Theosis

Deification is the transformation of believers into the likeness of God. While Christian monotheism does not support the notion of any literal 'god making' of believers, the New Testament often speaks of a transformation of mind, a metamorphosis of character, a redefinition of selfhood, and an imitation of God. Most of these passages are tantalisingly brief, and none spell out the concept in detail. This idea was very important in the early Church, but it took a long time for one term to emerge as the standard label for the process. Eventually, the great fourth-century theologian Gregory of Nazianzus coined the term "theosis". Nowadays, theologians use "theosis" to designate all instances where any idea of taking on God's character or being made divine occurs, even when the term "theosis" is not explicitly used. Quite naturally though, different Christian authors understood deification differently. While some of the articles in the first volume discuss pre-Christian antecedents of theosis, the majority of them focus on specific Christian understandings. Gregory Glazov in particular examines Old Testament covenant theology, with an emphasis on divine adoption, and on bearing the fruit of knowledge or attaining the stature of a tree of righteousness in Proverbs, Isaiah, and Sirach. The article by Stephen Finlan on 2 Peter 1:4 ("You may become participants of the divine nature") examines the epistle's apparent borrowings from Middle Platonic spirituality, Stoic ethics and Jewish apocalyptic expectation. The second volume offers a variety of innovative approaches to the issue of theosis - the name by which this process of transformation has become known. The interconnections between the theology of deification and the doctrines of the Trinity, Christology, anthropology, protology, hamartiology, soteriology, and eschatology are made manifest in these fascinating new studies. This two-volume collection provides a wealth of fresh thinking on a topic of considerable interest to modern theologians. It is aimed both at those who are already students of theosis and at those who are looking for an introductory text. It also contains a comprehensive and up-to-date bibliography for those seeking further resources on the theme.



Vladimir Kharlamov has taught at Fairleigh Dickinson University and Sioux Falls Seminary. He is the author of The Beauty of the Unity and the Harmony of the Whole: The Concept of Theosis in the Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (2009). Stephen Finlan is a research assistant on the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture at Drew University and Adjunct Professor at Seton Hall University. He is the author of The Background and Content of Paul's Cultic Atonement Metaphors and Problems with Atonement: The Origins of, and Controversy About, The Atonement Doctrine.



Volume 2 List of Contributors Abbreviations Introduction / Vladimir Kharlamov 1. Deification in Jesus' Teaching / Stephen Finlan 2. The Idea of Deification in the Early Eastern Church / Ivan V. Popov (trans. Boris Jakim) 3. Clement of Alexandria on Trinitarian and Metaphysical Relationality in the Context of Deification / Vladimir Kharlamov 4. Basil of Caesarea and the Cappadocians on the Distinction between Essence and Energies in God and Its Relevance to the Deification Theme / Vladimir Kharlamov 5. Bridging the Gap: Theosis in Antioch and Alexandria / Joel C. Elowsky 6. Theosis, Texts and Identity: the Philokalia (1782) - A Case Study / Paul M. Collins 7. Between Creation and Salvation: Theosis and Theurgy / Paul M. Collins 8. Participation in God: The Appropriation of Theosis by Contemporary Baptist Theologians / Mark S. Medley Resources for Deification in Christian Theology / Vladimir Kharlamov Bibliography for Sources Cited in This Volume Index