Union with Christ

Type: Doctrine

Alternate Labels

In Christ
Mystical Union
Union to Christ
Theosis
Deification

Reading List

0. Key Passages

1 Corinthians 15:22
2 Corinthians 5:14
Galatians 2:20
Ephesians 1:4
Ephesians 2:6
Colossians 3:3–4
2 Timothy 1:9

1. Articles

1.1. In Bible Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Meye, Robert P. “Union with Christ.” In “Spirituality.” Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid, 433–36. Downers Grove: IVP, 1993.
O’Brien, Peter T. “Being ‘in Christ.’” In “Mysticism.” Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid, 624. Downers Grove: IVP, 1993.
Rightmire, R. David. “Union with Christ.” Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, edited by Walter A. Elwell, n.p. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996.
Seifrid, Mark A. “In Christ.” Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid, 908–09. Downers Grove: IVP, 1993.
Witherington, Ben, III. “The En Christō Formula.” In “Christ.” Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid, 98–99. Downers Grove: IVP, 1993.

1.2. In Theological Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Achtemeier, P. Mark. “Union with Christ (Mystical Union).” Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith, edited by Donald K. McKim and David F. Wright, 379–80. Louisville, KY: WJK, 1992.
Baker, J. P. “Union with Christ.” New Dictionary of Theology, edited by Sinclair B. Ferguson, David F. Wright, and J. I. Packer, 697–99. Downers Grove: IVP, 1988.
Dinzelbacher, Peter. “Mystical Union.” The Encyclopedia of Christianity, edited by Erwin Fahlbusch, Han Milič Lochman, John Mbiti, Jaroslav Pelikan, and Lukas Vischer, translated by Geoffrey William Bromiley, 3:670–72. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.
Walvoord, J. F. “Identification with Christ.” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. 2nd ed., edited by Walter A. Elwell, 588. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

1.3. In Theological Journals

Carpenter, Craig B. “A Question of Union with Christ? Calvin and Trent on Justification.” WTJ 64:2 (Fall 2002): 363–86.
Garcia, Mark A. “Imputation and the Christology of Union with Christ: Calvin, Osiander, and the Contemporary Quest for a Reformed Model.” WTJ 68:2 (Fall 2006): 219–51.
Garlington, Don. “Imputation or Union with Christ? A Response to John Piper.” RAR 12:4 (Fall 2003): 45–102.
Jacobs, Jonathan D. “An Eastern Orthodox Conception of Theosis and Human Nature”
Jensen, Chris. “Shine as the Sun: C.S. Lewis and the Doctrine of Deification.” Road to Emmaus: A Journal of Orthodox Faith and Cutlure.
Johnson, S. Lewis, Jr. “Studies in the Epistle to the Colossians, Part VII: The Complete Sufficiency of Union with Christ.” BSac 120:477 (January 1963): 13–23.
Kang, Kevin Woongsan. “Justified by Faith in Christ: Jonathan Edwards’s Doctrine of Justification in Light of Union with Christ.” WTJ 65:2 (Fall 2003): 360.
Kangas, Ron. “Becoming God.” Affirmation & Critique: A Journal of Christian Thought Vol. VII No. 2 October 2002
Marks, Ed. “Deification by Participation in God’s Divinity.” Affirmation & Critique: A Journal of Christian Thought Vol. VII No. 2 October 2002
Marquart, Kurt E. “Luther and Theosis.” Concordia Theological Quarterly. Volume 64:3. July 2000
Metzger, Paul Louis. “Luther and the Finnish School: Mystical Union with Christ; An Alternative to Blood Transfusions and Legal Fictions.” WTJ 65:2 (Fall 2003): 201–13.
Pester, John. “The Gospel of the Promised Seed: Deification according to the Organic Pattern in Romans 8 and Philippians 2” Affirmation & Critique: A Journal of Christian Thought Vol. VII No. 2 October 2002
Poythress, Vern S. “Ezra 3, Union with Christ, and Exclusive Psalmody [Part 1].” WTJ 37:1 (Fall 1974): 74–94.
Poythress, Vern S. “Ezra 3, Union with Christ, and Exclusive Psalmody [Part 2].” WTJ 37:2 (Winter 1974): 218–35.
Reinhard, Donna R. “Ephesians 6:10–18: A Call to Personal Piety or Another Way of Describing Union with Christ?” JETS 48:3 (September 2005): 521–32.
Robichaux, Kerry S. “Can Human Beings Become God?“. Affirmation & Critique: A Journal of Christian Thought Vol. VII No. 2 October 2002.

