The Oxford Handbook of Deification

Modern theological engagements on 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 had become a magnet concept attracting attention from many different viewpoints. The second important shift relates to 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 Oxford Handbook of Deification 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 first part analyzes the cultural and scriptural roots of deification; the second part explores the most significant historical contributions to the understanding of deification in the early, medieval, and modern periods; the third part develops systematic connections.

Readers will discover a surprizing breadth, depth, and diversity of theologies of deification in Christian traditions. Throughout the Handbook, leading scholars in the field of Deification Studies propose vital new insights from a variety of perspectives for this central mystery at the heart of the Christian faith.

Paul L. Gavrilyuk, Aquinas Chair in Theology and Philosophy, University of St. Thomas, Andrew Hofer, O.P., Ordinary Professor of Patristics and Ancient Languages, Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, Matthew Levering, James N. Jr. and Mary D. Perry Chair of Theology, Mundelein Seminary

Paul L. Gavrilyuk holds the Aquinas Chair in Theology and Philosophy in the Theology Department of the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota. His many books include Perceiving Things Divine: Towards a Constructive Account of Spiritual Perception (OUP, 2022--co-edited with Frederick Aquino) and Georges Florovsky and the Russian Religious Renaissance (OUP, 2013). He is the founding president of two nonprofits: International Orthodox Theological Association (iota-web.org) and Rebuild Ukraine (rebuild-ua.org).

Andrew Hofer, O.P. is Ordinary Professor of Patristics and Ancient Languages at the Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, where he also serves as editor-in-chief of The Thomist. He is the author of Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (OUP, 2013) and The Power of Patristic Preaching: The Word in Our Flesh (2023).

Matthew Levering holds the James N. Jr. and Mary D. Perry Chair of Theology at Mundelein Seminary. His recent books include Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? Historical and Theological Reflections (OUP, 2019) and Aquinas’s Eschatological Ethics and the Virtue of Temperance (2019). He serves as co-editor of two quarterly journals, Nova et Vetera and International Journal of Systematic Theology.