith, Journal of Early Christian Studies *
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Winner of Finalist, 2023 Credo Magazine Book Awards.
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The Text, Manuscripts, and Editions
1.I. Manuscripts used in this Edition
1.II. Title
1.III. Headings and Divisions
2. Philosophical and Theological Background
2.I. Anaxagoras
2.II. Plato
2.III. Philo
2.IV. Origen
3. Gregory's Treatise On the Human Image of God
3.I. The Letter to Peter
3.II. The Human Image of God (1-15)
3.III. The Prevision and Provision of God (16-29)
3.IV. The Life of the Human Being (30)
3.V. The 'Fall' and 'Male and Female'
Manuscripts, Abbreviations, Sigla, and Translation
Gregory of Nyssa, On the Human Image of God
Appendix
Bibliography
Index of Ancient Sources
Index of Modern Authors Cited
John Behr is the Regius Professor of Humanity at the University of Aberdeen, having previously taught at St Vladimir's Seminary, where he served as Dean for a decade. He is also a part-time Professor at Radboud University, the Netherlands. He has published numerous monographs with OUP, most recently an edition and translation of Origen's On First Principles, together with an extensive introduction (2017), and a study of the Gospel of John, John the Theologian and his Paschal Gospel, (2019); he has also published various works aimed for a more general audience, such as his more poetic and meditative work entitled Becoming Human: Theological Anthropology in Word and Image (SVS Press).
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