Deification as a Philosophical Problem: A Lutheran Reconstruction

In the most general terms, deification means participation in the divine nature, which starts the process where the believer is supposed to transform into the likeness of Christ. This article applies analytic tools to Lutheran theology in order to make sense of its central features. I aim to construct a model for the anthropology of deification which aims to function within these parameters to provide an account which satisfies the desiderata Lutheran theology has for the idea of deification and which does not commit itself to views that are obviously philosophically problematic. I offer arguments for a particular metaphysical construal of Luther’s idea of deification, while acknowledging that it leaves some questions unanswered. Finally, I make a suggestion for Lutherans as well as theologians from other traditions, to consider a metaphysical model developed by Peter van Inwagen as a possible parsimonious way of thinking about deification.