The imitation of God as a form of mimicry

The article explores the Christian soteriological concept of God-likeness, which, as the author argues, is a unique form of mimicry inherent only to human nature. Drawing on church sacraments, hagiographies, sayings of the Church Fathers, and facts of ascetic life, the author examines the development of the idea of imitating God in early Christianity and identifies various subtypes of “divine mimicry,” including imitating death, the desert, the cross, and angels. In volume four of The History of Sexuality Michel Foucault presented a profound study of monastic practices of “repentance” and “maidenhood.” The text demonstrates the influence of these practices on the formation of modern subjectivity and the emergence of such idea as “inner space.” In this context, the author points to the mimetic nature of the relationship between the foundations of Christian doctrine and psychoanalytic theory.

By analyzing the biblical myth of the Fall of man and comparing it to the psychoanalytic concept of the “mirror stage” the article concludes that the central anthropological conflict — the transition from animal to human — is related to a failed divine mimicry, an attempt to attack the Real with the goal of conforming to it. The failure lies in the fact that man acquires divine cognitive ability to encompass the entire world by desire, but this capacity remains separate from the power to transform matter solely by Word. In conclusion, the author redefines mimicry as an imitation of completeness or perfection and suggests that when evaluating social and political processes, we should consider what is currently ideal or a model of such completeness (i.e., occupies the place of God).