The Pauline and Petrine Letters

Abstract The Pauline and Petrine letters provide some of the earliest descriptions of Christian theology related to the divine-human encounter. Framing this encounter in terms of participation in God and likeness to God, these letters have been interpreted as early witnesses to the doctrine of deification. Participation in God is framed as by means of Christ and the Spirit, expressed through language like communion but also directly through personal presence. Likeness to God is often framed in terms of expressing divine attributes like incorruption, knowledge, life, and holiness, not simply in generic terms but as an embodiment of Jesus’ death and suffering and through the life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit. This transformation, best described as attributive deification, is often addressed individually (in the present noetically and morally and in the future somatically), but corporate elements, particularly through the practices of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, mediate these realities.