The deification of man

This article by Georges I. Mantzaridis, professor of theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, deals with the Orthodox doctrine of the deification of man. It is a theological and anthropological study drawing on patristic sources — Athanasius the Great, Maximus the Confessor, Gregory Palamas, Symeon the New Theologian — to systematically expound the foundation, conditions, and stages of deification. The central idea is that the human aspiration toward the infinite, far from being a paradox, finds its fulfillment in participation in the divine life made possible by the Incarnation of Christ. Deification, a gift of uncreated grace and not an autonomous achievement, requires humility, moral purification, and ecclesial life. The article makes a notable theological contribution by articulating the personal and Trinitarian dimension of deification, while critiquing modern forms of collective self-deification as a negation of the human person.