Theosis

Theosis
Author: Stephen Finlan
Publisher: James Clarke & Company
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2010-02-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0227903544

'Deification' refers to the transformation of believers into the likeness of God. Of course, Christian monotheism goes against any literal 'god making' of believers. Rather, the NT speaks of a transformation of mind, a metamorphosis of character, a redefinition of selfhood, and an imitation of God. Most of these passages are tantalizingly brief, and none spells out the concept in detail.

The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition

The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition
Author: Norman Russell
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2005-01-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0191532711

Deification in the Greek patristic tradition was the fulfilment of the destiny for which humanity was created - not merely salvation from sin but entry into the fullness of the divine life of the Trinity. This book, the first on the subject for over sixty years, traces the history of deification from its birth as a second-century metaphor with biblical roots to its maturity as a doctrine central to the spiritual life of the Byzantine Church. Drawing attention to the richness and diversity of the patristic approaches from Irenaeus to Maximus the Confessor, Norman Russell offers a full discussion of the background and context of the doctrine, at the same time highlighting its distinctively Christian character.

Partakers of the Divine Nature

Partakers of the Divine Nature
Author: Michael J. Christensen
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2008-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 080103440X

Scholars from around the world offer a comprehensive, ecumenical survey of the history and development of deification.

With All the Fullness of God

With All the Fullness of God
Author: Jared Ortiz
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2021-01-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1978707274

Christians confess that Christ came to save us from sin and death. But what did he save us for? One beautiful and compelling answer to this question is that God saved us for union with him so that we might become “partakers of the divine nature” (1 Pet 2:4), what the Christian tradition has called “deification.” This term refers to a particular vision of salvation which claims that God wants to share his own divine life with us, uniting us to himself and transforming us into his likeness. While often thought to be either a heretical notion or the provenance of Eastern Orthodoxy, this book shows that deification is an integral part of Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and many Protestant denominations. Drawing on the resources of their own Christian heritages, eleven scholars share the riches of their respective traditions on the doctrine of deification. In this book , scholars and pastor-scholars from diverse Christian expressions write for both a scholarly and lay audience about what God created us to be: adopted children of God who are called, even now, to “be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19).

Mystical Doctrines of Deification

Mystical Doctrines of Deification
Author: John Arblaster
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2018-10-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1351189093

The notion of the deification of the human person (theosis, theopoièsis, deificatio) was one of the most fundamental themes of Christian theology in its first centuries, especially in the Greek world. It is often assumed that this theme was exclusively developed in Eastern theology after the patristic period, and thus its presence in the theology of the Latin West is generally overlooked. The aim of this collection is to explore some Patristic articulations of the doctrine in both the East and West, but also to highlight its enduring presence in the Western tradition and its relevance for contemporary thought. The collection thus brings together a number of capita selecta that focus on the development of theosis through the ages until the Early Modern Period. It is unique, not only in emphasising the role of theosis in the West, but also in bringing to the fore a number of little-known authors and texts, and analysing their theology from a variety of fresh perspectives. Thus, mystical theology in the West is shown to have profound connections with similar concerns in the East and with the common patristic sources. By tying these traditions together, this volume brings new insight to one of mysticism’s key concerns. As such, it will be of significant interest to scholars of religious studies, mysticism, theology and the history of religion.

Theosis in the Theology of Thomas Torrance

Theosis in the Theology of Thomas Torrance
Author: Myk Habets
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2016-02-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1317010833

Torrance's vision of Theosis (deification/divinisation) is explored through his doctrine of creation and anthropology, his characterisation of the incarnation, his accounts of reconciliation and union with Christ, and his theology of church and sacraments. Myk Habets' study distinguishes Torrance's Reformed vision of theosis from other possible accounts of salvation as divinisation as they are found, for instance, within patristic thought and Eastern Orthodoxy. This book presents the first critique of the theology of T.F.Torrance to focus on theosis, and examines a model of theosis within the realm of reformed theology built upon Western theology.

