Deification in Macarius, Evagrius, and Dionysius

Abstract This chapter discusses the teaching on deification of (pseudo-) Macarius, Evagrius of Pontus, and (pseudo-) Dionysius the Areopagite. These three writers offer a detailed account of the highest stages of the spiritual life. Of the three, Macarius provides the richest and most robust teaching on deification, offering some essential theological underpinnings, arresting scriptural interpretation, striking imagery of divine fire and light, and sound advice born of his own spiritual experience. While eschewing the technical language of deification, Evagrius’ teaching on the highest stage of Christian life includes themes germane to deification, such as essential knowledge and the vision of divine light. Evagrius does, however, suggest a functionally pantheistic notion of the eschaton that would undermine the properly salutary nature of the Christian doctrine of deification. Dionysius’ intense focus on deification is associated especially with his teaching on hierarchy. Even in the heights of mystical union, however, human individuation is preserved.