This work presents the Antiochene understandings of how humans are the image of God. The author begins with an analysis of the Antiochenes's literal and historical method of interpreting scripture, and then traces how they applied their hermeneutical principles to the passages regarding image.

Contents: Part I: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON RELIGION AND THE BODY; Desire and Delight: A New Reading of Augustine's Confessions, Margaret Miles; Incontinent Observations, Morney Joy; The Antichene Tradition Regarding the Role of the Body within the "Image of God", Frederick G. McLeod; Body as Moral Metaphor in Dante's Commedia, James Gaffney; Sex, Celibacy, and the Modern Self in Nineteenth-Century Germany, William Madges; Part II: CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES ON CHRISTIANITY AND THE BODY; Christianity, Inc., Jill Raitt; Inkblots and Authenticity, William Loewe; Em-bodied Spirit/In-spired Matter: Against ech-Gnosticism, Gary Mann; The World as God's Body: Theological Ethics and Panentheism, William C. French; A Short Consideration of Sallie McFague's The Body of God, John P. McCarthy; The Body of God: A Feminist Response, Susan A. Ross; Part III: SPIRITUALITY AND THE BODY; Chronic Pain and Creative Possibility: A Psychological Phenomenon Confronts Theologies of Suffering, Pamela A. Smith; Rosemary Haughton on Spirituality and Sexuality, Joy Milos; Spirituality as an Academic Discipline: Reflections from Experience, Sandra Schneiders. Copublished with the College Theology Society.

Provides the first full-length analysis of Gregory Nazianzen's multifaceted account of the image of God against the backdrop of biblical themes.

Biblical scholars have often contrasted the exegesis of the early church fathers from the eastern region and “school” of Syrian Antioch against that of the school of Alexandria. The Antiochenes have often been described as strictly historical-literal exegetes in contrast to the allegorical exegesis of the Alexandrians. Patristic scholars now challenge those stereotypes, some even arguing that few differences existed between the two groups. This work agrees that both schools were concerned with a literal and spiritual reading. But, it also tries to show, through analysis of Theodore and Theodoret’s exegesis and use of the term theoria, that how they integrated the literal-theological readings often remained quite distinct from the Alexandrians. For the Antiochenes, the term theoria did not mean allegory, but instead stood for a range of perceptions—prophetic, christological, and contemporary. It is in these insights that we find the deep wisdom to help modern readers interpret Scripture theologically.

This systematic study of Chrysostom’s Homilies on Genesis demonstrates the wide-ranging sources and techniques that undergird his exegesis, shedding new light on networks of Biblical learning in Late Antiquity. It shows the relationship between exegetical traditions and ethical evaluation in specific homiletic discourses, highlighting the importance of name and word meanings for Chrysostom.

How different are men and women? When does it matter to us -- or to God? Are male and female the only two options? In Sex Difference in Christian Theology Megan DeFranza explores such questions in light of the Bible, theology, and science. Many Christians, entrenched in culture wars over sexual ethics, are either ignorant of the existence of intersex persons or avoid the inherent challenge they bring to the assumption that everybody is born after the pattern of either Adam or Eve. DeFranza argues, from a conservative theological standpoint, that all people are made in the image of God -- male, female, and intersex -- and that we must listen to and learn from the voices of the intersexed among us.

Through a careful examination of his extant sermons, some of which survive in Latin and others in classical Armenian, this book invites readers to hear a bishop's voice from the mid- fourth century, an important period in late antique Christianity

Have you ever wondered what the image of God means theologically? Mountains of material have been written about this topic, spanning ages, but is it just an idea or is it something physically real? This book answers those questions through ancient, modern, and scientific theories of memory in a Wesleyan anthropology. Bild-ing a Memory Model of God is a unique attempt at combining the fields of theology and neuroscience.