Fr. Andrew Hofer, OP, discusses St. Thomas Aquinas' teachings on deification, exploring how humans can comprehend God's essence, the role of Christ in divinization, the progression from grace to glory, and the distinctions between God and human nature.
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Deification Is A Radical Christian Claim
Deification means Christians are offered a radically new life by participating in the divine nature through grace.
Andrew Hofer situates recent scholarly revival of deification around 2 Peter 1:4, patristic sources, and Thomistic appropriation with wide contemporary interest.
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Three Pillars That Define Christian Theosis
Authentic Christian deification rests on three pillars: Trinity and Incarnation, Holy Spirit and the Church, and eternal worshipful union.
Hofer argues every genuine form of theosis must affirm the Trinity, Christ's human divinization, and communal sacramental transformation.
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Who God Is Determines True Deification
For Aquinas, getting 'who God is' right is essential because deification means becoming like that God.
He contrasts pagan deification (becoming like Zeus) with Christian deification grounded in the one divine essence (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).
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This lecture was given at the University of Oxford on 21 November 2019.
The Hand Out for this lecture can be accessed here: tinyurl.com/r5t948s
Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., grew up as the youngest of ten children on a farm in Kansas, and studied history, philosophy, and classics at Benedictine College. He then went to St Andrews, Scotland for a Master of Letters in medieval history. He entered the Order of Preachers as a son of the Province of St. Joseph, and was ordained a priest in 2002. After finishing his S.T.L. and serving as an associate pastor for a brief time, he was sent to Kenya as a missionary for two years. He taught at the Tangaza College of The Catholic University of Eastern Africa and other institutions in Nairobi. He returned to the U.S. and completed the Ph.D. in theology at the University of Notre Dame, with the primary area of history of Christianity (specializing in patristic theology with additional studies in medieval theology) and the secondary area of systematic theology. His research appears in such journals as Vigiliae Christianae, Augustinianum, International Journal of Systematic Theology, New Blackfriars, Nova et Vetera, Pro Ecclesia, The Thomist, Communio, and Angelicum and in books published by Catholic University America Press and Ignatius Press. He is the author of Christ in the Life and Teaching of Gregory of Nazianzus (Oxford Early Christian Studies), Oxford University Press, 2013, and the editor of Divinization: Becoming Icons of Christ through the Liturgy, Hillenbrand Books, 2015.
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