Partakers of the Divine Nature

Partakers of the Divine Nature PDF

Author: Michael J. Christensen

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2008-02

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 080103440X

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

Partakers of the Divine Nature

Partakers of the Divine Nature PDF

Author: Michael J. Christensen

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781611473445

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This critical volume focuses on the issue of continuity and discontinuity ofthe Christian concept of theosis, or deification, in the intellectual history of ideas. It addresses the origin, development, and function of theosis from its antecedents in ancient Greek philosophy to its nuanced use in contemporary theological thought. Often seen as a heresy in the Protestant West, the revival of interest in deification in both lay and scholastic circles heralds a return to foundational understandings of salvation in the Christian church before the divisions of East and West, Catholic and Protestant. The five sections of this work, written by scholars from the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant traditions, introduce and summarize the nature and function of deification and then lead the reader through four general historical periods of development: Greek and New Testament, Patristic, Medieval and Reformation, and Modern thought. This multi-author work accomplishes what no single author could: it treats the various visions and trajectories of deification that have emerged over the span of a millennium in the various Christian traditions, resulting in a sweeping yet thorough and distinctive contribution to scholarly and informed lay discussion of theosis.

The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition

The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition PDF

Author: Norman Russell

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2005-01-21

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 0191532711

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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.

Theosis

Theosis PDF

Author: Stephen Finlan

Publisher: James Clarke & Company

Published: 2010-02-25

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 0227903544

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'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.

With All the Fullness of God

With All the Fullness of God PDF

Author: Jared Ortiz

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2021-01-12

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1978707274

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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).

Partaking in Divine Nature

Partaking in Divine Nature PDF

Author: Paul M. Collins

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2010-05-27

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 0567353117

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With strong application and relevance to contemporary ecclesiological questions, this is an investigation of how understandings of theosis in the Christian Tradition have related to understandings of divine nature in terms of koinonia.

The Descent of God

The Descent of God PDF

Author: Joseph M. Hallman

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2004-01-20

Total Pages: 167

ISBN-13: 1592444830

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This is a fascinating study which confirms that there is as much support in the Fathers as in heterodox sources - though different - for the idea of a suffering God. Louis Dupre, Yale University Joseph Hallman here makes a significant contribution to the perennial theological dilemma: how can an unchanging God relate to a changing world? The author displays a mastery of the patristic sources as well as familiarity with contemporary philosophical approaches to the issue. The Greek philosophical assumption of the immutability of God has retained a profound influence on Christian thought until modern times despite the attempts of patristic writers to harmonize the Incarnation with God's immutability. Hallman suggests that the most promising resolution to this dilemma comes to us in the work of Whitehead. Carl A. Volz, Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary Hallman's book is unusual and timely. Hallman is a systematic thinker, not a historian, yet he has taken the time to read the early Christian sources attentively, and his conclusions are surprising and provocative. In a sense, this book is a theological version of candid camera: it sets forth those things that early Christian thinkers are not supposed to have said.... In an age in which historians of Christian thought ignore contemporary thinkers, and systematic theologians act as though Christian thought began with the Enlightenment, 'The Descent of God' is a challenge to both brands of obscurantism. Robert L. Wilken, University of Virginia

Visions of God and Ideas on Deification in Patristic Thought

Visions of God and Ideas on Deification in Patristic Thought PDF

Author: Mark Edwards

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-10-26

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1315439581

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This volume illustrates the complexity and variety of early Christian thought on the subject of the image of God as a theological concept, and the difficulties that arise even in the interpretation of particular authors who gave a cardinal place to the image of God in their expositions of Christian doctrine. The first part illustrates both the presence and the absence of the image of God in the earliest Christian literature; the second examines various studies in deification, both implicit and explicit; the third explores the relation between iconography and the theological notion of the image

God So Loved the World

God So Loved the World PDF

Author: Jonathan R. Wilson

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2001-06-01

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 1441231552

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Explores how Jesus Christ demonstrates the love of God in the stories, images, and practices of the New Testament.

Heavenly Merchandize

Heavenly Merchandize PDF

Author: Mark Valeri

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-01-05

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 0691162174

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Focusing on the economic culture of colonial New England, Heavenly Merchandize views commerce through the eyes of four generations of Boston merchants, drawing upon their personal letters, diaries, business records, and sermon notes to reveal how merchants built a modern form of exchange out of profound transitions in the puritan understanding of discipline, providence, and the meaning of New England. --From publisher's description.