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TheÅsis: Divinisation in Gregory of Nazianzus
Series: - Vigiliae Christianae, Supplements, Volume: 192
Volume Editors:
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How did a precarious âsea voyageâ of faith lead to the first explicit definition of theÅsis? This volume invites readers to trace the development of human divinisation through the thought of Gregory of Nazianzus. Moving beyond the well-trodden paths of Gregory of Nyssa, it fills a critical gap by offering the first systematic investigation of the Nazianzenâs cryptic yet profoundly transformative theology. Readers will discover how Gregory reshapes the philosophical ideal of âassimilation to Godâ into a radical Christological union, transfigured through baptism. From its assonances in imperial Platonism to its nuanced reception in Syriac and Byzantine traditions, the contributionsâby an international group of specialists in Greek and Syriac literatureâilluminate the dogmatic core of the Cappadocian legacy. For those seeking to understand how humanity âbecomes godâ without forfeiting its nature, this volume offers an essential guide.
Contributors are: Notker Baumann; Gianmario Cattaneo; Carlo dellâOsso; Maria Carmen De Vita; Volker Henning Drecoll; Charles-Antoine Fogielman; Alfons Fürst; Jens Marius Gehri; Georgiana Huian; Nikolai Kiel; Ernesto Sergio Mainoldi; Giulio Maspero; Claudio Moreschini; Sébastien Morlet; Giuseppe Nardiello; Alberto Nigra; Matteo Poiani; Antonio Stefano Sembiante; Francesco Vanoni; Ilaria Vigorelli.
Contributors are: Notker Baumann; Gianmario Cattaneo; Carlo dellâOsso; Maria Carmen De Vita; Volker Henning Drecoll; Charles-Antoine Fogielman; Alfons Fürst; Jens Marius Gehri; Georgiana Huian; Nikolai Kiel; Ernesto Sergio Mainoldi; Giulio Maspero; Claudio Moreschini; Sébastien Morlet; Giuseppe Nardiello; Alberto Nigra; Matteo Poiani; Antonio Stefano Sembiante; Francesco Vanoni; Ilaria Vigorelli.
Notker Baumann (1975), Ph.D., University of Erfurt; Professor of Ancient Church History, Patrology, and Christian Archaeology at that university; doctorate at the Pontificium Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, Rome; habilitation at University of Würzburg.
Jens Marius Gehri (1995), M.Ed., University of Erfurt, is a research assistant at the Chair of Patrology. As part of his doctoral thesis, he is compiling a critical edition of Gregory Nazianzenâs Dogmatic Poems with commentary and German translation.
Alberto Nigra (1988), Ph.D., Theological Faculty of Northern Italy, Section of Turin; Professor of Patrology, Ancient Church History, and Biblical Greek; doctorate at the Pontificium Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, Rome. His main area of interest is patristic Christology (4th-8th centuries).
Antonio Stefano Sembiante (1989), Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at Italian Institute for Ancient History (Rome). He studies Late Antique Greek literature and Syriac translations from Greek. He edited the Syriac translation of Plutarchâs De cohibenda ira (Peeters 2025) and translated into Italian Gregory of Nyssa's Antirrheticus (Morcelliana 2026).
Francesco Vanoni (1998), Ph.D., University of Genoa and EPHE Paris, with a dissertation on the critical edition of Nicephorus, Antirrhetici IâII. His research focuses on late-antique and Byzantine patristic texts and manuscripts, with particular attention to philology, transmission, and doctrinal controversy.
Matteo Raterio Poiani (b. 1995), Ph.D., is a member of the Benedictine community of Praglia Abbey (Padua). His research focuses on Evagrius and his reception in Latin and Syriac traditions, especially among East Syriac mystics, and on fifth-century Syriac poetry (Cyrillona and Isaac of Antioch).
Jens Marius Gehri (1995), M.Ed., University of Erfurt, is a research assistant at the Chair of Patrology. As part of his doctoral thesis, he is compiling a critical edition of Gregory Nazianzenâs Dogmatic Poems with commentary and German translation.
Alberto Nigra (1988), Ph.D., Theological Faculty of Northern Italy, Section of Turin; Professor of Patrology, Ancient Church History, and Biblical Greek; doctorate at the Pontificium Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, Rome. His main area of interest is patristic Christology (4th-8th centuries).
