The one Christ
Subtitle: St. Augustine's theology of deification
By: David Vincent Meconi, SJ
Publisher: Catholic University of America Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Washington, D.C
Language: eng
Number of pages: 280
ISBN-13: 9780813221274; 9780813221281; 9780813231167
Subjects: History of doctrines; Deification (Christianity)
Other titles: St. Augustine's theology of deification; Saint Augustine's theology of deification
Description: "Provocative passages on deification abound in St. Augustine of Hippo. He relies on the term 'deification' far more than other Latin fathers do. Even more important, the realilty of the deified life runs throughout every major aspect of Augustine's presentation of Christianity. By tracing how deification and realted metaphors appear throghout Augustine's writing, David Vincent Meconi corrects generations of faulty reading on this crucial patristic theme. For Augustine, the Christian life is essentially an incorporation of the elect into the very person of Christ, forming his mystical body inchoately now in via and perfectly in patria. This is the 'whole Christ, ' the totus Christus, where Christ and Christian become one through the charity of the Holy Spirit and the church's sacraments that elevate and enable men and women to participate in God's own ife. This work opens by showing how the metaphysics of deification are set in principio, as all creation is an imitation of the Logos. Among all creatures, though, the human person alone bears the imago Dei, and emerges as the one called to appropriate God's life freely. For this purpose, the Son becomes human. By treating Augustine's passages on deification both chronologically and constructively, Meconi situates Augustine in a long chorus of Christian pastors and theologians who understand the essence of Christianity as the human person's total and transformative union with God."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-260) and indexes.
Table of contents: title: Creation as the unifying prologue; title: Made to be Godly : the divine image bestowed and broken; title: The Son's descent; title: The Holy Spirit's indwelling; title: Ecclesial reception of the divine life; title: Conclusion.