Deification as the goal of the ordered human according to Robert Grosseteste

Curiello, G. (2019) Deification as the goal of the ordered human according to Robert Grosseteste. In: Robert Grosseteste and Theories of Education. The Ordered Human. Routledge International Studies in the Philosophy of Education . Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9780367273026

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Abstract

The intent of this chapter is to show the ultimate meaning of human order according to Robert Grosseteste. His conception of man becomes complete only after his encounter with the work of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. From 1238 until 1243, Grosseteste translated and commented on the Corpus Dionysiacum, the works of the Christian Neoplatonist who wrote in the early sixth century CE. The impact of these treatises on Grosseteste’s thought was impressive, although very few studies are dedicated to it (J. Ginther, Master of the sacred page. A study of the theology of Robert Grosseteste, ca. 1229/1230-1235, 2004). Reading Dionysius, the bishop of Lincoln approaches the notions of deification (“the attaining of likeness to God and union with him so far as possible”) and hierarchy (often translated as sacer ordo, sacred order). The former is a topic usually neglected by western theology (N. Russell, The doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition, 2014); the latter was generally used to describe the angelical and the ecclesiastical order. In the first part of my study, I will show how Grosseteste was able to combine those two notions and to set deification as the goal of the ordered human. Deification is a complex process that touches the whole human person: being, will and intellect. In the second part, I will discuss if Grosseteste intends deification as a restoration of humanity to the state of being before the Fall or as reaching a better condition than Adam experienced.

Item Type:	Book Section
Depositing User:	Gioacchino Curiello
Date Deposited:	11 Sep 2019 12:38
Last Modified:	12 Mar 2020 16:04
URI:	https://bgro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/637

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