The Oxford Handbook of Deification

Abstract Modern theological engagements of deification have undergone two major paradigm shifts. First, the study of deification shifted from the periphery of theological discourse to its center. For Adolf von Harnack, deification was a pagan import that fatally corrupted and distorted the Gospel message of salvation. In response, the positive retrieval of the concept of deification belongs to the early years of the twentieth century. By the 1910s, in Russian religious thought, and, by the 1930s, in much Roman Catholic theology, deification became a magnet concept attracting much attention. The second important shift has to do with how deification is characterized. Recent studies question the exclusively “Eastern” character of deification and draw attention to the engagements of this theme in Latin patristic and later Western Christian sources. Reassessing the evidence for these two major shifts, the Handbook comprehensively explores the points of convergence and difference on the constitutive elements of deification in different traditions, and offers a foundation for ecumenical and interreligious dialogues. The Handbook’s Part I analyzes the cultural and scriptural roots of deification; Part II explores the most significant historical contributions to the understanding of deification in the early, medieval, and modern periods; and Part III develops systematic connections.