'Deification' refers to the transformation of believers into the likeness of God. Of course, Christian monotheism goes against any literal 'god making' of believers. Rather, the NT speaks of a transformation of mind, a metamorphosis of character, a redefinition of selfhood, and an imitation of God. Most of these passages are tantalizingly brief, and none spells out the concept in detail. "Deification was an important idea in the early church, though it took a long time for one term to emerge as the standard label for the process. That term was qe/wsij, theosis, coined by the great fourth-century theologian, Gregory of Nazianzus. Theologians now use theosis to designate all instances where any idea of taking on God's character or being "divinized" (made divine) occurs, even when the term qe/wsij is not used. And of course, different Christian authors understood deification differently." "While some articles in this collection discuss pre-Christian antecedents of theosis, Greek and Jewish, most focus on particular Christian understandings. The article by Gregory Glazov examines OT covenant theology, with an emphasis on divine adoption, and on bearing the fruit of knowledge or attaining the stature of a tree of righteousness in Proverbs, Isaiah, and Sirach. The article by Stephen Finlan on 2 Pet 1:4 ('You may become participants of the divine nature') examines the epistle's apparent borrowings from Middle Platonic spirituality, Stoic ethics, and Jewish apocalyptic expectation. The epistle stresses 'knowledge of Christ,' which means cultivation of godly character and growing up into Christ.

Introduction
Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov
Defining the Term
Terminology ofTheosis
History of Scholarship
A Renewed Discussion

Theosis, Judaism, and Old Testament Anthropology
Gregory Glazov
1. Theosis and Old Testament Biblical Theology
2. Theosis and Old Testament Covenantal Anthropology
3. Theosis and Old Testament Sapiential Anthropology

Second Peter's Notion of Divine Participation
Stephen Finlan
Middle-Platonic Background
Stoic Growth in Virtue
Apocalyptic Judaism
Pauline Parallels; Petrine Disputes
Knowledge of Christ

Emergence of the Deification Theme in the Apostolic Fathers
Vladimir Kharlamov
Didache
The Epistle of Barnabas
Clement of Rome (First Clement)
Second Clement
Ignatius of Antioch
Polycarp of Smyrna
Conclusion

Deification in the Apologists of the Second Century
Vladimir Kharlamov
Justin Martyr
Tatian
Theophilus of Antioch
Athenagoras
Epistle to Diognetus
Conclusion

Irenaeus on the Christo logical Basis of Human Divinization 86
Jeffrey Finch
Theological Anthropology: Image and Likeness Recapitulated 87
God Partakable 91
Christ the Head

Athanasius on the Deifying Work of the Redeemer 104
Jeffrey Finch
Introduction 104
The One and the Many 107
Human Cooperation and Appropriation 110
By the Incarnation Alone?

Augustine's Conception of Deification, Revisited
Robert Puchniak
The Principal Passages
Augustinian Polemic
Infrequency of Deification Imagery

Divinization and Spiritual Progress in Maximus the Confessor
Elena Vishnevskaya
The Fundamentals of Divinization
Ascetic Practice and Contemplation
Purification in Love

Reforming Theosis
Myk Habets
Worlds Apart
Theosis and the West
T. F. Torrance: A Case Study
Imago Dei
Creator-Creature Distinction
Reconciling Exchange
Conclusion

The Comedy of Divinization in Soloviev
Stephen Finlan
Divinization and Comedy
Trini tarianism
Sophiology
Following the Christ Pattern
Anti-Gnostic Triumph

List of Contributors