Derek King: What is an Image For?: The Functionality of the Divine Image in Gregory of Nyssa

Much of the theological work regarding the Imago Dei focuses on the ontology of the image in human persons. The primary goal has been to describe what the image of God is in human persons. While Gregory of Nyssa does have his own account of this, in this paper I will explore Gregory’s doctrine of the Imago Dei with respect to what the image does. That is, how does Gregory conceive of the function of the divine image in the world. Gregory’s analogy of the image is that human persons either are or become mirrors of God, with a capacity to reflect God into the world. With especially careful attention to De Hominis Opificio (On the Making of Man) and In Canticum Canticorum (Homilies on the Song of Songs), I will develop what Gregory means by mirrors of God and how it functions in the world. Primary to this functionality, I will argue, is that as human persons are formed into the image of Christ they in effect are given the unique role of revealing Christ to the rest of the world.