Divine, Yet Vulnerable: The Paradoxical Existence of Gregory Nazianzen’s Imago Dei

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Divine, Yet Vulnerable: The Paradoxical Existence of Gregory Nazianzen's Imago Dei
Gabrielle Thomas, University of Nottingham, UK.

Abstract
Discussions about patristic models of the imago Dei often focus on the difference between image and likeness, the image's ontology, and to what extent the philosophical influences can be defined. Whilst these approaches are valid, the nature of a human being's existence as the imago Dei is overlooked. Gregory's narrative of the imago Dei presents a particular picture where the imago's existence is one of perpetual warfare with the devil and demons. In spite of this, Gregory's vision of the imago Dei is one of hope, since Christ's incarnation, death and resurrection has secured an eschatological promise of victory and the eventual theosis of the imago Dei. Through a careful consideration of the role that spiritual warfare plays in Gregory's narrative of the imago Dei from her creation to her death, I argue that the life of Gregory's imago Dei can be summarized as a paradoxical existence of being "divine, yet vulnerable."

Introduction
The life of Gregory Nazianzen's imago Dei is best summarized as a paradox. She is becoming a god, but is also extremely fragile; consequently, the imago Dei is described most accurately using phrases such as, "on the one hand… on the other hand." This paradoxical existence is, in part, due to the way in which Gregory envisages the human being's creation, where the imago is God's very breath and is mixed with matter to form a living being. The result of this unity is that on the one hand the human being has the potential to achieve theosis through the gift of the imago, but on the other hand, she can be found wrestling with the flesh. For Gregory, the paradoxical existence of the imago Dei becoming divine whilst being extremely vulnerable becomes even more apparent through observing the imago's battle with the demonic powers of the spiritual realm. This struggle is evident through the creation, fall, and restoration of the human being, where the imago's movement towards God is constantly under threat by the devil, who seeks to prevent her theosis.
Discussions surrounding Gregory's imago Dei often relate to questions of structure, with scholars observing that Gregory identifies the imago as the nous, an aspect of the human soul. Fruitful research has shown where Gregory can be seen to draw from various philosophical sources to inform his understanding of the imago, which range from Plato through to Plotinus and Iamblichus. Whilst these observations are valid, the predominant focus upon structure can mean that the imago Dei is perceived as a static category. Conclusions about the experience of the human being, which might be drawn through observing the constant attack upon the imago from a spiritual enemy, are overlooked. Therefore, my contribution to the current discussions pertaining to Gregory's imago considers the way in which Gregory uses the devil to highlight the paradox of the human existence as an imago Dei. In order to ascertain this, I shall begin by offering a brief overview of Gregory's prevailing thoughts about the devil and demonic powers; against this backdrop I shall move onto consider the interaction between the devil and the imago Dei at her creation and restoration. My observations will culminate in considering Gregory's vivid response to the devil's attacks during his oration On Baptism, where he demands that the devil worship him and all those who are baptized, precisely because they are images of God. It is at this point that the paradoxical existence of the imago Dei becomes most apparent; for Gregory acknowledges that the imago is under attack and extremely vulnerable; yet close enough to being divine to expect worship from the devil.

Devil and Demons
All the early church fathers had "a lively sense of the reality of Satan" which they inherited from the Jewish Apocalyptic tradition and the Christian monastic tradition. Whilst Gregory emphasizes that God did not create evil, nevertheless, he maintains a perpetual awareness of the power that Satan and his demons exert against the imago Dei. He understands the evil intentions of the demonic powers as a privation of good, rather than an ontological category of evil with its own substance. However, when Gregory addresses Satan with statements such as "You have come, O villainous one! I know your plans," it is difficult to imagine that he saw Satan as a purely literary construction; rather, Gregory "disclosed an intimate knowledge of the devil himself" with his orations and poems portraying an extremely personal and vivid demonology. This has led Morwenna Ludlow to suggest that demons are best understood as having a liminal existence, where they are real spiritual beings, who are morally inferior.
Satan is described with over twenty-five different epithets and metaphors, which serve to highlight the significance and pervasiveness of this fallen angel in Gregory's thought. For example, Gregory refers to him as "the Enemy," "the Adversary," "Envy," the Evil One, and in relation to this discussion specifically: "the Destroyer of the image." Likewise, demons are regarded as being an enemy to the imago Dei in a number of ways; inciting murder, anger, disunity, greed, pride, and sin.
