The One Christ: St. Augustine's Theology of Deification
xviii Introduction cation have appeared as brief contrasts with the Greek Fathers who are regarded for their use of theosis.15 Upon examining these works, we encounter an unfortunate habit of treating Augustine's theology of deification in isolation, namely, only where he relies on the explicit terminology of deificare. This is unfortunate for two reasons: (1) it inevitably forces Augustine's uses of deificare to appear more robust and indispensable than they actually are, and (2) such an approach ignores the fact that deification language can appear in Augustine's sermons and tracts because it very easily fits into what he has been saying all along. In other words, it is my contention here that the explicit language of deificare turns up only sporadically and only without detailed explanation because it is simply one more way Augustine can stress the divinizing union between the human and the divine, between the Christian and Christ. Therefore Augustine does not labor to develop what he means by deificare because he sees it as one metaphor among many possible images of divine union.
This study accordingly begins by examining how Augustine conceives of the connection between creator and creation. Those dismissive or at least critical of Augustine's theology of deification are correct that, according to Augustine, the relationship of God to the created order fundamentally underlies any theology of deification. We must therefore ask
15. Comparing the Johannine commentaries of Cyril of Alexandria and Augustine, Daniel Keating concentrates on Augustine's understanding of participation in order to elucidate how a contingent creature can find communion with divinity. Keating's two dozen pages of reflection serve as a good introduction to what is at stake in recovering the theme of deification in Augustine; Daniel Keating, The Appropriation of Divine Life in Cyril of Alexandria (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 227–51. A second work of significance to this study is that of Norman Russell, The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). Here Russell offers a brief look (329–32) at deification in Augustine, concentrating mainly on the Platonic influences as well as the Bishop of Hippo's battles with the Pelagians, which certainly colored how he depicted human perfection. Obviously the number of studies on the deifying theology of Augustine is surprisingly few, especially when compared with the immense amount of scholarship already treating other facets of his theology.
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if Augustine sees this as a hostile relationship or one of inherent communion. To answer this question as thoroughly as possible, we begin by reflecting on the life of the Trinity, with a special emphasis on the Word's role in the act of creation. To understand the dynamics of how the triune God creates, chapters 1 and 2 focus on Augustine's theology of created order. Chapter 1 centers around a text from Augustine's most mature commentary on Genesis, the De Genesi ad Litteram, chosen because it provides us with an illuminating example of how all of creation "turns" to the Father in imitation of the Son. Augustine's questioning of creation always leads him to the human person, so chapter 2 next treats the question of scripture's claim that men and women are made in the divine image and likeness. What does Augustine glean from the creation story of Genesis and how does he understand the nature of an imago? After analyzing this understanding of "image," we turn to De Trinitate 7.3.5 where Augustine argues that the human person as a created (and therefore an unequal) image becomes one with God as he imitates and draws nearer to the Son, the perfect image of the Father.
Chapters 3 and 4 form the second unit, treating the Son and the Spirit's role in uniting the faithful with God. In keeping the roles of the Son and the Spirit in the economy of salvation in concert, Augustine's use of deification language takes on its proper perspective. All instances of deificare are analyzed in chapter 3, but only as one metaphor among many. Yet, this metaphor acts to signal basic Christian images of salvation which also denote the identification between the human and the divine: becoming gods, divine adoption, and language of the "great exchange" all serve to unpack what Augustine means by the Christian life. While deificare (and its cognates) is used only in relationship to the incarnate Son, it cannot be understood in isolation from the Holy Spirit. Chapter 4 thus treats the Spirit as the divine person who unites men and xx Introduction women to the Son and the one who makes of the created soul a living temple of God on earth.
The final section then looks at the human person's appropriation of the divine life as realized first in the church and then forever in heaven. For Augustine, the movement from sinner to saint is made real always through the visible Christian faith and always in communion with others. Chapter 5 accordingly treats the church as the locus of deification, the place on earth where Christ's life is extended to his faithful members. Chapter 6 rounds off our study with a brief examination of the heavenly life. While the deified life is achievable on earth, it is fully perfected only after the sanctified soul is reunited with the resurrected body. The ecclesial process which brings about our filiality here on earth in spe is realized only heavenly in re.
the
One Christ