What does it mean to speak of humans as the image of God when apophatic theology speaks of an infinite God who transcends naming, comprehension, and worldly appearance? Bringing Church Father Gregory of Nyssa into dialogue with French phenomenology in Michel Henry, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Jean-Louis Chretien, Thomas Breedlove answers this question and explores the importance of embodiment to the doctrine of imago Dei. Divided into three parts, this book presents the divine image not as merely one aspect of the human creature but rather as that which constitutes human creatureliness itself. So constituted, human nature is shaped by likeness and difference to God. Breedlove investigates this relationship between human and divine through three successive approaches. The first, in conversation with Merleau-Ponty, analyses the existential and phenomenological aspects of fleshly finitude as the paradigmatic site of the creature's difference from God. The second takes up Henry's philosophy of life alongside Gregory's metaphysics of participation to offer an account of creaturely life in its likeness or identity to divine life. The third, though conversation with Chrétien, examines the christological aspects of Gregory's anthropology in order to find the dynamic synthesis in which likeness and difference and presence and absence reveal a creaturely nature wounded by divine love. In blending 4th-century theology with 20th-century phenomenology, Breedlove not only showcases the alternative perspectives they can offer each other, but further presents a novel theological anthropology and a new theological account of the flesh. He argues that the dynamism and groundlessness of creaturely flesh, where mind and body intersect, reveals what it means to be created as images of God. This revelation is founded in Christ, whose life reveals finitude not as an impediment to be overcome but as the very possibility of likeness to the divine. “Thomas Breedlove's impressive new book is not simply a reappropriation of Gregory of Nyssa's theological anthropology; it also succeeds in bringing Gregory's thought into sustained conversation with some of the most influential figures in contemporary phenomenological philosophy. In doing so, the study illuminates Gregory's work in new ways while simultaneously inviting a reconsideration of phenomenology's central concerns-above all, the question of embodiment situated between finitude and infinity.” ― Espen Dahl, Professor of Theology, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, Norway “Bringing a sensitive and textually attentive reading of Gregory of Nyssa into dialogue with the theologically oriented phenomenology of Henry, Merleau-Ponty, and Chretien, Thomas Breedlove explores with profundity how human beings in their creatureliness and very flesh image the transcendent and infinite God. This is an exemplary interdisciplinary study, rich and rewarding, a book to be read and reread.” ― John Behr, Regius Chair of Humanity, University of Aberdeen, UK “In this beautifully composed volume, Thomas Breedlove stages a conversation between fourth-century theologian Gregory of Nyssa and contemporary French phenomenologists to unfold new depths to Nyssen's anthropology. As theologically insightful as it is philosophically illuminating and textually attentive, A Phenomenology of the Divine Image elaborates a powerful new way to identify the image of God.” ― Natalie Carnes, Professor of Theology, Duke Divinity School, USA “In his illuminating and trenchant reading of Gregory of Nyssa, Thomas Breedlove draws on important contemporary phenomenological thinkers to develop an account of humans in the image of God that takes our finitude, fragility, and suffering seriously. This fruitful cross-disciplinary dialogue proves productively challenging and mutually enriching for both fields.” ― Christina M. Gschwandtner, Professor of Philosophy, Fordham University, USA Thomas Breedlove is Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University, USA. He is a researcher on the Global Flourishing Study, a 5-year international study run by the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University and the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, USA. Kevin Hart is Jo Rae Wright University Distinguished Professor in the School of Divinity at Duke University, USA. He also holds a secondary appointment in the Department of English at Duke University, USA. Jeffrey Bloechl is Arthur J. Fitzgibbons Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Boston College, USA