Whilst it may appear that Satan and his minions are free to wreak as much havoc as they should wish, Gregory informs his readers that Christ could have annihilated them, but he chose to set them loose in order that they should fight one another and so that those who struggle against them for virtue would have eternal glory. It is through this encounter with the demonic powers that the paradoxical existence of the imago Dei is apparent from its very creation, to which I shall turn next.

Creation
The following description highlights Gregory's notion of an imago Dei as both royal, with authority on earth, whilst still submitting to God's reign:
He placed upon the earth a kind of second world, great in miniature, another angel, a mixed worshipper, overseer of visible creation, an initiate of the spiritual, king of that which is on earth, being governed from above.
Furthermore, the human being is created with the potential to become divine, being described as "a spiritually alive being, provided for here and being transferred elsewhere, and, to cap the mystery off, being made divine by her inclination towards God." However, in spite of being given the authority to reign over the earth and being comparable to the angels, the human being is far from invincible. Satan, in the form of the serpent in the Garden, is envious of the imago's status, and persuades the first human beings to forget the commandment given to them about refraining from eating the fruit in the garden of Eden. Gregory describes the behaviour of the devil in his encounter with humanity at creation as the "envious murderer's wrestlings." This is a battle which the devil wins, persuading the first human beings to eat the fruit. The result is that they are cast out of paradise rendering them even more vulnerable, since the imago Dei has been wounded and is in need of restoration.

Restoration
The key to restoration of the imago Dei lies in the fact that Christ is the true Image of God, into whose Image believers are being transformed. Paul presents Christ in this way in the New Testament, and it is followed by the early church fathers, where Christ is understood to be the second Adam, recapitulating the imago. Therefore, the way in which the imago Dei is restored to her divine potential and former authority is through Christ, the true Image, who came to earth, triumphed over the serpent and made good the fallen imago. Baptism is the means through which the imago Dei receives the healing that Christ has actuated; Gregory describes it as "a restoration of the image wounded by evil." Scholars have written extensively on Gregory's use of Platonic cosmology in relation to baptism, observing that his particular use of inscription language describes a moment of cosmological change alongside a lifelong process of conversion. Whilst the research regarding the philosophical influences upon Gregory's notion of baptism is enlightening, there is more to be gleaned about his view of the human being by considering the interaction between the imago Dei and Satan at baptism.
Satan plays a significant role throughout Gregory's thoughts about baptism. Exorcism of Satan is an integral aspect of the sacrament, which Gregory advises should not be treated lightly. Gregory envisages the sacrament itself as a triumph over Satan, saying, "Therefore let us be baptized so that we might be victorious." Whilst Gregory is confident that the baptism sacrament cleanses, heals and restores the imago Dei to her prelapsarian glory, she is still considered to be vulnerable since Satan makes his presence known immediately after baptism. Drawing his examples from Christ's temptation in Luke's gospel, Gregory mentions a number of different ways in which Satan might attack the newly restored imago Dei, providing the various defenses and responses that should be taken. During this piece of advice, Gregory addresses how the imago should respond when Satan tries to tempt her to bow down and worship him. He recommends a response which addresses Satan directly; it is the only occasion where he speaks to Satan in this way in his public orations, and what he suggests is quite provocative:
Say, confident in the seal, 'I, myself, am also an image of God, I have not yet been thrown down through pride from the glory above, like you. I am clothed in Christ; I have been remodelled Christ by baptism, you ought to worship me!' He will depart, I know well, yielding and being shamed by these words, as he was by Christ the first light, thus will he depart from those who are enlightened by that same Christ.
In demanding the worship of all those who are baptized, we should not think that Gregory envisaged himself or other believers as committing idolatry, since he was strongly opposed to "that first and last of all evils, idolatry and the transfer of worship from the Creator to the creatures." Crucial to this discussion is Gregory's appropriation of προσκυνέω which I have translated here as 'worship.' The term has a wide semantic field and can be applied in a number of ways from "making obeisance to an emperor," "pay respect" to "fall down and worship." Gregory himself employs προσκυνέω in a variety of ways; from attacking the worship of idols, through to his worship of the Trinity, where he writes, "I worship the Father, I worship the Son, I worship the Holy Spirit." I follow Gregory's application of προσκυνέω, and assume that he does understand it to be an action directed towards that which is divine, because he uses it on many occasions to express his adoration of the Trinity.
