Page 90 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

O r t h o d o x y
In the Image and Likeness
We have already spoken of the mission of the human be-
ing within creation and have noted the distinction be-
tween humanity and the rest of the created order. We now
turn to the meaning of this distinction as expressed in the
biblical affirmation that man was created “in the image and
likeness of God” (Gen 1:26).
The Fathers, while offering different nuances, generally
agree on a fundamental distinction: “image” refers to the orig-
inal state of the human being as created by God, while “like-
ness” points to the fulfillment of that calling in the eschaton.
The image is given; the likeness is to be achieved. It is in the
end, when humanity beholds God face to face and the com-
munion between created and uncreated reaches its fullness,
that the human being becomes truly “like” God—free in the
fullest sense.
Some Fathers identify the “image” with the rational nature
of the human being; others, such as Gregory of Nyssa, relate
it to the capacity for self-governance. Yet this difference is not
substantial. For those who speak of reason (logos) understand
it not merely as intellectual capacity, but as freedom. Self-
governance and logos converge in the same reality: the human
being as free.
Thus, we may faithfully represent the patristic tradition by
affirming that freedom—autexousion—is the defining mark
of the human being as the image of God.
But what does this freedom mean?
Freedom is not simply the ability to choose between alter-
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