Deification was not only a pagan concept but a metaphor for a deeply Christian view of the purpose of human life. Norman Russell brings together much recent research on the Church Fathers from the second to the seventh centuries, offering an analysis of their spiritual teaching and setting it within the context of the times. Abbreviations xiii 1 Introduction 1(15) 1. The Metaphor of Deification 1(2) 2. The Need for the Study 3(4) 3. Scope and Method 7(2) 4. Overview 9(7) 2 Deification in the Graeco-Roman World 16(37) 1. The Origins of Deification 16(7) 2. The Ruler-Cult 3. Jewish and Christian Attitudes to the Ruler-Cult 23(3) 4. The Democratization of the Ruler's Apotheosis 26(2) 5. The Mystery Cults 28(6) 6. Philosophical Religion 34(10) 7. The Egyptian Hermetists 44(6) 8. Interaction with Christianity 50(3) 3 The Jewish Paradigm: From Ezekiel to the yored merkavah 53(26) 1. Ancient Israel 53(2) 2. The Impact of Hellenism 55(10) 3. Palestinian Judaism 65(6) 4. The Rabbinic Tradition 71(5) 5. Influence on Christianity 76(3) 4 The Earliest Christian Model: Participatory Union with Christ 79(36) 1. Pauline Christianity 79(6) 2. Jewish Christianity 85(2) 3. Johannine Christianity 87(2) 4. Ignatius of Antioch 89(3) 5. Valentinian Christianity 92(4) 6. Justin Martyr 96(5) 7. Two Anonymous Contemporaries 101(1) 8. Tatian 102(1) 9. Theophilus of Antioch 103(2) 10. Irenaeus of Lyons 105(5) 11. Hippolytus of Rome 110(2) 12. The Early Christian Approach to Deification 112(3) 5 The Alexandrian Tradition I: Christian Schools and Study Circles 115(49) 1. Alexandrian Christianity 115(4) 2. The School of Basilides 119(1) 3. The School of Pantaenus 120(1) 4. Clement of Alexandria 121(19) 5. Origen 140(14) 6. Didymus the Blind 154(7) 7. The Alexandrian Concept of Deification 161(3) 6 The Alexandrian Tradition II: The Imposition of Episcopal Control 164(42) 1. The Eclipse of the Independent Teacher 164(2) 2. Athanasius 166(22) 3. Apollinarius of Laodicea 188(3) 4. Cyril of Alexandria 191(13) 5. The Legacy of Alexandria 204(2) 7 The Cappadocian Approach: Divine Transcendence and the Soul's Ascent 206(29) 1. Basil of Caesarea 206(7) 2. Gregory of Nazianzus 213(12) 3. Gregory of Nyssa 225(7) 4. The Cappadocian Achievement 232(3) 8 The Monastic Synthesis: The Achievement of Maximus the Confessor 235(61) 1. Evagrius Ponticus 238(3) 2. The Macarian writings 241(5) 3. Diadochus of Photice 246(2) 4. Dionysius the Areopagite 248(14) 5. Maximus the Confessor 262(34) 9 Epilogue 296(25) 1. Leontius of Jerusalem 296(3) 2. John Damascene 299(2) 3. Symeon the New Theologian 301(3) 4. Gregory Palamas 304(5) 5. The Dissemination of Hesychast Spirituality 309(3) 6. Modern Approaches to Deification 312(9) Appendix 1 Deification in the Syriac and Latin Traditions 321(12) Appendix 2 The Greek Vocabulary of Deification 333(12) Bibliography 345(36) Indexes 381