Partakers of the Divine Nature: The History and Development of Deification in the ChristianEdited by Michael J. Christensen and Jeffery A. Wittung
The remarkable revival of interest in theosis, or Christian deification, has been driven to some extent by an evangelical (and especially Lutheran) concern to find new ways of speaking about the transformatory power of the Christian life. Partakers of the Divine Nature is a selection of papers given at a conference on theosis held at Drew University (a Methodist foundation) in May 2004. The contributors, mainly teachers and graduate students at Drew, have been supplemented by several distinguished scholars from outside, including Gösta Hallonsten, Andrew Louth and John McGuckin. Drew University has been engaged for some time in the study of theosis. Some of the work of its members was published last year in a volume entitled Theosis: Deification in Christian Theology, edited by Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov. The present volume is more wide ranging with a distinct emphasis on theosis in medieval, Reformation and modern thought. The contributors ‘find the idea and history of theosis to be a compelling vision of human wholeness and spiritual transformation worthy of serious study and relevant for our contemporary culture’ (p.9). Yet it is only at the end of the book that an attempt is made to define what theosis actually means. In an important paper on ‘Theosis in Recent Research’ (first given in Atlanta in 2003), Gösta Hallonsten complains that ‘the concept of theosis is becoming increasingly unclear’ (p.281). Too many people, he says, make use of it without having made a sufficient investigation of its history or having understood its role in the Eastern tradition. They therefore make unwarranted assumptions about its meaning. Norman Russell, The Heythrop Journal Read more about this title
TO ORDER BOOKS:
2010 Eastpark Boulevard
Cranbury, New Jersey 08512
Phone (609) 655-4770
Fax (609) 655-8366
TO REQUEST A CATALOGUE:
M-GH2-01
285 Madison Avenue
Madison, New Jersey 07940
Phone (973) 443-8564
Fax (973) 443-8364
fdupress@fdu.edu
TO RECEIVE UPDATES ON NEWLY RELEASED TITLES BY EMAIL:
fdupress@fdu.edu