Gregory provides three reasons why the devil should worship the newly baptized; first, she is an image of God; second, she is clothed in Christ; and third, she is remodelled Christ. These correspond with the three stages of creation, baptism, and subsequent theosis. It should not be a surprise that Gregory associates the concept of the imago Dei with spiritual warfare, in light of Christ as the true Image of God being one who has conquered all evil. For Gregory, being both clothed in Christ and remodelled Christ means that the devil should now behave toward believers in the same way that he behaves toward Christ. However, even the divinity conferred through baptism does not mean that the Christian is invincible, which is where the paradoxical existence of the human life becomes apparent. On one hand, the baptized believer is considered to be restored to her divine potential and worthy of worship by Satan, but on the other hand, she is still extremely vulnerable, of which the devil himself is a constant reminder.

The Christian Life and Beyond
When speaking of the Christian life after baptism, Gregory continues to use the devil as a means of highlighting that Christians are both becoming divine but at the same time, remain vulnerable, for the imago Dei is presented consistently as requiring protection; Gregory writes,
There is only one distinction of kin, the safeguarding of the image and becoming like the archetype as far as is possible... and there is but one dominion: power over the Evil One...
This battle does not endure eternally, since Gregory looks forward expectantly to the day where Christ will "destroy and make an end of him [Satan]." From thereon, there will be no adversary, and the baptized will be perfected as gods. Until then however, the devil remains as a reminder to the human beings that whilst they might be God's images, they are not, in fact God. Through observing the encounters between the imago Dei and the devil, the life of the human being can thus be summed up as divine, yet vulnerable; with little room for pride in the gift of the imago which has been conferred upon humanity, since it is under threat throughout her life on earth.










Oration 38.11, SC 358, 124-6.
Philippe Molac, Douleur et transfiguration. Une lecture du cheminement spirituel de saint Grégoire de Nazianze (Paris, 2006), 25; Brian Daley, Gregory of Nazianzus (London, 2006), 22.
Susanna Elm, "Inscriptions and Conversions: Gregory of Nazianzus on Baptism (Or. 38-40)," in Kenneth Mills and Anthony Grafton (eds), Conversion in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (New York, 2003), 1-35.
Thus differentiating my approach from those who concentrate on Gregory's philosophical influences in relation to his concept of image, for example, Anca Vasiliu, Eikôn (Paris, 2010).
Frances M. Young, The Making of the Creeds (London, 1991), 88. Following the patristic Christian tradition Gregory draws together the characters of Lucifer, the serpent in the garden of Eden, the devil, and Satan, treating them as the same persona (for example, Origen, Princ. 2.9.2). For an overview of the tradition, see Henry Ansgar Kelly, Satan: A Biography (Cambridge, 2006), 191-214.
Oration 2.22, SC 247, 118; 11.5, SC 405, 338; 17.9, PG 35, 796; 19.6, PG 35, 993; 22.13, SC 270, 248; 24.15, SC 284, 74; 38.5, SC 358, 110; 40.10, SC 358, 218; 40.14, SC 358, 226; Carm. 1.1.8, PG 37, 453; 1.1.10, 467, etc.
Carm. 2.1.54, PG 37, 1397.
Dayna Kalleres, "Demons and Divine Illumination: A Consideration of Eight Prayers by Gregory of Nazianzus," VC 61 (2007): 186.
Morwenna Ludlow, "Demons, Evil and Liminality in Cappadocian Theology," JECS 20, no. 2 (2012): passim.
Many of Satan's names exist as a list in the poem Aversion of the Evil one and Invocation of Christ: Carm. 2.1.55, PG 37, 1399-1401. For example, "Thief, Serpent, Fire, Belial, Vice, Death, Gulf, Dragon, Beast, Night, Ambusher, Rage, Chaos, Slanderer, and Murderer."
Carm. 2.1.70, PG 37, 1418; 2.1.88, PG 37, 1441; cf. Luke 10:19.
Oration 26.3, SC 284, 230; 22.13, SC 270, 248; 40.16, SC 358, 230; see Francis X. Gokey, The Terminology for the Devil and Evil Spirits in the Apostolic Fathers (Washington, 1961), 68-9; Jeffrey B. Russell, Satan: The Early Christian Tradition (New York, 1987), 34.
Carm. 2.1.63, PG 37, 1406. Envy is a prevalent metaphor for Satan in Gregory's thought; see Or. 6.10, SC 405, 146; Carm. 1.1.7, PG 37, 444; 1.1.10, PG 37, 466; 1.2.1, PG 37, 531.
