Deification as a Motif in Luther's Dictata super psalterium

Abstract

Recently a group of Finnish scholars led by Tuomo Mannermaa has argued that since justification, for Luther, proceeds by Christ and the Christian forming a real ontic unity in which the believer actually participates in God, deification is a central theme in the Reformer's theology. The most sustained and detailed of this exciting new scholarship is Sirno Peura's groundbreaking Mehr als ein Mensch?, a book that traces the deification theme in Luther between 1513 and 1519. After mentioning some of the significant Finnish research, this article focuses on Peura's attempt to find divinization in Luther's Dictata super Psalterium. While it agrees with Peura's contention that deification imagery occurs throughout the Dictata, it raises some critical methodological and ontological questions pertinent to the claim that, for Luther, believers really do acquire an ontic participation in God.