Jonathan Edwards and the Polemics of<i>Theosis</i>

Strobel, Kyle

doi:10.1017/s0017816012000107

H. Theolo. Review

2012

DOI: 10.1017/s0017816012000107

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Jonathan Edwards and the Polemics ofTheosis

Kyle Strobel¹

Abstract: One of the more intriguing developments in Protestant theology over the past several decades has been the increasing interest in recovering a doctrine of theosis (or deification) for the contemporary church.1 In nearly every branch of the Protestant tree, theologians are making a case for theosis as integral to their theological tradition. There are proposed projects for Lutheran,2 Wesleyan,3 Reformed,4 and distinctively Evangelical5 accounts of theosis, all of which attempt to ground theosis within the overar… Show more

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Cited by 6 publications

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Jonathan Edwards's Reformed Doctrine of Theosis

Strobel

2016

H. Theolo. Review

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Amid a scholarly rediscovery of Protestant forms of theosis, questions of whether Jonathan Edwards developed a theotic account of redemption have received increased attention. Ironically, however, interest in Edwards's doctrine of theosis has emphasized the philosophical rather than the theological bases in ways that seem to set him outside the boundaries of Reformed orthodoxy. Yet if we shift our attention away from the neo-Platonic explanations of Edwardsian theosis and place it instead where Edwards himself focused—on the communicable nature of the triune God within the economy—we see that his notions of theosis rest on firmly Protestant foundations and result in recognizably Reformed conclusions. But to say that attention to Edwards's trinitarian and incarnational theology reveals an orthodox form of theosis is not to say that his theotic soteriology lacked distinctive and even innovative elements. Unlike other theologians whose accounts of theosis bifurcated God's communicable nature from the creatures’ relational participation among the divine persons, Edwards's theology made room for and insisted on both.

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Jonathan Edwards's Reformed Doctrine of Theosis

Strobel

2016

H. Theolo. Review

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Essence and fullness: Evaluating the creator–creature distinction in Jonathan Edwards

Salladin¹

2017

SJT

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Soteriological participation in God, variously termed theosis, divinisation or deification commands widespread interest across the spectrum of Christian theology. A key difficulty is how to maintain the creator–creature distinction, while bridging it to gain intimacy. Jonathan Edwards provides a Reformed perspective on this conversation, by way of his distinction between the incommunicable divine essence and the communicable divine fullness. This article clarifies this distinction by evaluating its coherence and exploring whether it divorces God's immanent and economic life. It argues that distinguishing two forms of participation – methexis verses koinonia – clarifies coherence and shows that it does not divide God's being from act.

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‘Draw me after you’: Toward an erotic theosis

Davis

2023

SJT

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In this article I propose an erotic theosis as a fruitful possibility for conceptualising our final participation in union with God in the beatific vision and for imaging said participation on earth. Particularly, I propose a synthesis of recent work from Oliver Crisp on theosis with that of Sarah Coakley on sexual desire as an especially helpful way in which to conceive of our ever-deepening participation in God's love. Further, this synthesis uses contributions from Erin Dufault-Hunter on the intersections of sexual desire and ethics as a catalyst for its recommendations.

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Jonathan Edwards and the Polemics ofTheosis

Cited by 6 publications

References 10 publications

Jonathan Edwards's Reformed Doctrine of Theosis

Jonathan Edwards's Reformed Doctrine of Theosis

Essence and fullness: Evaluating the creator–creature distinction in Jonathan Edwards

‘Draw me after you’: Toward an erotic theosis

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