ὁ πονηρός, Or. 2.88, SC 247, 202; 6.10, SC 405, 146; 28.15, SC 250, 132; 30.6, SC 250, 236-7; 37.10, SC 318, 292; 37.12, SC 318, 296; 38.14, SC 358, 134; 40.10, SC 358, 216; also see Matt. 5:37; Eph. 6:16; 2 Thess. 3:3.
Oration 2.21, SC 247, 118; 24.18, SC 284, 80; 39.7, SC 358, 162; 40.10, SC 358, 218; Carm. 1.1.4, PG 37, 419; 1.1.9, PG 37, 457; 2.1.13, PG 37, 1230; 2.1.65, PG 37, 1407.
Carm. 1.1.7, PG 37, 444-445.
For example Oration 22.13, SC 270, 248; 37.7, SC 318, 284; 39.13, SC 358, 176; 40.10, SC 358, 216-8; see William O.E. Oesterley, "Angelology and Demonology in Early Judaism," in A Companion to the Bible,( ed) Thomas W. Manson (Edinburgh, 1939), 332-47; 44.
Carm. 1.1.7, PG 37, 445-446.
ἂγγελος ἂλλος; Oration 38.11, SC 358, 126; 45.7, PG 36, 635C; Carm. 1.1.8, PG 37, 452; 1.2.1, PG 37, 529; 1.2.15, PG 37, 777. Compare 2 Enoch 30. By referring to the imago Dei as "another angel" Gregory is relaying his ideas about how human beings at creation are extremely close to God. Angels themselves are described as secondary splendours and intellectual spirits, and those beings which are closest to God.
οἷόν τινα κόσμον δεύτερον, ἐν μικρῷ μέγαν, ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἵστησιν, ἄγγελον ἄλλον, προσκυνητὴν μικτόν, ἐπόπτην τῆς ὁρατῆς κτίσεως, μύστην τῆς νοουμένης, βασιλέα τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς, βασιλευόμενον ἄνωθεν, ἐπίγειον καὶ οὐρανοιον, πρόσκαιρον καὶ ἀθάνατον, ὁρατὸν καὶ νοούμενον, μέσον μεγέθους καὶ ταπεινότητος. Oration 38.11, On the Theophany (Grégoire de Nazianze, Discours 38-41. Translated by Paul Gallay. Sources Chrétiennes. Vol. 358, France: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1990), p. 124-6. Also see Oration 44.4, PG 36, 609D-612C.
Oration 38.11, SC 358, 126.
Oration 6.10, SC 405, 146; 36.5, SC 318, 250; 40.10, SC 358, 216-18; 44.4 36, 619B; Carm. 1.1.7, PG 37, 444; 1.1.8, PG 37, 455-457; 1.1.10, PG 37, 466; 1.2.1, PG 37, 531. Also see Irenaeus; Ad. Haer. 1.10.1.
Oration 38.11, SC 358, 126; 6.10, SC 405, 146; 36.5, SC 318, 250; 40.10, SC 358, 216-18; 44.4 36, 619B; Carm. 1.1.7, PG 37, 444; 1.1.8, PG 37, 455-457; 1.1.10, PG 37, 466; 1.2.1, PG 37, 531.
Carm. 1.1.8, PG 37, 456.
Ad. Haer. 5.21.1.
Oration 7.23, SC 405, 238-40.
Oration 40.7, SC 358, 210. Gregory extols the virtues of baptism at great length in his oration on the sacrament, describing baptism as a gift, grace, unction, illumination, a garment, a bath, a seal, and "a remodelling of our very composition." See Oration 40.3, SC 358, 202.
Susanna Elm, ""O Paradoxical Fusion!" Gregory of Nazianzus on Baptism and Cosmology (Orations 38-40)," in Anette Y. Reed and Ra'anan S. Boustan (eds) Heavenly Realms and Earthly Realities in Late Antique Religions, (New York, 2004).
Oration 40.7, SC 358, 210.
Oration 40:11, SC 358, 220.
Gregory does address the devil in several prayers and poems, for a translation and analysis of these see Kalleres, "Demons and Divine Illumination," 157-88.
