T&T Clark Partaking in Divine Nature: Deification and Communion

With strong application and relevance to contemporary ecclesiological questions, this is an investigation of how understandings of theosis in the Christian Tradition have related to understandings of divine nature in terms of koinonia. Review ... Paul Collins has opened up exciting new directions for us. This is a well-conceived and carefully researched work, which will, in connection with other works on deification, spur further research in this field.--Sanford Lakoff'In this clearly written and informative book, Paul Collins dispels two myths that surround the notion of deification: that it is the property of Eastern Orthodox Christians and that it is inherently individualistic. Collins demonstrates definitively that the metaphor of deification has structured the Christian imagination of the entire Christian tradition, 'East' and 'West', and that it is necessarily a communal and relational reality with cultural and political implications. He advances the discussion on deification in a way that will impact how Churches understand and relate to each other and to the world.' - Aristotle Papanikolaou, Fordham University, New York, NY, USA.--Sanford Lakoff'Paul Collins does a wonderful job of presenting a florilegia of authors and traditions towards elucidating a modern appropriation of a theology of theosis. He creatively builds upon a complementarity of approaches, of what it means to become holy and transfigured by divine grace, by drawing upon early church traditions, Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Christianity, and their rootedness in the Scriptures, with a view to showing how deification is at once personal, yet ecclesial and cosmic.' - Jaroslav Z. Skira, Regis College, University of Toronto, ON, Canada--Sanford LakoffNormal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\: *{behavior: url(#ieooui) } ! /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent: ""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page: Section1;} > /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name: "Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow: yes; mso-style-parent: ""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom: .0001pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: #0400; mso-fareast-language: #0400; mso-bidi-language: #0400;} 'Paul Collins, who already in his previous books on Trinitarian theology has made great efforts to bring theological insights from Eastern - Patristic and modern - sources in dialogue with Western theology, is now applying the same method in a new book on the metaphor of deification. Even if during the last decade almost every year a new theological monograph was published with either '"theosis"', 'divinization' or 'deification' in the title, Paul Collins's book contains a good deal of new insights which more than justify its publication. This is true for the helpful account on how ancient philosophy understood concepts like 'apotheosis' and 'theurgy' or on how crucial passages from the Hebrew Scriptures have been interpreted in the New Testament. As from his analysis of the biblical and the Patristic tradition the author is convinced that deification is not only an individual experience, but that it has a collective aspect as well. This is also reflected in the subtitle of the book: "Deification and Communion." Collins is aware that OrNormal0falsefalsefalseMicrosoftInternetExplorer4st1\: *{behavior: url(#ieooui) }/* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name: "Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-styl