Gerald P Bonner Augustine Participation
Gerald P Bonner Augustine Participation
Gerald P Bonner Augustine Participation
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Journal of Theological Studies
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AUGUSTINE'S CONCEPTION OF
DEIFICATION
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370 GERALD BONNER
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AUGUSTINE'S CONCEPTION OF DEIFICATION 371
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372 GERALD BONNER
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AUGUSTINE'S CONCEPTION OF DEIFICATION 373
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374 GERALD BONNER
Again, and more succinctly, in his first sermon on Ps. 58, he says:
The teacher of humility and sharer of our infirmity, giving us participation
of His divinity, coming down that He might both teach and be the Way, has
deigned most highly to commend His humility to us.21
In this phase: 'the sharer (particeps) of our infirmity, giving us
participation of His divinity', we can see the manner in which
Augustine conceives of deification: it comes about, not because the
human soul is naturally divine (which is impossible because of its
creaturely status), nor even because it is made in the image and
likeness of God (though this gives man a special place in creation,
above the level of the beasts), but because God has taken our
humanity into Himself: . . the Word was made flesh through the
assuming of flesh by divinity, not by the conversion of divinity into
flesh.'22 This had, as G. B. Ladner has pointed out, profound
consequences for the Christian doctrine of man: 'If God really was
crucified as man, man could never again be quite the same',23 for by
taking upon Himself man's sin, and by participating in man's penal
suffering, which did not pertain to sinless manhood, God joined
humanity to His nature in a degree—if we may employ a theological
hyperbole—which went beyond the hypostatic union. Thus it
comes about that the crucified God becomes peculiarly the object
20 In Iohannis Evang. Tr. 23. 5: 'Dominus Iesus . . . insinuavit nobis animam
humanamhumanam et mentem rationalem, quae inest homini, non inest pecori, non vegetari,
non beatificari, non illuminari, nisi ab ipsa substantia Dei; . . . beatitudinem tamen
eius qua fit beata ipsa anima, non fieri nisi participatione illius vitae semper vivae,
incommutabilis aeternamque substantiae, quae Deus est. . . . Haec est religio
Christiana, ut colatur unus Deus, non multi dii; quia non facit animam beatam nisi
unus Deus. Participatione Dei fit beata. Non participatione sanctae animae fit beata
infirma anima, nec participatione angeli fit beata sancta anima; sed si quaerit beata
esse infirma anima, quaerat unde beata sit sancta anima. Non enim beatus efficeris ex
angelo tu; sed unde angelus, inde et tu. (6) His praemissis atque firmissime con
stitutis, animam rationalem non beatificari nisi a Deo, corpus non vegetari nisi per
animam, atque esse quamdam medietatem inter Deum et corpus, animam; intendite
et recolite mecum... et pro viribus fodimus, donee ad petram perveniamus. Verbum
Christus, Verbum Dei Christus apud Deum, Verbum Christus et Deus Verbum,
Christus et Deus et Verbum unus Deus . . .; sed non tantum Verbum Christus, sed
Verbum Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis; ergo et Verbum et caro Christus.' CCSL
xxxvi. 235-6.
21 Enar. in Ps. 58, s. 1.7: 'Doctor autem humilitatis, particeps nostrae infirmitatis,
donans participationem suae divinitatis, ad hoc descendens ut viam doceret et via
fieret, maxime suam humilitatem nobis commendare dignatus est.' CCSL xxxix. 734.
22 Ench. x. 34. Β A 9. 166. 23 Ladner, The Idea of Reform, p. 154.
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AUGUSTINE'S CONCEPTION OF DEIFICATION 375
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376 GERALD BONNER
We are not divine by nature; by nature we are men, and through sin we are
not righteous men. And so God, being made a righteous man, interceded
with God for man who is a sinner. The sinner has nothing in common with
the Righteous One, but man has humanity in common with man. There
fore joining to us the likeness of His humanity, He took away the unlikeness
of our iniquity, and being made a sharer (particeps) of our mortality, He
made us sharers of His divinity.34
29 De Civ. Dei x. 6.
30 Serm. igz. i. 1: 'Deos facturus qui homines erant, homo factus est qui Deus
erat.' PL xxxviii. 1012.
31 Irenaeus, Adv. Haereses v, Praef.: . . . τω Λόγω Θεού יΙησού Χριστώ τω Κυρίω
ημών,ημών, τω δια την ύπερβάλλουσαν αυτού άγάττην γ€γονότι τούτο όπερ εσμεν, ίνα ημάς είναι
καταρτώηκαταρτώη εκείνο οπερ εστίν αυτός. Lat. *. . . Verbum Dei Iesum Christum Dominum
nostrum, qui propter immensam suam dilectionem factus est quod sumus nos, uti
nos perficeret esse quod est ipse.' SC 153. 14.
32 Athanasius, De Incarnatione 54. 3: Αυτός γαρ ενηνθρώττησεν, ίνα ημείς θεοττοιη
θώμεν.θώμεν. PGxxvii. 192 Β. 33 Capanaga, art. cit., p. 746 η. 4.
