In this, his first monograph, Michael Motia illuminates Gregory of Nyssa's conception of mimesis (imitation). He attends to an unsolved puzzle: what does Gregory mean when he claims that Christianity is mimesis of the divine nature? The answer escapes easy grasp because mimesis has a wide and unstable semantic range, and it is also unclear how a finite creature can desire and thus imitate an infinite and unknowable God. We can understand it, Motia argues, when we see that Gregory synthesises a doctrine of divine infinity with Plato's two concepts of mimesis, the aesthetic and the ontological.

The first half of the book establishes the intellectual climate which informs Gregory's own formulation of mimesis, through skilfully weaving together relevant aspects of the theological, philosophical, ecclesial and educational context. Chapter i describes what aesthetic and ontological mimesis are for Plato. Aesthetic imitation concerns how stories and images that mirror the world affect our pursuit of the good, and entails a transformation of desire from intimate objects of love to transcendent beauty. Ontological mimesis expresses the idea that all of creation is dependent on their cause for existence. It excludes the possibility of self-contained entities trying to imitate another separate entity and it demands desire for the first principles alone. Motia argues in chapter ii that neo-Platonic philosophers cross these two tracks in different ways. Plotinus frames mimesis as the intellect focusing on and consequently becoming an ever ascending series of images of the One. These stepping stones lead to union with the One, a state which is beyond mimesis. Iamblichus thinks imitation of the gods is only possible through their help: they established theurgic liturgies, and when we participate in them we imitate and temporarily unify with the Divine. Julian the Apostate challenges Christians to connect all aspects of daily life to the Divine when he applies Iamblichus’ system to every part of society. Chapter iii considers the tension for early Christians between what should be imitated and what is inimitable and must be worshipped. This distinction roughly maps onto the difference between aesthetic and ontological mimesis respectively. St Paul commends Christians to imitate those who imitate Christ. Martyrs and ascetics are presented as imitators of Christ, but debates emerge over whether ordinary Christians should imitate or revere them. Visual art fills Christians’ imaginations, but also stirs desire for devotion. And some doctrines cast Christ as the image of God, by which the divine is known, whilst others posit that the imago Dei moves Christians beyond the visible and imitable.

The second half of the book shows how Gregory brings together divine infinity with aesthetic and ontological mimesis, the modes of desire they entail, and the corresponding tension between imitation and worship. The fourth chapter argues that imitation of the names of Christ works through a dynamic relationship between imitation and inimitable worship. Gregory contends that the names St Paul ascribes to Christ signify the divine nature. As finite creatures we can imitate some names but not others. However, worship of the inimitable compels the Christian to desire it, causing them to ever increase the names they are able to imitate. Chapter v shows that Gregory describes spaces which contain the uncontainable Divine. He represents the Christian life as a journey, which progresses along a sequential order toward God. Mimesis of the path and the goal are inseparable. The way Gregory describes spaces reveals how he understood himself as endlessly growing in desire for God. In the sixth chapter Motia contends that Greogory's hagiographical accounts of Moses and Macrina are not simply moral examples but also the image of God. Seeing their infinite growth in virtue is as close as possible to a representation of an infinite God. These texts stir the desire of the audience to imitation. However, these exemplars ultimately become unknowable as they advance in virtue. To conclude, Motia draws parallels with contemporary critical reflection on ethics, suggesting that the constant growth in and desire for imitation of an unknown God enable Christians to act lovingly towards humanity and all of creation too.

There is much to praise. Motia's lucid prose conveys complexity with clarity and delight. His argument is insightful and persuasive, because it distils a common plausible explanation across three very different expressions of mimesis, and demonstrates how it is a response to a series of ideas we can locate in his intellectual context. More impressive still, Motia captures the complexity and nuance of how aesthetic and ontological mimesis play out in different ways between and within imitation of names, spaces and characters. Imitations of infinity is the first significant work on mimesis in Gregory and also prepares the way for future contributions. Motia's scope may leave his audience desiring further clarity in the final three chapters. He covers vast ground because he is trying to conceptualise what mimesis is, with reference to its most common sites (names, spaces and characters). Some sharper details about the epistemological, soteriological and anthropological dimensions of mimesis necessarily fall outside of this focus. To name two examples, scholars may ask how the revelatory role of characters relates to Gregory's epistemology of how humans come to know God, as seen in Contra Eunomium, or how exemplars’ erotic pull interacts with the rational and irrational faculties of the soul, described in De anima et resurrectione. However, a great strength of Motia's work is that it both points to these questions and lays the foundation for exploring them. I look forward to seeing how Motia and other scholars pursue this task.

Imitations of infinity will inform the work of and generate new angles of research for a range of scholars. Historians interested in the thought of Gregory of Nyssa, early Christian understandings of the holy life, genealogies of mimesis and late antique reception of Plato will find Motia's arguments credible and useful for understanding this previously under-studied topic. Finally, systematic theologians will find this definition of mimesis and its multiple expressions generative for thinking about the role of imitation in the Christian life today.