Such "men . . . you must not only not receive, but if it is possible not even meet"

Index of Medieval Art (Vat. gr. 1613, p. 258)

"he truly suffered even as he also truly raised himself [(ἀληθῶς ἀνέστησεν ἑαυτόν)], not as some unbelievers say, that his Passion was merely in semblance [(τὸ δοκεῖν αὐτὸν πεπονθέναι)]. . .
     ". . . I guard you in advance against beasts in the form of men [(τῶν ἀνθρωπομόρφων)], whom you must not only not receive, but if it is possible not even meet, but only pray for them, if perchance they may repent, difficult though that may be. . . .  For if it is merely in semblance [(τὸ δοκεῖν | τῷ δοκειν)] that these things were done by our Lord I am also a prisoner in semblance [(τὸ δοκεῖν)].  And why have I given myself up to death, to fire, to the sword, to wild beasts?  Because near the sword is near to God, with the wild beasts is with God [(ἐγγὺς μαχαίρας ἐγγὺς θεοῦ, μεταξὺ θηρίων μεταξὺ θεοῦ)]; in the name of Jesus Christ alone am I enduring all things, that I may suffer with him, and the perfect man himself gives me strength. . . .
     ". . . I have not thought right to put into writing their unbelieving names; but would that I might not even remember them, until they repent concerning the Passion, which is our resurrection. . . .
     "They abstain from Eucharist and prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ who suffered for our sins, which the Father raised up by his goodness. . . .  It is right to refrain from such men and not even to speak about them in private or in public. . . ."

     St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans II, IV, and V, trans. Lake, LCL (1912), 252-257.  Cf. "John and Polycarp on heretics".

Gregory of Nyssa on the imago Dei

Anim Shrest

"'Have a care to yourself, for this is the sure safeguard of <your> good things.  Know how much you have been honored by the Maker above the rest of the creation.  Heaven did not become the image of God, nor the moon, nor the sun, nor the beautiful stars—nor a single other one of the things that appear in the created order.  Only you came into existence as a copy of the Nature that transcends every intellect, a likeness of the incorruptible Beauty, an impress of the true Deity—a model of that true Light in the contemplation of which you become what it is, imitating that which shines within you by the ray that shines forth in response from your purity.  None of the things that exist is so great as to be compared to your greatness.  The whole heaven is contained in the span of God’s hand; earth and sea are encompassed by his hand.  But at the same time this One, being such as he is and so great as he is, grasping the whole creation in the palm of his hand, becomes limited for your sake and dwells in you and is not confined as he penetrates your nature.  For he is the One who says, 'I will dwell within them and will walk about among them' (2 Cor 6:16).  If you see these things, you will not set your eye on anything earthly. . . .  For how shall you marvel at the heavens, O human, when you see that you yourself are more lasting than the heavens?'"  Etc.

     St. Gregory of Nyssa, Homily 2 on the Song of songs, trans. Richard A. Norris, Jr. (Gregory of Nyssa:  homilies on the Song of songs, Writings from the Greco-Roman world 13 (Atlanta, GA:  SBL Press, 2012)), 76-77 =GNO 6.1.68.  I was put onto this by Gabrielle Thomas, "The Status of vulnerability in a theology of the Christian life:  Gregory of Nyssa on the 'wound of love’ in conversation with Sarah Coakley," Modern theology 38, no. 4 (2022): 791 (777–795).