Theosis and Religion
Participation in Divine Life in the Eastern and Western Traditions

Norman Russell's innovative study offers fresh insights into the developing concepts of theosis across Eastern and Western traditions.

Norman Russell (Author)

9781108406338, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 14 March 2024

250 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 1.4 cm, 0.38 kg

'This book provides the reader with a comprehensive analysis of the different currents that have gone into the making of theosis as it is now understood and offers important insights into the mindset of the main actors … Russell's book is a valuable, even an indispensable, guide to a subject that has been too obscure for too long, and he is to be congratulated for having made it available to a wider public.' Gerald Bray, The Global Anglican

Theosis, originally a Greek term for Christian divinisation or deification, has become a vogue word in modern theology. Although recent publications have explored its meaning in a selection of different contexts, this is the first book to offer a coherent narrative of how the concept of theosis developed in both its Eastern and Western versions. Norman Russell shows how the role of Dionysius the Areopagite was pivotal, not only in Byzantium but also in the late mediaeval West, where it strengthened the turn towards an individualistic interiority. Russell also relates theosis to changing concepts of religion in the modern age. He investigates the Russian version of theosis, introduced in the West by Russian members the Paris School after the 1917 Revolution. Since then, theosis has undergone additional development through the addition of esoteric elements which have since passed into the mainstream of all theological traditions and even into popular spirituality.

Introduction: The Extraordinary Rise of a Theological Theme
1. What Is 'Religion', What Is 'Theosis', and How Are They related?
2. Byzantium: The Flowering of the Eastern Tradition of Theosis
3. The Latin Heirs of Dionysius: Theosis in the Mediaeval West
4. 'Light the Lamp Within You': A Recurring Esoteric Tradition
5. 'People will be Gods': Russian Versions of Theosis
6. 'The Via Regia': Deification in the Russian Diaspora
7. One with God: From Academic Re-engagement to Popular Reception
8. Afterword: Blank Pages.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of religion [HRAB]