This chapter documents the ways in which discourses of heresy and orthodoxy were anchored in wider social beliefs and mentalities about the sacred and profane nature of places, holy and unholy regions, the divine curse, and the devil’s role in society. To illustrate this connection between regionalism and heresy, the chapter analyses al-Fasawi’s ninth-century history which hosts a section dedicated solely to discourses of heresy against Abu Hanifa and the region he settled in, Kufa. We see vividly how proto-Sunni traditionalists established a link between unholy regions and heresies.

Chapter 2 explores how Franciscan theologians understood the similarities and differences between animals and humans. The Summa Halensis most frequently stressed clear difference and a strong boundary. Similarities were recognized, however, especially in relation to the corporeal. The Summa was not consistent in its approach to these similarities: sometimes they were simply natural features posing no moral or intellectual challenges, whereas on other occasions they were dangerously deceptive and symbolic of human sin. Bonaventure also accepted that in many respects the bodies of humans and animals were the same. Beyond this, however, he was not struck by much in the way of similarity. He took it for granted that humans were the most perfect animals, unique amongst animals in their possession of reason. Made in the image of God, humans related to God very differently from animals. Animals served humans, answering to their bodily and even emotional needs. Bearing symbolic meaning, they were God’s tools. Bonaventure did not see any of the similarities that underpinned more complex understandings in the work of others. For Bonaventure, the boundary between humans and animals was always clear-cut.

Chapter 4 explores Gregory’s re-telling of the fall against the backdrop of the ‘garments of glory’ tradition. After being persuaded by the devil to eat the fruit in paradise, the image of God is banished and clothed in garments of ‘thick, dull flesh’, which equates to being shrouded in sin. This renders the human person at greater risk from the devil. Here, we examine the way in which Gregory discusses the devil, arguing that Gregory attributes to the devil a diminishing existence. The battles with the spiritual powers of darkness form a primary strand in Gregory’s narrative of the image of God’s existence, in which the devil hovers behind conversations of sin, the flesh, the world and the passions.

Chapter 5 describes the restoration and theosis of the image God which, Gregory stipulates, begins at baptism. The chapter’s argument proceeds as follows: if we consider together a) Gregory’s theological anthropology in which God creates the human person specifically to be vulnerable or porous (borrowing these terms from Charles Taylor) to the spiritual realm, b) Gregory’s high pneumatology, c) his ideas about the sacrament of baptism and d) the interaction between the image of God and the devil, we can interpret the divinity of the image literally and in the broadest terms, since it incorporates the ontological, functional, ethical, relational and experiential aspects of being a divine image.

Chapter 1 begins with a discussion of Gregory’s hermeneutics, arguing that Gregory interprets the whole biblical narrative in light of Christ and the salvation story. We move on to establish the predominant biblical themes which feed into Gregory’s multifaceted account of the image of God. These include beliefs about the divine presence manifested through images and idols; ethics; and an interesting thread which concerns the spiritual warfare between the image of God and powers of opposition, of which ‘the devil’ is common epithet used by Gregory.

Chapter 2 establishes that Gregory considers anthropology within the theological framework of his doctrine of God who is Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and in particular the Son, who is the ‘identical Image’. Through examining how Gregory speaks about Christ as the Image of God, we discover significant aspects of his thought about the human person as an image of God: Christ is a divine, living and dynamic Image, which differentiates Christ from motionless images. Gregory goes to great lengths to argue that Christ is unified, which has significant implications on the way in which Gregory considers the physicality of the image of God. Christ’s kenosis makes possible the theosis of the human image of God. Finally, Christ battles with and defeats the devil, restoring the potential divinity of the image and securing the human person’s victory over the devil.