Page 91 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

I N T H E I M A G E A N D L I K E N E S S
natives. It is something far deeper. It concerns existence itself.
For created beings, existence is given—it is not chosen. We
find ourselves existing; we do not bring ourselves into being.
In this sense, our existence is marked by necessity.
And yet, the “image” opens another possibility.
It means that we are called to receive our existence freely—
to affirm it not as something imposed, but as something em-
braced. The human being is invited to say “yes” to existence,
to make it truly his or her own, not by necessity but by free-
dom. In this lies the profound drama and dignity of human
life.
In this respect, the Fathers introduced a radical transfor-
mation into the anthropology of their time. Against the back-
ground of Hellenistic thought, they presented the human be-
ing not primarily as a rational animal, but as the image of
God—that is, as a free being.
Just as God is free, so is the human being who bears His
image.
St. Gregory of Nyssa describes this gift of freedom as “the
most precious and exquisite of all goods,” precisely because it
belongs properly to God. To lack freedom would be to distort
the image, to sever the connection between the creature and
its archetype.
At this point, one might be tempted to recall the ancient
philosophical claim that “man is the measure of all things.” Yet
the Fathers decisively transform this idea. The human being
is not the measure in himself, but only as the image of God.
Human existence is not autonomous, but theocentric. And far
from diminishing humanity, this orientation elevates it, for
nothing higher than God can be conceived.
The ultimate goal of human existence, therefore, is deifica-
tion—the attainment of likeness to God by grace.
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