34 De Trin. IV. ii. 4: 'Deus enim natura non sumus; homines natura sumus; iusti
peccato non sumus. Deus itaque factus homo iustus intercessit deo pro homine
peccatore. Non enim congruit peccator iusto, sed congruit homini homo. Adiungens
ergo nobis similitudinem humanitatis suae abstulit dissimilitudinem iniquitatis
nostrae, et factus particeps mortalitatis nostrae fecit nos participes divinitatis suae.'
CCSL I.164.
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AUGUSTINE'S CONCEPTION OF DEIFICATION 377
2. That we might receive the adoption, says the Apostle, of sons. He says
adoption adoption for this reason, that we may clearly understand the Son of God to
be the only Son. For we are sons of God by the favour and esteem of His
mercy; but He is by nature the Son, who is what the Father is. Nor does he
say that we might accept but that we might receive, to signify that we have lost
this sonship in Adam, from whom we are mortals. . . . Hence we receive
adoption because He, the Only-Begotten, has not disdained to participate
in our nature, having been made out of woman, that He should not only be
the Only-Begotten where He has no brethren, but also be made the First
Begotten of many brethren.36
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378 GERALD BONNER
3. I have said, Ye are gods; and ye are all the children of the most Highest.
But But ye shall die like men: and fall like one of the princes. It is clear that He
calls men gods through their being deified by His grace and not born of His
substance. For He justifies, who is just of Himself and not of another; and
He deifies, who is God of Himself and not by participation in another. Now
He who justifies, Himself deifies, because by justifying He makes sons of
God. For to them gave He power to become the sons of God. If we are made
sons sons of God, we are also made gods; but this is done by grace of adoption, and
not by generation.39
and again:
Therefore if He Himself is the Selfsame and cannot in any way be changed,
by participating in His divinity we too shall be made immortal in eternal
life; and this pledge has been given to us by the Son of God . . . that before
38 CCSLxxxvi. 1ך.
39 Enar. in Ps. 49. i. 2: 'Ego dixi: Dii estis, etfilii Excelsi omnes; vos autem ut homines
moriemini,moriemini, et sicutunus exprincipibus cadetis. Manifestum est ergo, quia homines dixit
deos, ex gratia sua deificatos, non de substantia sua natos. Ille enim iustificat, qui per
semetipsum non ex alio iustus est; et ille deificat, qui per seipsum non alterius
participatione Deus est. Qui autem iustificat, ipse deificat, quia iustificando, filios
Dei facit. Dedit enim eis potestatem filios Dei fieri. Si filii Dei facti sumus, et dii facti
sumus; sed hoc gratiae est adoptantis non naturae generantis.' CCSL xxxviii. 575-6.
40 Serm. 166. iv. 4: 'Deus enim deum te vult facere: non natura, sicut est ille quern
genuit; sed dono suo et adoptione. Sicut enim ille per humanitatem factus est
particeps mortalitatis tuae; sic te per exaltationem facit participem immortalitatis
suae.' PL xxxviii. 909.
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AUGUSTINE'S CONCEPTION OF DEIFICATION 379
If the word (sermo) of God was so made to men that they should be called
gods, how can the Word (verbum) of God Himself, who is with God, not be
God? If men are made gods by the word of God (per sermonem Dei), if by
participating (participando) they are made gods, is not He in whom they
participate not God? If lights which are kindled are gods, is the light which
enlightens not God? If they are made gods being warmed in a certain
fashion by the saving fire, is He by whom they are warmed not God? You
come to the light and are illuminated and numbered among the sons of
God. If you draw back from the light you are darkened and reckoned to be
in darkness. But that light does not come to Itself, because it does not draw
back from itself. If therefore the word (sermo) of God makes you gods, how
is the Word (verbum) of God not God?42
41 Enar. in Ps. 146. v. 11: 'Igitur si ipse idem ipse est, et mutari ex nulla parte
potest; participando eius divinitatem erimus et nos immortales in vitam aeternam.
Et hoc nobis pignus datum est de Filio Dei, quod iam dixi Sanctitati vestrae, ut
antequamantequam efficeremur participes immortalitatis ipsius, fieret ipse prius particeps
mortalitatis nostrae. Sicut autem ille mortalis, non de sua substantia, sed de nostra,
sic nos immortales, non de nostra substantia, sed de ipsius.' CCSL xl. 2130.
42 In 10. Ev. Tr. 48.9: 'Si sermo Dei factus est ad homines ut dicerentur dii, ipsum
Verbum Dei quod est apud Deum, quomodo non est Deus? Si per sermonem Dei
hunt homines dii, si participando hunt dii, unde participant non est Deus? Si lumina
illuminata dii sunt, lumen quod illuminat non est Deus? Si calefacti quodammodo
igne salutari dii efficiuntur, unde calefiunt non est Deus? Accedis ad lumen et
illuminaris, et inter filios Dei numeraris; si recedis a lumine, obscuraris, et in
tenebris computaris; illud tamen lumen nec accedit ad se, quia non recedit a se. Si
ergo vos deos facit sermo Dei, quomodo non est Deus Verbum Dei?' CCSL xxxvi.
417-18.
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380 GERALD BONNER
5. Putting away lying, therefore, speak truth, so that this mortal flesh
which you have up to now from Adam may, after the reformation of the
spirit,spirit, itself deserve renewal and transformation in the time of its resur
rection; and thus the whole man, being deified, may cleave to the perpetual
and unchanging truth.45
43 Ep. 140. iv. 10: 'nos quoque per eius gratiam facti sumus, quod non eramus, id
est filii dei; sed tamen aliquid eramus, et hoc ipsum aliquid multo inferius, hoc est filii
hominum. descendit ergo ille, ut nos ascenderemus, et manens in sua natura factus
est particeps naturae nostrae, ut nos manentes in natura nostra efficeremur participes
naturae ipsius, non tamen sic; nam ilium naturae nostrae participatio non fecit
deteriorem, nos autem facit naturae illius participatio meliores.' CSEL xliv. 162.
14 In 10. Ev. Tr. 1. 4: 'Audite in psalmis: Ego dixi, dii estis, et filii Excelsi omnes. Ad
hoc ergo vocat nos Deus, ne simus homines. Sed tunc in melius non erimus homines,
si prius nos homines esse agnoscamus, id est, ut ad illam celsitudinem ab humilitate
surgamus: ne cum putamus nos aliquid esse, cum nihil simus, non solum non
accipiamus quod non sumus, sed et amittamus quod sumus.' CCSL xxxvi. 2.
45 Serm. 166. iv. 4: 'Deponentes ergo mendacium, loquimini veritatem (Eph. 4: 25),
ut et caro ista mortalis quam adhuc habetis de Adam, praecedente novitate spiritus,
mereatur et ipsa innovationem et commutationem tempore resurrectionis suae: ac sic
totus homo deificatus inhaereat perpetuae atque incommutabili veritati.' PL xxxviii.
909.
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AUGUSTINE'S CONCEPTION OF DEIFICATION 381
How then, men say, are we said to be renewed, if we do not receive [in
baptism] what the first man lost, in whom all die? This we both clearly
receive in one way and do not receive in another. Thus, we do not receive
the immortality of a spiritual body, which that man did not yet have; but we
receive righteousness, from which that man fell by sin. We shall therefore
be renewed from the old nature of sin, not into that first animal body in
which Adam was, but into a better state, that is a spiritual body, when we
shall be made equal to the angels of God, fitted for our heavenly habitation,
where we shall have no need of the food which corrupts. We are therefore
renewed in the spirit of our mind according to the image of Him who created
us, which Adam lost by sin. We shall also be renewed in the flesh, when this
corruptible corruptible body shall put on incorruption, that it may be a spiritual body,
into which Adam was not yet changed but destined to be changed, if he had
not deserved the death of his animal body by sinning.47
4 יDe Trin. XIV. xvii. 25. CCSL 1 (A), 454. Tr. John Burnaby.
47 De Gen. ad Litt. VI. xxiv. 35. CSEL xxviii (1), 196-7.
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382 GERALD BONNER
Our full adoption as sons will take place in the redemption of our body. We
now have the firstfruits of the spirit, by which we are indeed made sons of
God; but in other respects we are sons of God as saved and made new by
hope. In the event, however, since we are not yet finally saved, we are
therefore not yet fully made new nor yet sons of God, but children of this
world.48
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AUGUSTINE'S CONCEPTION OF DEIFICATION 383
Now by hope are we saved; but if we hope for what we see not, let us wait for it
with with patience (Rom. 8: 24, 25). Let us therefore bear death itself with
patience, taking for our example Christ who, although He was not liable to
death by any sin, and was the Lord, whose life no one could take away,
Himself laid down His life, so that even for Him there was an issue of
death.5*death.5*
51 Ibid., p. 138.
52 Possidius, Vita Augustini 28. 12 (ed. Pellegrino, Milan, 1955, p. 154). Tr. F. R.
Hoare. The quotation is from Plotinus, Enneads I. 4. 7.
53 Folliet, art. cit., n. 12 above, pp. 227 ff., draws attention to Augustine's concern
for preparation for death at the time of his correspondence with Nebridius in
389/390. The fact that Nebridius should have died so soon afterwards, earning a
moving tribute in Conf. IX. iii. 6, must have had its effect upon Augustine's
memories.
54 Enar. in Ps. 67. xx. 29:'... et Domini exitus mortis. Spe enim salvifacti sumus; si
autemautem quod non videmus speramus, per patientiam exspectamus. Patienter ergo etiam
ipsam mortem feramus, illius exemplo qui, licet nullo peccato esset debitor mortis, et
Dominus esset a quo nemo animam tolleret, sed ipse earn a semetipso poneret, etiam
ipsius fuit exitus mortis.' CCSL xxxix. 890.
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384 GERALD BONNER
For He justifies, who is just of Himself and not of another; and He deifies,
who is God of Himself and not by participation in another. Now He who
justifies, Himself deifies, because by justifying He makes sons of God.61
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AUGUSTINE'S CONCEPTION OF DEIFICATION 385
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386 GERALD BONNER
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