Date of Award

5-15-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Historical Theology

First Advisor

Joel Elowsky

Scripture References in this Resource

Genesis 1:26-27; Colossians 1:15

Abstract

Kneeland, Andrew R. “Losing the Body: Tracing Corporeality as a Component of the Imago Dei Through Early Christian Exegesis.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2025. 252pp.

This dissertation examines the interpretation of imago Dei in Gen. 1:26 across early Christian history, revealing both a robust tradition of corporeal emphasis and a shift toward a spiritual consensus that was driven not by immediate, unanimous consensus but a variety of pastoral and polemical factors. Far from a fleeting, anthropomorphic error, a bodily understanding of the image of God spans diverse provenances and contexts. Organized diachronically and topically, the study begins with textual exegesis of the relevant languages of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, then examines representative figures through key moments in the early Christian centuries. Corporeal interpretations persist in anti-Gnostic polemics, dueling exegetical methodologies, Christological debates, and the Origenist/iconoclastic controversies. Irenaeus ties the image to the incarnate flesh of Christ, Theodore of Mopsuestia emphasizes the role of physicality and accessibility in salvation history, and Gregory of Nyssa affirms the role of the body in displaying the image of God. Eventually, Augustine’s Trinitarian imago theology, mediated through Peter Lombard’s Sentences, formed a spiritual framework that shaped the Western tradition. By documenting the emergence and diversity of a corporeal interpretation of imago Dei this study invites renewed engagement with the full breadth of the patristic witness.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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