LECTURER: Andrea Canales Emődy

Justification

The course, divided into six lessons, explores the mystery of the union of the human person with God, focusing on its dynamic and historical dimensions, as well as on the anthropological implications of this unity. In what sense is the mystery of the soul’s union with God a reality in motion? How does this dynamic reality affect the human person in the here and now of their existence in the world?

Objectives

The primary objective of this course is to examine the mystery of union as a reality that reveals not only a possible future but also our present. In this vein, we will understand it as a reality that is experienced along the journey, rather than only as a goal of perfection. Secondly, the course seeks to understand the repercussion of union with the Holy Spirit, who is Love, on the unification of the human person across their various personal and communal dimensions.

Contents

1. Understanding the concept: union rooted in the person of the Holy Spirit, unity, unification as longing and vocation.
2. Division, schism as a critical reality of the human person
3. A journey toward the inner self: the inward movement as a force of desire and divine attraction
4. The hidden image awaiting manifestation in the here and now: imago Dei, a dynamic vision of the image and likeness, the theological virtues, and their unifying power within the person
5. The image of Christ, the union of his human and divine nature as the archetypal image of unity
6. The image of the journey: from a static to a dynamic understanding of becoming fully human in union with God.

Method

The topics will be presented as a taught class, including time set aside for discussion.

Evaluation criteria

Participation in the lessons; a piece of written work or a final oral examination.

Bibliography

Ciraulo, J.M., «Divinization as christification in Erich Przywara and J. Zizioulas», in Theosis/Deification. Christian doctrines of divinization east and west, ed. J. Arblaster – R. Falsen, Leuven-Paris-Bristol, CT, 2018, 96-127.
D’Aloisio,C., « “Churchification of life” and deification», in Theosis/Deification. Christian doctrines of divinization east and west, ed. J. Arblaster – R. Falsen, Leuven-Paris-Bristol, CT, 2018, 65-70.
Feneuil, A., «Becoming god or becoming yourself. Vladimir Lossky on deification and personal identity», in Theosis/Deification. Christian doctrines of divinization east and west, ed. Arblaster, J., – Falsen, R., Leuven-Paris-Bristol, CT, 2018, 49-63.
Gallaher, B., «Pneumatology», The Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology, ed. E. Howells – M.A. McIntosh, United Kingdom 2020, 507-528.
Maspero, G., «Deification, relation (schesis) and ontology in Gregory of Nyssa», in Theosis/Deification. Christian doctrines of divinization east and west, ed. J. Arblaster – R. Falsen, Leuven-Paris-Bristol, CT 2018, 19-34.
Mc Ginn, B., «Mystical Union», The Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology, ed. E. Howells – M.A. McIntosh, United Kingdom 2020, 404-421.
Papanikolau, A., «Theosis», The Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology, ed. E. Howells – M.A. McIntosh, United Kingdom 2020, 569-585.
Ratzinger, J., Man, the divine project. Reflections on Creation and Church, San Francisco 2022, 65-86.
Van Nieuwenhove, R., «Trinitarian Indwelling», The Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology, ed. E. Howells – M.A. McIntosh, United Kingdom 2020, 388-403.
Waaijman, K., «Transformation. A key word in spirituality», Studies in Spirituality 8 (1998) 5-37.
Waaijman, K., «The way, root metaphor for spirituality. A biblical exploration», Studies in Spirituality 13 (2002) 63-79.