In this review article of The Oxford Handbook of Deification, I argue that our understanding of deification is determined, ultimately, not by empirical markers but by divine revelation: The question is whether or not a particular theology offers a faithful and true rendering of our final end. By offering some of my own thoughts on deification in dialogue with the authors of the Handbook, I make clear why a proper understanding of what deification is requires the essence-energies distinction. Only by accepting this traditional, patristic distinction can deification be properly participatory in character.
Thank you for sharing/writing this! A cursory read through brought me back to grad school & my dissertation on deification/theosis - you interacted with many of my interlocutors, and much more concisely ;) I’ll be coming back to this in my free time to engage your points some more!
I think your emphasis on participation is exactly right, but I also think the difficulty you’re addressing arises from treating participation as something added to already existing beings.
Instead, if to exist at all is already to participate in God, then deification is not about gaining access to God, but about the transformation of that participation. The issue is no longer whether we participate in the divine essence or energies, but the degree to which our participation is coherent with the life of God.
Seen this way, the essence–energies distinction is no longer necessary as it is a way of preserving participation within a substance-based framework that has already assumed separation. The essence–energies distinction is a solution to a problem created by the framework itself.