The doctrine of deification or theosis has been gaining interest among scholars for some time. Yet most publications on the topic have focused on Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions and have subsumed the discussion under the category of soteriology. If "being transformed into the same image" (2 Corinthians 3:18) is truly essential to the Christian life, a fuller understanding of this biblical concept is needed for Christians of all traditions. In this volume, biblical scholars and theologians offer a constructive account of deification that breaks new ground in key ways. First, several essays focus on the work of major Protestant thinkers and Protestant expressions of the doctrine-including Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, Wesleyan, Pentecostal, and Evangelical. Second, contributors incorporate deification into arenas that have thus far remained largely unexplored, such as the relationship between justification and deification, applications for theological education, how deification compares with transhumanism, the impact of translation philosophy on the visibility of deification in Scripture, and perspectives on deification in global Christianity. Contributors include both senior and younger scholars from a variety of backgrounds, including Alister McGrath, Ann Jervis, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Ben C. Blackwell, and Michael Gorman. Transformed into the Same Image invites readers to dive deeper into the doctrine of deification and continue the conversation.
"What do you get if you cross PBS's Antiques Roadshow, the Protestant Reformation, and one of the trending topics in evangelical theology? The doctrine of deification! This fascinating collection of essays sets out to retrieve the patristicnotion of theosis by showing its biblical and Protestant bona fides as well as its potential for ecumenical dialogue about the nature of salvation-and more. I particularly appreciated the suggestion that believers are deified by being transformed into the image of Christ, the God-man: not simply deified but Christified."
Kevin J. Vanhoozer, research professor of systematic theology at Trinity Evangelical Divin
