The Transfiguration of Christ in Greek Patristic Literature

From Irenaeus of Lyons to Gregory Palamas

by Christopher Veniamin

Paperback: 349 pages

This study, originally submitted as a doctoral dissertation in the University of Oxford (1991), aims to present the theological 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 post-Apostolic period to that 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 Christian life, including such themes as the status of Jesus Christ, the Trinitarian character of divine revelation, the role of the Holy Spirit, the importance of the ecclesial context, the transformation of the human person, the vision of God, Theosis, the non-dialectical character of the knowledge of God, and our capacity to know God and share in His life.