The Image Is Not the Body's Shape
He holds rule over all that is on the earth, after the likeness and image of God (Genesis 1:26).
So it is because he is a rational living being, a lover of virtue, and a ruler over the things of the earth that he is said to have been made in the image of God.
But if they think the image refers to the shape of the body, then nothing stops them from saying that God shares the form of the brute animals as well.
For we see that they too are made of the same parts as we are: they have feet and a mouth, eyes, nostrils and a tongue, and the other members of the body.
Let your Reverence, then, put a stop to such people, or rather, rebuke those who make a habit of babbling such things.
I hear, too, that they say the mystical blessing has no power to sanctify if any of it is left over until another day.
They are mad to say this.
Greek
ἁπάντων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καθ' ὁμοιότητα καὶ εἰκόνα Θεοῦ. οὐκοῦν κατὰ τὸ εἶναι ζῷον λογικὸν καὶ καθὸ φιλάρετον καὶ ἀρχικὸν τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἐν εἰκόνι Θεοῦ πεποιῆσθαι λέγεται. εἰ δὲ νομίζουσι κατὰ τὸ τοῦ σώματος σχῆμα λέγεσθαι τὴν εἰκόνα, οὐδὲν λυπεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἀλόγοις τῶν ζῴων σύμμορφον λέγειν εἶναι τὸν Θεόν. ὁρῶμεν γὰρ, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὰ ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν ἡμῖν εἰσι μορίων, πόδας ἔχοντα καὶ στόμα καὶ ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ ῥῖνας καὶ γλῶσσαν καὶ τὰ ἕτερα τῶν τοῦ σώματος μελῶν. παυέτω τοίνυν ἡ σὴ θεοσέβεια τοὺς τοιούτους, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἐπιτιμάτω τοῖς ταῦτα φλυαρεῖν εἰωθόσιν. Ἀκούω δὲ ὅτι φασὶν ἀπρακτεῖν εἰς ἁγιασμὸν τὴν μυστικὴν εὐλογίαν, εἰ ἀπομείνοι λείψανον αὐτῆς εἰς ἑτέραν ἡμέραν. μαίνονται δὲ ταῦτα λέγοντες· οὐ γὰρ