What does it mean for Christ to be the "image of God"? And, if Christ is the "image of God," can the human person also unequivocally be understood to be the "image of God"? Augustine's Early Theology of Image examines Augustine's conception of the imago dei and makes the case that it represents a significant departure from the Latin pro-Nicene theologies of Hilary of Poitiers, Marius Victorinus, and Ambrose of Milan only a generation earlier. Augustine's predecessors understood the imago dei principally as a Christological term designating the unity of divine substance. But, Gerald P. Boersma argues, Augustine affirms that Christ is an image of equal likeness, while the human person is an image of unequal likeness. Boersma's careful study thus argues that a Platonic and participatory evaluation of the nature of "image" enables Augustine's early theology of the image of God to move beyond that of his Latin predecessors and affirm the imago dei both of Christ and of the human person. "this monograph makes an important contribution to the field of Augustinian studies. It also accomplishes a rare feat: grounding questions pertinent to the history of ideas (for example the relationship between the One and the many, the distinction between eternal and created order) in the exegesis and ethics of Augustine as pastor and theologian." -- Benjamin P. Winter, Saint Louis University, Journal of Ecclesiastical History "Boersma's excellent work is a major contribution to the field which deserves a wide readership, as it will be helpful to scholars of Augustine and others who deal with early Christianity and late antiquity."--Matthew W. Knotts, Scottish Journal of Theology "Gerald Boersma has unearthed a hidden trajectory in the understanding of Christ and of the Christian as imago Dei. Before Augustine was ordained a priest, Christian and Platonic influences had come together in a vision of the whole person - and not just the spirit, mind or soul - as image of God and participating in the divine image." --Fr. Allan Fitzgerald, O.S.A., Director of The Augustinian Institute, Villanova University "There is no book fully comparable to this brilliant study which offers even more than the title promises - not only a study of Augustine's early views on the image of God, but of their development in his later theology. A must-read for anyone interested in Augustine in particular, or in the theology of the image of God in general." --John Cavadini, Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame "A very clear, systematic, well-structured, scholarly and concise synthesis of the doctrine of imago deployed by Hilary of Poitiers, Marius Victorinus, and Ambrose of Milan. This book is a fine example of the history of ideas and illustrates the growth in Patristic theology by showing that development is a central notion in Latin theology. Boersma succeeds in explaining the originality and complexities of Augustine's doctrine in a very lucid way." --Anthony Dupont, Research Professor of Christian Antiquity, Leuven University "This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in learning more about the provenance of ingenuity of Augustine's image theology." -- Expository Times Examines three Western pro-Nicene theologies of the imago dei , Gerald P. Boersma is Assistant Professor of Theology at St. Bonaventure University.