Deification in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition: A Biblical Perspective

Description

A popularly-written study of the biblical roots of the Eastern Orthodox Church's mystical understanding of the knowledge of God. This unique study brings together the best of contemporary exegesis with the tradition of Eastern Christianity and illustrates the biblical roots of the Eastern Church's understanding of grace as the energy of God. The book presents, in lay terms, the shape for an Orthodox biblical theology for the 21st century and will be of interest to all Christians for whom the Bible is divine revelation and for whom tradition continues to be creative. Table of Contents..................................................................................................vii Acknowledgments..................................................................................................xi Introduction .............................................................................................................1 The Theme of This Book..................................................................................1 The Purpose of This Book................................................................................1 The Structure of This Book ..............................................................................2 1......Salvation as “Deification” ............................................................................7 The Meaning of the Term “Deification” as Applied to the Christian........7 Isn’t It Blasphemous to Claim to Be a “god”?...............................................8 “I Said ‘You Are Gods’ ”—Starting from the Bible: John 10:34, Psalm 82:6 ....................................................................................................11 The Humanity of God Makes Possible the Deification of Humanity .....13 2......Deification: Overview of the Eastern Orthodox Tradition .................15 A Total Theology..............................................................................................15 The Christian Meaning of Deification: a Summary.....................................17 Deification as Healing ......................................................................................19 The Transformation of Our Nature ..............................................................24 Paradise after Death .........................................................................................26 The Resurrection of the Glorified Body at the End of the Age ...............27 Deification and the Communion of the Saints ............................................28 In the Image and Likeness of God ................................................................28 Deification and the Work of Salvation..........................................................29 Deification Is the Gracious Work of the Whole Trinity ............................32 The “Uncreated Energies” of God ................................................................33 Deification through a Fully Liturgical Life ...................................................41 The Nature of Orthodox Mysticism..............................................................43 Orthodox Theology Is Practical, Not Speculative.......................................45 Orthodox Theology Is Based on the Bible...................................................48 3......Revelation and Experience ........................................................................49 Deification Is Based on Divine Revelation...................................................49 The Forms of Divine Revelation....................................................................53 The Threefold Structure of Divine Revelation as Manifested in Orthodox Life and Thought ............................................................................62 Divine Revelation and Human Language .....................................................65 4......How to Interpret Holy Scripture, Our Guide to Deification...............69 The Importance of Scripture ..........................................................................69 The Letter and the Spirit..................................................................................71 The Scriptures as Treasuries of Spiritual Experience..................................73 The Big Picture: The Meaning of the Bible as a Whole .............................75 The Various Senses of Scripture.....................................................................81 Conclusion .........................................................................................................87 5......The Old Testament: The History of the Energies of God in the Bible ............................................................................................................89 Why Read the Old Testament?.......................................................................89 The Old Testament as an Integral Part of the History of God’s Grace ..91 The Creation of Man to Share the Kingship of God: Genesis 1:1–2:3 ...94 Paradise Lost: Genesis 2:4–3:24 .................................................................. 101 The “Natural Man” from Adam to Noah.................................................. 114 Moses and the Law: The Hebrew Theology of Revelation..................... 117 The Prophecies of Fulfillment in Christ: How the Old Testament Speaks of Christ and the Mysteries of the Church .............................. 123 The Saints of the Old Testament ................................................................ 125 Excursus to Chapter 5: Adam Our Ancestor? .......................................... 130 6......The Uncreated Light of Mount Thabor ............................................... 141 The Light of Glory ........................................................................................ 141 The Transfiguration in the Gospels............................................................ 145 The Experience St. Peter .............................................................................. 153 The Experience of St. John the Evangelist and Theologian................... 163 The Experience of St. James the Greater, the Son of Zebedee ............. 169 St. Paul’s Experience of the Uncreated Light............................................ 172 At the Foot of the Mountain ....................................................................... 177 Conclusion 179 Appendix: For Further Reading....................................................................... 183 1. Books on Deification ................................................................................ 183 2. Books on the Bible .................................................................................... 184 3. The Fathers and Books on the Fathers.................................................. 186 Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 191 Abbreviations to Bibliography and References......................................... 191 Index of Scriptural References ......................................................................... 203