Norman Russell is Honorary Research Fellow at St Stephen's House, University of Oxford and Professor of Patristics and Byzantine Theology at the Istituto Teologico di Santa Eufemia di Calcedonia, of the Orthodox Exarchate of Italy. He is the author of acclaimed The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition (2005).

• Introduction: The Extraordinary Rise of a Theological Theme; 1. What Is 'Religion', What Is 'Theosis', and How Are They related?; 2. Byzantium: The Flowering of the Eastern Tradition of Theosis; 3. The Latin Heirs of Dionysius: Theosis in the Mediaeval West; 4. 'Light the Lamp Within You': A Recurring Esoteric Tradition; 5. 'People will be Gods': Russian Versions of Theosis; 6. 'The Via Regia': Deification in the Russian Diaspora; 7. One with God: From Academic Re-engagement to Popular Reception; 8. Afterword: Blank Pages.

'This book provides the reader with a comprehensive analysis of the different currents that have gone into the making of theosis as it is now understood and offers important insights into the mindset of the main actors … Russell's book is a valuable, even an indispensable, guide to a subject that has been too obscure for too long, and he is to be congratulated for having made it available to a wider public.' Gerald Bray, The Global Anglican