Called to Be the Children of God: The Catholic Theology of Human Deification

by David Vincent Meconi S.J., Carl Olson

Overview

This book gathers fourteen Catholic scholars to present, examine, and explain the often misunderstood process of ""deification"". The fifteen chapters show what becoming God meant for the early Church, for St. Thomas Aquinas and the greatest Dominicans, and for St. Francis and the early Franciscans. This book explains how this understanding of salvation played out during the Protestant Reformation and the Council of Trent. It explores the thought of the French School of Spirituality, various Thomists, John Henry Newman, John Paul II, and the Vatican Councils, and it shows where such thinking can be found today in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. No other book has gathered such an array of scholars or provided such a deep study into how humanity's divinized life in Christ has received many rich and various perspectives over the past two thousand years. This book seeks to bring readers into the central mystery of Christianity by allowing the Church's greatest thinkers and texts to speak for themselves, demonstrating how becoming Christ-like and the Body of Christ on earth, is the only ultimate purpose of the Christian faith.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681497037
Publisher:	Ignatius Press
Publication date:	04/19/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	392 KB

About the Author

Fr. David Vincent Meconi, S.J., a professor of theology at Saint Louis University, is the editor of Homiletic and Pastoral Review. He has published widely in early Church theology and broader Catholic issues, most recently the Annotated Confessions of Saint Augustine, and The One Christ: St. Augustine's Theology of Deification.

Carl E. Olson, MTS, is the editor of Catholic World Report and Ignatius Insight. He is the author of two best-selling books, Will Catholics Be "Left Behind"? and The Da Vinci Hoax, and the author of hundreds of articles on theology, Scripture, current events, and apologetics.

Table of Contents

Foreword Scott Hahrt 7

Introduction David Vincent Meconi, S.J. Carl E. Olson 11

Chapter 1 The Scriptural Roots of Christian Deification David Vincent Meconi, S.J. Carl E. Olson 17

Chapter 2 Deification in the Greek Fathers Daniel A. Keating 40

Chapter 3 Deification in the Latin Fathers Jared Ortiz 59

Chapter 4 No Longer a Christian but Christ: Saint Augustine on Becoming Divine David Vincent Meconi, S.J. 82

Chapter 5 Deification in the Dominican Tradition: Albert, Thomas, and Catherine Andrew Hofer, O.P. 101

Chapter 6 Like Another Christ: The Franciscan Theology of Deification Sister M. Regina van den Berg 118

Chapter 7 Deification at Trent and in the Counter-Reformation Chris Burgwald 135

Chapter 8 Divine Excess and Hidden Grandeur: Divinization in the French School of Spirituality Michon M. Matthiesen 148

Chapter 9 "Strange Immoderation of the Things of God": Deification and Mystical Union in Neo-Thomism John Saward 168

Chapter 10 John Henry Newman on Deification Daniel J. Lattier 181

Chapter 11 "An Activity of Special, Supernatural, and Extraordinary Beneficence and Love": Matthias Scheeben's Theology of Deification Timothy Kelly 198

Chapter 12 Between the Vatican Councils: From Vatican I to Vatican II Adam G. Cooper 220

Chapter 13 Vatican II, John Paul II, and Postconciliar Theology Tracey Rowland 245

Chapter 14 Deification in the Catechism of the Catholic Church Carl E. Olson 263

Chapter 15 Liturgy and Divinization David W. Fagerberg 274

Contributors 285

Index 289

Editorial Reviews

"Rescue from sin and death is indeed a wonderful thing—but the salvation won for us by Jesus Christ is incomparably greater. And that is the subject of this book. In all its parts, this book, like Christianity in all its parts, is about salvation. But that means it's about everything that fills our lives, on earth and in heaven."
— Dr. Scott Hahn, Author, Rome Sweet Home

"The richness of Catholicism is on full display in these marvelous essays as they show how Scripture's revelation of theosis is both taught and embodied throughout the Church's history. I loved reading, pondering, and praying with this marvelous book."
— Dr. Timothy Gray, President of the Augustine Institute and Senior Fellow at St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology

"At last, we have an up-to-date, comprehensive, and readable introduction to the classical doctrine of divinization. Called to Be the Children of God is a must read for any serious student of Catholic theology."
— Dr. Brant Pitre, Professor of Sacred Scripture, Notre Dame Seminary, Graduate School of Theology

"This is an important book, full of surprises for the expert yet written in an attractive style that makes it accessible to a broad readership."
— Norman Russell, St. Stephen's House, Oxford; author of The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition (Oxford University Press)

"In the explanations of the historical developments of this doctrine, the reader discovers openings into Christian literature that will enrich the spiritual life and theological understanding through deepening our understanding of the effects of God's grace and indwelling, particular through Baptism, the Holy Eucharist and other sacraments."
— Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J., EWTN and Ignatius Productions

"To follow the history and meaning of what it means that we exist to be adopted into the trinitarian life of God is the exact purpose of this most welcome and well presented text."
— Fr. James V. Schall, S.J., Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University

"The importance of this publication, which is a major contribution to the study of Catholic soteriology, can hardly be exaggerated."
— Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D., Author of Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age

"This is a wonderful collection of essays on an issue that has been largely ignored by Western Christianity, which has focused far too much attention on how you get into heaven rather than how heaven gets into you."
— Dr. Francis J. Beckwith, Professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies, Baylor University.

"Theologians, pastors, students and laity alike would benefit immensely from reading this book, not only for developing their theological knowledge but also for deepening their love for the divine life they already live here on earth."
— Fr. Thomas G. Weinandy, O.F.M., Cap., Member of the International Theological Commission 

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