Antonio Stefano Sembiante (1989), Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at Italian Institute for Ancient History (Rome). He studies Late Antique Greek literature and Syriac translations from Greek. He edited the Syriac translation of Plutarchâs De cohibenda ira (Peeters 2025) and translated into Italian Gregory of Nyssa's Antirrheticus (Morcelliana 2026).
Francesco Vanoni (1998), Ph.D., University of Genoa and EPHE Paris, with a dissertation on the critical edition of Nicephorus, Antirrhetici IâII. His research focuses on late-antique and Byzantine patristic texts and manuscripts, with particular attention to philology, transmission, and doctrinal controversy.
Matteo Raterio Poiani (b. 1995), Ph.D., is a member of the Benedictine community of Praglia Abbey (Padua). His research focuses on Evagrius and his reception in Latin and Syriac traditions, especially among East Syriac mystics, and on fifth-century Syriac poetry (Cyrillona and Isaac of Antioch).
Abbreviations
âIntroduction
Part 1 Prodromes: Neoplatonism and Greek Patristics of 4th Century
1 «âDevenir Dieuâ»â: la transformation dâune vieille aspiration de la pensée grecque, de lâépoque classique à lâAntiquité tardive (avant Grégoire de Nazianze)
âSébastien Morlet
2 The Ethical Concept of Deification in Origen of Alexandria
âAlfons Fürst
3 Divinisation as Union in Athanasiusâ Anti-Arian Terminology
âIlaria Vigorelli
4 Deification, Pneumatology and Ascent in Basil of Caesarea
âVolker Henning Drecoll
5 Vergöttlichung bei Gregor von Nyssa
âNikolai Kiel
â6âAgainst Julian the Apostate: Gregoryâs Misinterpretation of the Neoplatonic Doctrine of homoiÅsis theÅi âMaria Carmen De Vita
Part 2 Gregory of Nazianzus: Examination of Texts
â7âThe κÎνÏÏÎ¹Ï of Christ as Foundation of Manâs θÎÏÏιÏ: Divine Existence of Son as Measure of Human Divinisation in Gregory Nazianzenâs Five Theological Orations âFrancesco Vanoni
â8âThe Divinity of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as a Prerequisite for Human TheÅsis in the Epiphany Discourses of Gregory of Nazianzus (or. 38â40)
âNotker Baumann
â9âÎεὸν γενÎÏθαι. Zur Vergöttlichungslehre (θÎÏÏιÏ) in den Carmina Arcana des Gregor von Nazianz
âAntonio Stefano Sembiante
â10âá¼Î³á½·Î³Î½ÎµÏâ á¼Î½Î¸ÏÏÏÎ¿Ï ÎεÏÏ, ÎÎµá½¸Ï Ïελεá¿Ïâ á¼Î½Î¸ÏÏÏοÏ. Idiomenkommunikation als Schlüssel zur Theosis im antiapollinarischen Gedicht Gregors von Nazianz (carm. 1.1.10)
âJens Marius Gehri
11 âPossessing God and being Godâs Possession:â oikeiÅsis, anabasis, theÅsis in Gregoryâs Letters âGianmario Cattaneo
Part 3 Gregory of Nazianzus: Philosophical and Theological Topics
â12âGregory of Nazianzus: the Shaping of Theosis Over the Stamp of Neoplatonism
âGeorgiana Huian
â13âRelational TheÅsis: the Trinitarian Foundations of Divinisation in Gregory of Nazianzus
âGiulio Maspero
14 Christ Divinising and Divinised: Christological Roots of Divinisation (θÎÏÏιÏ) in Gregory of Nazianzus
âAlberto Nigra
15 La divinizzazione come ascesi e come spiritualizzazione dellâuomo
âClaudio Moreschini
Part 4 The Reception of Gregory of Nazianzus
16 ÎÎÏÏÎ¹Ï through ÏÏακÏική: Evagriusâ Debt to Gregory
âCharles-Antoine Fogielman
17 Theosis Relaunched: Dionysius and the Dissemination of Gregory of Nazianzusâ Teaching on Divinisation and Anagogy
âErnesto Sergio Mainoldi
