Deification in Aquinas and Palamas

233 Pages·2012·16.16 MB·English

THE GROUND OF UNION
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THE
GROUND
OF
UNION
Deification in Aquinas and Palamas
A. N. WILLIAMS
New York » Oxford
Oxford University Press
1999
Oxford University Press
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Copyright © 1999 by A. N. Williams
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Williams, A, N. (Anna Ngaire)
The ground of union : deification in Aquinas
and Palamas / A. N. Williams.
p. crn.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-512436-7
1. Deification (Christianity)—History of doctrines—Middle Ages,
600-1500. 2. Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?–1274—Contributions in
doctrine of deification. 3. Gregory Palamas, Saint, 1296-1359—
Contributions in doctrine of deification. I. Title.
BT767.8.W55 1999
234—dc21 98-22520
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To the memory of
Francis Clive Williams
23.vii.26-19. v. 79
Ja la vostre anme nen ait sufraite!
De parei's li seit la porte uverte!
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many people supplied erudition and support during the writing of this work; my debts
are too numerous to catalogue other than selectively. Chief among them are to those
who commented on the manuscript in its earlier version as a dissertation: Rowan Greer,
David Kelsey and Cyril O'Regan. The director of the dissertation, George Lindbeck, de-
serves an additional vote of thanks for his tirelessness in forming in charity a student
notable for her obstinacy. I am grateful to Christopher Wells for the index; for compan-
ionship and support, my thanks go to Inger and Benjamin Brodey, Cathy Kaveny and
above all my husband, Dale Gingrich, and to Merlin and Madeleine, who placed the feline
seat of approval on almost all the pages.
feast of the Holy Name, 19 97 A. N. W.
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CONTENTS
1
The Problem and Its History 3
AQUINAS
2
The God to Whom We Are Likened 34
3
The Manner of Our Likening 65
PALAMAS
4
Images of Deification 102
5
Theosis as Constituent of the Doctrine of God 128
6
Conclusion 157
Notes 177
Bibliography 203
Index 213