There are passages in the Bible—obvious figures of speech, metaphors—that modern readers would not even think to take literally. But during the period of the early church, some of these passages still caused confusion among the uninitiated, giving enemies of Christianity fodder for their attacks. Among the confused ones was, at one point in his life, Augustine himself.

In the last months before his conversion, the brilliant young orator had become disenchanted with the Manichaean philosophy to which he had adhered. He was finding himself increasingly attracted to Christianity. Yet, he still stumbled over one particular Manichaean objection to Christianity—based on a too-literal reading of the Hebrew Scriptures.

In his Two Books on Genesis Against the Manichees, Augustine later reconstructed the Manichees' argument. They taunt the Christians, he wrote, "for believing that man was made to the image and likeness of God. They look at the shape of our body and ask so infelicitously whether God ...

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