Kenosis in Theosis

Kenosis in Theosis
Author: Sigurd Lefsrud
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2019-12-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532693702

The perennial questions surrounding human identity and meaning have never before been so acute. How we define ourselves is crucial since it determines our conception of society, ethics, sexuality--in short, our very notion of the "good." The traditional Christian teaching of "deification" powerfully addresses this theme by revealing the sacred dignity and purpose of all created life, and providing a comprehensive vision of reality that extends from the individual to the cosmos. Hans Urs von Balthasar is a valuable guide in elucidating the church's teaching on this vital subject. Following the patristic tradition, he focuses his attention on Jesus Christ, whose kenotic descent in his incarnation and passion reveals both the loving character of God and the perfection of humanity. Christ is the "concrete analogy of being" who in his two natures as God and man unites heaven and earth. It is the Trinity, however, that brings to fruition the fullness of the meaning of theosis in Balthasar's theology. The community of divine persons eternally deifies the cosmos by embracing and transforming it into the paradigm of all reality--the imago trinitatis--overcoming the distance between the created and uncreated while maintaining and honoring their difference.

Theosis/deification

Theosis/deification
Author: John Arblaster
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: Deification (Christianity)
ISBN: 9789042936232

This volume brings together a series of contributions by leading theologians on the doctrine of theosis or deification in the Eastern and Western Christian traditions. While it is still often assumed that the theme of theosis was exclusively developed in the Eastern theological tradition after the Patristic period, and that it has since been a contentious and even divisive theological subject, this volume was explicitly conceived as a forum for ecumenical encounter and as an opportunity to explore articulations of this doctrine in both the Eastern and Western traditions. Presenting case studies that treat a variety of periods, theological fields, and authors, this volume highlights the richness and relevance of the doctrine of deification.

Called to Be the Children of God

Called to Be the Children of God
Author: David Vincent Meconi
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2016-04-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1681497034

This book gathers fourteen Catholic scholars to present, examine, and explain the often misunderstood process of ""deification"". The fifteen chapters show what becoming God meant for the early Church, for St. Thomas Aquinas and the greatest Dominicans, and for St. Francis and the early Franciscans. This book explains how this understanding of salvation played out during the Protestant Reformation and the Council of Trent. It explores the thought of the French School of Spirituality, various Thomists, John Henry Newman, John Paul II, and the Vatican Councils, and it shows where such thinking can be found today in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. No other book has gathered such an array of scholars or provided such a deep study into how humanity's divinized life in Christ has received many rich and various perspectives over the past two thousand years. This book seeks to bring readers into the central mystery of Christianity by allowing the Church's greatest thinkers and texts to speak for themselves, demonstrating how becoming Christ-like and the Body of Christ on earth, is the only ultimate purpose of the Christian faith.

Theosis

Theosis
Author: Stephen Finlan
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2006-04-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1597524387

'Deification' refers to the transformation of believers into the likeness of God. Of course, Christian monotheism goes against any literal 'god making' of believers. Rather, the NT speaks of a transformation of mind, a metamorphosis of character, a redefinition of selfhood, and an imitation of God. Most of these passages are tantalizingly brief, and none spells out the concept in detail. Deification was an important idea in the early church, though it took a long time for one term to emerge as the standard label for the process. That term was theosis, coined by the great fourth-century theologian, Gregory of Nazianzus. Theologians now use theosis to designate all instances where any idea of taking on God's character or being divinizedÓ (made divine) occurs, even when the term theosis is not used. And of course, different Christian authors understood deification differently. While some articles in this collection discuss pre-Christian antecedents of theosis, Greek and Jewish, most focus on particular Christian understandings. The article by Gregory Glazov examines OT 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 Pet 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 epistle stresses 'knowledge of Christ,' which means cultivation of godly character and growing up into Christ. --from the Introduction