Partakers of the Divine Nature – The History and Development of Deification in the Christian Traditions

Michael J. Christensen (PhD, Drew University) is director of the DMin program and teaches spirituality and religious studies at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Jeffery A. Wittung (1974-2010) served as an editor at Baker Academic and was a PhD candidate at Drew University.

• PrefaceIntroductionPart 1: The Context of Theosis in ChristianityThe Promise, Process, and Problem of Theosis--Michael J. ChristensenThe Place of Theosis in Orthodox Theology--Andrew LouthPart II: Theosis in Classical and Late AntiquityDeification of the Philosopher in Classical Greece--John R. LenzCan We Speak of Theosis in Paul?--Stephen FinlanDoes 2 Peter 1:4 Speak of Deification?--James StarrPart III: Theosis in Patristic ThoughtThe Strategic Adaptation of Deification in the Cappadocians--J. A. McGuckinRhetorical Application of Theosis in Greek Patristic Theology--Vladimir KharlamovDivinization as Perichoretic Embrace in Maximus the Confessor--Elena VishnevskayaParadise as the Landscape of Salvation in Ephrem the Syrian--Thomas BuchanPart IV: Theosis in Medieval and Reformation ThoughtThe Copto-Arabic Tradition of Theosis: A Eucharistic Reading of John 3:51-57 in Bulus al-Bushi's Treatise On the Incarnation--Stephen J. DavisSt. Anselm: Theoria and the Doctrinal Logic of Perfection--Nathan R. KerrMartin Luther: "Little Christ's for the World"; Faith and Sacraments as Means to Theosis--Jonathan LinmanJohn Calvin: United to God through Christ--J. Todd BillingsJohn Wesley: Christian Perfection as Faith Filled with the Energy of Love--Michael J. ChristensenPart V: Theosis in Modern ThoughtNeo-Palamism, Divinizing Grace, and the Breach between East and West--Jeffrey D. FinchSergius Bulgakov: Russian Theosis--Boris JakimKarl Rahner: Divinization in Roman Catholicism--Francis J. Caponi OSATheosis in Recent Research: A Renewal of Interest and a Need for Clarity--Gösta HallonstenResources on Theosis with Select Primary Sources in Translation--Jeffery A. Wittung