Filioque, Theosis, and Ecclesia: Augustine in Dialogue with Modern Orthodox Theology. (4th September 2017) - Iacovetti, Christopher
Abstract: By bringing recent developments in Augustine scholarship into conversation with modern Orthodox criticisms of Augustine, this article challenges the polemical Orthodox claim that Augustinian pneumatology logically undermines the doctrine of theosis . Indeed, in Augustine's own case, I argue that just the opposite is true: Augustine's "filioquist" pneumatology is precisely what leads him, ahead of his contemporaries, to advance a robustly ecclesial and trinitarian account of deification. Augustine should therefore be seen not as an opponent but as a crucial conversation partner for Orthodox theology, addressing in advance many of the ecclesiological and trinitarian questions with which the latter has engaged in recent centuries.