Ἐὰν ἐξ ἀπληστίας καταπαλαίῃ σε, πάσας ὑποδεικνύων τὰς βασιλείας, ὡς αὐτῷ διαφερούσας, ἐν μιᾷ καιροῦ τε ῥοπῇ καὶ ὄψεως, ἀπαιτῶν τὴν προσκύνησιν· ὡς πένητος καταφρόνησον. Εἰπὲ, τῇ σφραγῖδι θαῤῥήσας· Εἰκών εἰμι καὶ αὐτὸς Θεοῦ· τῆς ἄνω δόξης οὔπω δι' ἔπαρσιν, ὥσπερ σὺ, καταβέβλημαι· Χριστὸν ἐνδέδυμαι· Χριστὸν μεταπεποίημαι τῷ βαπτίσματι· σύ με προσκύνησον. Ἀπελεύσεται, σαφῶς οἶδα, τούτοις ἡττημένος καὶ ᾐσχυμμένος, ὥσπερ ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ τοῦ πρώτου φωτὸς, οὕτω τῶν ἀπ' ἐκείνου πεφωτισμένων.
Oration 40.10, Grégoire de Nazianze, Discours 38-41. Translated by Paul Gallay. Sources Chrétiennes. Vol. 358, Paris, 1990), 218.
Oration 38.12, SC 358, 128-30.
Harrison translates προσκυνέω as 'worship,' in Gregory Nazianzen, Festal Orations, trans. Nonna V. Harrison (Crestwood, New York, 2008), 106. For "pay reverence to," see Ben Fulford, Divine Eloquence and Human Transformation: Rethinking Scripture and History through Gregory of Nazianzus and Hans Frei (Minneapolis, 2013), 96.
Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon, 1174-76. Aristotle includes it in his list of ways to honour men who are famous for doing good, Rhetoric 1361a. Liddell, Scott and Jones offer a similar variety: "Make obeisance to the gods or their images, fall down and worship, throw a kiss to a god, do reverence to, respect," Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, and Henry Stuart Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford, 1996), 1518. Also see Frederick W. Danker and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago, 2000), 82-3.
Or. 4.81, SC 309, 206.
Oration 37.24, προσκυνῶ πατέρα, προσκυνῶ τὸν υιὸν, προσκυνῶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιονω y need to? 14they follg made in the image of God:yiven by Nathanerial - to e divine nature."ese y need to? 14they foll. Or. 22.4, SC 270, 226; 22.12, SC 270, 244; 33.15, SC 318, 188; 34.5, SC 318, 204; 37.24, SC 318, 318; 39.6, SC 358, 160; 39.18, SC 358, 190; Carm. PG 37, 470; etc. In the eighth and ninth centuries during the Byzantine iconoclast controversy, a distinction was made between προσκυνέω and λατρεύω; the former encompassed the worship of images and icons, whereas the latter was the term used for the service of God alone. However, since this controversy was several centuries later than Gregory was writing, it would be anachronistic to assume that he made this particular distinction. Gregory often applies λατρεύω to the service or adoration of God, see Oration 26.5, SC 284, 236; 11.6, SC 405, 342; 23.1, SC 270, 280; 37.18, SC 318, 304. On two occasions Gregory also uses the verb apologetically to argue that one cannot serve that which is created rather than God; Oration 5.28, SC 309, 350; 37.17, 318, 306.
Oration 38:11, SC 358. Gregory follows Genesis 1:26 by depicting the human being at creation as the image of God.
The association of baptism with being clothed in Christ can be found in Paul's letter to the Galatians, where he writes, "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Gal. 3:27). Whilst Paul does not use this particular metaphor in relation to spiritual warfare, many scholars have observed that the notion of hostile angelic powers threatening humanity; see Clint E. Arnold, The Colossian Syncretism: The Interface between Christianity and Folk Belief at Colossae (Tübingen, 1995), 158; Peter T. O'Brien, Colossians, Philemon, WBC (Waco, Texas: 1982), 46. Furthermore, Paul portrays Christ as being the true Image of God who has authority over the evil powers in his letter to the Colossians (Col. 1:15, 2:10), Arnold, The Colossian Syncretism: The Interface between Christianity and Folk Belief at Colossae, 247. Forming the same conclusion: John Behr, "Colossians 1:13-20: A Chiastic Reading," VTQ 40, no. 4 (1996). Dunn argues that Paul understood these powers to be real; James D.G. Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, Nigtc (Grand Rapids, 1996), 93. Contra Wesley Carr, Angels and Principalities (Cambridge, 1981), 48-52.
Oration 24.15, SC 284, 74.
Oration 24.9, SC 284, 56-8.
On the one hand, Gregory uses the devil's envy of the human being to highlight the progressive divinity of the imago as she is remodelled into Christ, and on the other hand the devil's constant attacks serve to demonstrate the vulnerability of the imago; she might be becoming a "god" but this does certainly not render her invincible.