The Deification of Man: St Gregory Palamas and the Orthodox Tradition
Overview
Focusing on the “new man” in Christ, this study sets forth the theological and anthropological basis for the doctrine of deification as expounded by St. Gregory Palamas (1296–1359), the greatest theologian of the later Byzantine period. Georgios I. Mantzaridis explains that for Palamas and the Fathers, the term “spiritual” does not denote an abstraction, but characterizes the new man, born through the regenerative grace of the Holy Spirit. As the man is called rational who is endowed with reason, so the man who is enriched by the grace of the Holy Spirit is described as spiritual. This grace constitutes the chief aspect of the existence of the spiritual man, and it bestows on him true life. By exploring the sacramental, ecclesiological, and moral implications of deification in Palamas’ works, Mantzaridis relates this essential theological concept in a concrete way to the life of each person in the Church.
Top Highlights
“He owes his life to the goodwill and the providence of his Creator, and the latter’s guidance and protection enable him to fulfil his exalted destiny. Without Him, man’s existence is devoid of all meaning. The meaning of life and the goal of human existence can be found only through proximity to God and His grace. Man does not reign supreme on earth, neither does he himself confer meaning upon his own existence: this was conferred on him as a gift by God when He created man in His image and granted him the power of individual development and perfection. From the moment of his creation, man strives to approach his archetype, God, and so to be deified.21 This movement of man from ‘image’ to archetype is generally expressed in the Fathers by the phrase from Scripture ‘after His likeness.’” (Pages 20–21)
“Palamas upholds a ‘synthetic’ view of the human person, regarding man as an integral unity of the physical and the spiritual: the divine image in man involves his body as well as his soul, and precisely because he has a body man stands not lower but higher than the angels; the body as well as the soul is called to share in the eschatological vision of the divine light.” (Page 9)
“Thus the ‘physical’ view of deification developed by the Greek Fathers and by Palamas does not imply any mechanical commutation of humanity,67 but an ontological regeneration of human nature in the hypostasis of the incarnate Logos of God, accessible to every man who participates personally and freely in the life of Christ.” (Page 31)
“How then is it possible for the naked in soul not to feel anything when he puts on God? If, however, he does not in fact feel anything, then there exist two possible explanations: either God does not exist, or else the man who puts Him on is insensate, that is, dead.” (Page 49)
- Title: The Deification of Man: St Gregory Palamas and the Orthodox Tradition
- Author: Georgios I. Mantzaridis
- Series: Contemporary Greek Theologians
- Volume: Two
- Publisher: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press
- Print Publication Date: 1984
- Logos Release Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Perfection › History of doctrines--Middle Ages 600-1500; Gregory Palamas, Saint, 1296-1359; Orthodox Eastern Church › Doctrines--History; Salvation › History of doctrines--Middle Ages 600-1500; Grace (Theology) › History of doctrines--Middle Ages 600-1500
- ISBNs: 9780881410273, 0881410276
- Resource ID: LLS:DEIFICATIONOFMAN
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T19:34:56Z