18 Divinisation as the Ascetic Progress of the Faithful: Traces of Gregory of Nazianzusâ Anthropology in Maximus the Confessor
âCarlo dellâOsso
â19âMichael Psellosâ Theologica: Exegesis on Gregory of Nazianzusâ Doctrine of θÎÏÏιÏ
âGiuseppe Nardiello
20 A Look to the East: Some Echoes of Nazianzen in East-Syriac Theology
âMatteo Poiani
Scriptural Index
Index of Ancient Sources
Index of Modern Name
âIntroduction
Part 1 Prodromes: Neoplatonism and Greek Patristics of 4th Century
1 «âDevenir Dieuâ»â: la transformation dâune vieille aspiration de la pensée grecque, de lâépoque classique à lâAntiquité tardive (avant Grégoire de Nazianze)
âSébastien Morlet
2 The Ethical Concept of Deification in Origen of Alexandria
âAlfons Fürst
3 Divinisation as Union in Athanasiusâ Anti-Arian Terminology
âIlaria Vigorelli
4 Deification, Pneumatology and Ascent in Basil of Caesarea
âVolker Henning Drecoll
5 Vergöttlichung bei Gregor von Nyssa
âNikolai Kiel
â6âAgainst Julian the Apostate: Gregoryâs Misinterpretation of the Neoplatonic Doctrine of homoiÅsis theÅi âMaria Carmen De Vita
Part 2 Gregory of Nazianzus: Examination of Texts
â7âThe κÎνÏÏÎ¹Ï of Christ as Foundation of Manâs θÎÏÏιÏ: Divine Existence of Son as Measure of Human Divinisation in Gregory Nazianzenâs Five Theological Orations âFrancesco Vanoni
â8âThe Divinity of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as a Prerequisite for Human TheÅsis in the Epiphany Discourses of Gregory of Nazianzus (or. 38â40)
âNotker Baumann
â9âÎεὸν γενÎÏθαι. Zur Vergöttlichungslehre (θÎÏÏιÏ) in den Carmina Arcana des Gregor von Nazianz
âAntonio Stefano Sembiante
â10âá¼Î³á½·Î³Î½ÎµÏâ á¼Î½Î¸ÏÏÏÎ¿Ï ÎεÏÏ, ÎÎµá½¸Ï Ïελεá¿Ïâ á¼Î½Î¸ÏÏÏοÏ. Idiomenkommunikation als Schlüssel zur Theosis im antiapollinarischen Gedicht Gregors von Nazianz (carm. 1.1.10)
âJens Marius Gehri
11 âPossessing God and being Godâs Possession:â oikeiÅsis, anabasis, theÅsis in Gregoryâs Letters âGianmario Cattaneo
Part 3 Gregory of Nazianzus: Philosophical and Theological Topics
â12âGregory of Nazianzus: the Shaping of Theosis Over the Stamp of Neoplatonism
âGeorgiana Huian
â13âRelational TheÅsis: the Trinitarian Foundations of Divinisation in Gregory of Nazianzus
âGiulio Maspero
14 Christ Divinising and Divinised: Christological Roots of Divinisation (θÎÏÏιÏ) in Gregory of Nazianzus
âAlberto Nigra
15 La divinizzazione come ascesi e come spiritualizzazione dellâuomo
âClaudio Moreschini
Part 4 The Reception of Gregory of Nazianzus
16 ÎÎÏÏÎ¹Ï through ÏÏακÏική: Evagriusâ Debt to Gregory
âCharles-Antoine Fogielman
17 Theosis Relaunched: Dionysius and the Dissemination of Gregory of Nazianzusâ Teaching on Divinisation and Anagogy
âErnesto Sergio Mainoldi
18 Divinisation as the Ascetic Progress of the Faithful: Traces of Gregory of Nazianzusâ Anthropology in Maximus the Confessor
âCarlo dellâOsso
â19âMichael Psellosâ Theologica: Exegesis on Gregory of Nazianzusâ Doctrine of θÎÏÏιÏ
âGiuseppe Nardiello
20 A Look to the East: Some Echoes of Nazianzen in East-Syriac Theology
âMatteo Poiani
Scriptural Index
Index of Ancient Sources
Index of Modern Name
This volume targets scholars and students of Patristics, Late Antique philosophy and theology, Greek and Byzantine literature, specifically those researching the Cappadocian Fathers, Syriac and Byzantine reception, and the history of doctrine.