8. Michael J. Christensen and Jeffery Wittung, eds., Partakers of the Divine Na- (continued)
Conclusion 241
Although unacknowledged, at the foundation of these studies lies Augustine's understanding of deification. As we saw when we examined his critics, much of the West's thinking on the Christian divinization of the human person has been influenced by Augustine's own thinking. Today, however, most scholars can at least state that deification is an important theme for the Bishop of Hippo, the Father of Latin theology. That is, in the words of Andrew Louth: "In the West, the theme of deification became less important (though it is still significant for Augustine), being overshadowed by an understanding of the human relationship based on the distinction between nature and grace."9 If this is so, perhaps Augustine is not the "villain" he has been made out to be (Ben Drewery's term above). Furthermore, perhaps the West's suspicion (or, at least, the lack of a robust theology) of deification cannot be blamed on Augustine; likewise, perchance the divide between nature and grace is not as pronounced or as stifling in his thought as traditionally made out to be. Therefore, if Augustine can be "reformed" on this question, maybe much of the Western theological tradition could also make room for some doctrine of Christian deification.10 An Augustinian theology of deification could help to achieve some level of rapprochement between East and West, as well as within the various Christian traditions in the West.
Second, understanding the dynamics and implications of Augustinian deification allows his students to notice subtle ture: The History and Development of Deification in the Christian Tradition (Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2007) includes many essays on theosis in modern thought; for more on these various studies, see my, "The Consummation of the Christian Promise: Recent Studies on Deification," New Blackfriars 87 (2006): 3–12.
9. Andrew Louth, "Deification," The New SCM Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (London: SCM Press, 2005), 229.
10. Take, for example, such an influential twentieth century theologian as Karl Barth who could only contrast deification with Christian humility: "That the Christian is wholly and utterly . . . sanctified by the God of peace (1 Thess. 5:23), that he may live to God in Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:11), has nothing whatever to do with deification, but everything with humble subjection to God."; Church Dogmatics 4.2, translated by G. W. Bromily (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1958), 377.