Book Review: The Image of God in Man according to Cyril of Alexandria

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS 615 je all felt to be relevant-the book is surely one of the most refreshing and ¡erminal studies on Alexandrian theology to appear in the last decade. Whether or not we can follow the author all the way, all will surely agree hat the riddle of Clement has been presented most attractively, with an mswer that is both compelling and profound. The image of God, a theme of cardinal importance in patristics, has been )f late years the subject of many monographs. The present study, concerned vith Cyril of Alexandria, here takes a position of first rank. The theme had, )f course, already been alluded to in the studies of Cyril made by du Manoir, Mahé, Weigl, and Gross, but until now it had never had an entire work :onsecrated to it-a work, moreover, which gave this theme its full impor-;ance. This has now been done, and done excellently. The chief merits of :he book, in our opinion, are its clarity, its conciseness, and its erudition, :he wealth of scholarship not only in regard to the very extensive work of Dyril, sometimes quite difficult to read, but also in regard to all the literature which concerns him as well as all the Fathers who had any influence on lim.B. examines first the notions of "image" and "likeness," and establishes that for Cyril they do not differ in content, as they do when used by Irenaeus 3r by Gregory of Nyssa. This property of "image" is a spiritual reality of nany facets, but it does not apply to the body; here Cyril has not the same riew as, in some sense, the Bible. Then follows a description of the characteristic qualities of the image: first, those rooted in human nature as such [rationality, freedom, responsibility); secondly, those which have been superadded to human nature, an entirely gratuitous movement of the divine generosity (sanctification, incorruptibility, adoption as a son of God). A :hapter on sin describes how the former characteristics have been enfeebled t>ut not suppressed by the Fall, whereas the latter were lost but have been recovered in Christ, as is shown in the last, culminating chapter. Very interesting is the chapter on Cyril's "theology of woman." This theology is stamped by an incontestable misogyny, but it is valuable for understanding the strange assertions of Cyril-champion nonetheless of the Theotokos-:oncerning Mary's weakness at the foot of the cross and her doubts as to ;he divinity of her Son.Each chapter includes an instructive comparison of Cyril's opinion with