" '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 New Testament 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 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 'divinised' (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 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 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 "If one were to seek a single volume
constituting an up-to-date and learned coverage of the subject,
this is the book." - J. Robert Wright, General Theological
Seminary, in "Religious Studies Review" "An extraordinary
collaboration of scholars examining the neglected theme of
deification in the classic Christian tradition from its biblical
roots through Irenaeus, Augustine, and Maximus, to contemporary
reconstructions of Torrance and Soloviev." - Thomas C. Oden,
General Editor, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. "Here is
a wonderfully comprehensive and academically careful presentation
of theosis from the Bible until Vladimir Soloviev. It is a superb
contribution to fresh Christian thinking." - Ellen T. Charry,
Margaret W. Harmon Associate Professor of Systematic and Historical
Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, and editor of "Theology
Today"
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