... Of all living creatures on earth, there simply is none the equal of man... For we have been fashioned by [God], as by a potter, from the dust of the earth. But it is not sheerly in this that the dignity of human nature lies; there is something greater in us, a gracious gift of God's artistic skill. The fact is, we have been made to His image and likeness, and have been enriched with the impress of His glory, gleaming spiritually in our souls, even if we are, according to the flesh, earth and of earth. Man, then, is not a contemptible but an admirable creature on earth.
(The Image of God in Man according to Cyril of Alexandria, p. 21, quoting "In Isaiam" 4,2)
The soul is more honorable than the substance of the body, seeing that it is God's image and inspiration. Still, the body is its instrument and its colleague in all that is best.
(The Image of God in Man according to Cyril of Alexandria, p. 21, quoting "In Matthaeum" Mt 6:23)
... the flesh, in its fondness for pleasure, strives against the Spirit, for they are contrary one to the other (Gal. 5:17), according to the expression of the wise Paul; and the law of sin that is in the members, savagely and very bitterly makes opposition (Rom. 7:23).
(Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, p. ???)
We say that the very ugly image of the earthy man is visible in... the filth that is sin, the feebleness that is death and corruption, the impurity involved in fleshly lust and in a mind earth-bound. In like fashion, we think, the image of the heavenly man, Christ, is conspicuous in cleanness and purity, in total incorruption and life and sanctification.
(The Image of God in Man according to Cyril of Alexandria, p. 72, quoting from Cyril's text, "In Ioannem" 11,11)
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