Theosis in Patristic Thought

Abstract

In the current renewal of interest in the deification theme, the consensual and homogeneous character of this concept in early Christian writers is generally assumed. This article concisely examines the intricate complexity of the emergence and development of theosis in patristic theology, with acknowledgement of the initially marginal, rhetorical, multidimensional, and often contextualized role of this concept prior to its theological consolidation in Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and Maximus the Confessor in the sixth and seventh centuries. Important to the Palamite and Neo-Palamite Eastern Orthodox theology, the distinction between the divine essence and energy is not necessarily a representative characteristic of early church fathers.