Deification in Classical Greek Philosophy and the Bible

Illuminates Greek philosophy by showing how it grows out of ancient Greek religion and how it compares to biblical religion.

James Bernard Murphy (Author)

9781009392921, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 June 2024

378 pages
23.5 x 16 x 2.5 cm, 0.69 kg

'This exciting and learned book offers a coherent framework for reading both Greek philosophy and the Scriptures as pedagogies of ascent. More radically, it recaptures deification as a central - if not the central - task of philosophy.' Christopher Justin Brophy, The Review of Politics

To be human is to strive to be better, and we cannot be better without knowing what is best. In ancient Greek philosophy and the Bible, what is best is god. Plato and Aristotle argue that the goal of human life is to become as much like god as is humanly possible. Despite its obvious importance, this theme of assimilation to god has been neglected in Anglo-American scholarship. Classical Greek philosophy is best understood as a religious quest for divinity by means of rational discipline. By showing how Greek philosophy grows out of ancient Greek religion and how the philosophical quest for god compares to the biblical quest, we see Plato and Aristotle properly as major religious thinkers. In their shared quest for divine perfection, Greek philosophy and the Bible have enough in common to make their differences deeply illuminating.

Introduction: Why better implies best
1. Theology as anthropology, anthropology as theology
2. Heroic deification in Ancient Greek religion
3. Ironic deification in Socrates
4. Civic deification in Plato
5. Developmental deification in Aristotle
6. Deification as loving union with God in the Bible
Conclusion: Athens and Jerusalem.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA]