The Transfiguration of Christ in Greek Patristic Literature

This study is based on a rigorous theological analysis of primary sources and aims to present the significance of the event of the Lord's Transfiguration on Mount Tabor by means of a diachronic investigation of some of the greatest masters of the spiritual life. Based on the three Synoptic Gospel narratives, it examines the Taborian theophany from the early Apocryphal Writings of the New Testament to the time of the Hesychast Controversy of the fourteenth century, and looks at this great revelation in writers who have been influential in our appreciation of the subject, taking each of them in turn analytically and within the context of their own theology and period, and focusing on important points of similarity and contrast in the themes they develop. In so doing, the investigation touches on many fundamental questions pertaining to the inner life of the Christian, including such themes as the divine status of Jesus Christ, the Trinitarian character of revelation, the role of the Holy Spirit, the importance of the ecclesial context, the vision of God, the transformation of the human person known as "theosis", the non-dialectical character of our encounter with God, and our capacity to share in His life.

The Transfiguration of Christ in the "Spiritual Homilies" of Macarius the Egyptian, is published as an addendum to The Transfiguration in Greek Patristic Literature: From Irenaeus of Lyons to Gregory Palamas.

Dettagli