Women, Human Identity, and the Image of God: Antiochene Interpretations

Most early Christian writers regard the divine image as the core of human identity and affirm that women, who are fully human, bear the image of God. Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia are exceptions. Though stating clearly that women share the same human nature as men, they read Gen 1.26 in terms of 1 Cor 11.7 and identify the divine image as a kind of exclusively male authority. Theodore specifies that the human imago Dei is a visible viceroy representing the invisible God to created beings. Adam failed in this task, which the assumed man Jesus fulfilled. For Theodore the divine likeness, which women also share, is an imitation of many divine attributes, including creativity. Theodoret of Cyrrhus moves toward the Greek patristic mainstream, stating that woman is at least "image of the image" and eliding Theodore's distinction between image and likeness, thus including many human characteristics besides authority in the imago Dei.