2. Chapters or Sections

2.1. In Systematic Theologies

Berkhof, Louis. “The Mystical Union.” In Systematic Theology. 4th ed., 447–53. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.
Berkouwer, G. C. “‘Mystical’ Union with Christ” and “Union and Communion.” In The Church, translated by James E. Davison, 84–91. Vol. 14 of Studies in Dogmatics. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976.
Boice, James Montgomery. “Union with Christ.” In Foundations of the Christian Faith: A Comprehensive and Readable Theology. Rev. ed., 388–98. Downers Grove: IVP, 1986.
Brakel, Wilhelmus à. “The Communion of Believers with Christ and with Each Other.” In The Christian’s Reasonable Service, translated by Bartel Elshout, 2:86–106. Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 1992.
Buswell, J. Oliver, Jr. “The Mystical Union.” In A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion, 2:217–26. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1963.
Chafer, Lewis Sperry. “The Believer’s Position in Christ.” In Systematic Theology, 4:92–100. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1976.
Culver, Robert Duncan. “The Doctrine of Union with Christ.” In Systematic Theology: Biblical and Historical, 664–70. Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus, 2005.
Dabney, Robert Lewis. “Union to Christ.” In Systematic Theology, 634–39. Carlisle, PN: Banner of Truth, 1996.
Demarest, Bruce A. “The Doctrine of Union with Christ.” In The Cross and Salvation: The Doctrine of Salvation. Foundations of Evangelical Theology, edited by John S. Feinberg, 313–44. Wheaton: Crossway, 1997.
Erickson, Millard J. “Union with Christ.” In Christian Theology. 2nd ed., 961–67, 987. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1998.
Gill, John. “Of the Eternal Union of the Elect of God unto Him.” In Complete Body of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity; or, A System of Evangelical Truths, Deduced from the Sacred Scriptures, 1:290–94. London, 1796.
Grudem, Wayne A. “Union with Christ.” In Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, 840–50. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004.
Hodge, A. A. “Union of Believers with Christ.” In Outlines of Theology, 369–74. New York: Robert Carter, 1863.
Hodge, Charles. “Union with Christ.” In Systematic Theology, 3:104. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960.
Holloman, Henry W. “Discovering the New You in Christ: United with Christ in Sanctification.” In Understanding Christian Theology, edited by Charles R. Swindoll and Roy B. Zuck, 961–70. Nashville: Nelson, 2003.
Oden, Thomas C. “Union with Christ and Sanctification.” In Life in the Spirit. Vol. 3 of Systematic Theology, 205–57. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992.
Reymond, Robert L. “Union with Christ.” In A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith. 2nd ed., 736–39. Nashville: Nelson, 1998.
Smith, Morton H. “Union with Christ.” In Systematic Theology, 2:491–98. Greenville, SC: Greenville Seminary Press, 1994.
Strong, Augustus H. “Union with Christ.” In Systematic Theology: A Compendium and Commonplace Book Designed for the Use of Theological Students, 3:795–809. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1907.

2.2. In Other Books

Boice, James Montgomery. “Union with Christ.” In The Reign of Grace: Romans 5:1–8:39, 551–712. Vol. 2 of Romans. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992.
Chapell, Bryan. “United for Life.” In Holiness by Grace: Delighting in the Joy That Is Our Strength, 39–65. Wheaton: Crossway, 2001.
Clinton, Stephen M. Conceptual Foundations for Theosis and Post-Modern Theology
Gaffin, Richard B., Jr. “Union with Christ,” “Union and Justification,” and “Union with Christ and the Resurrection.” In By Faith, Not by Sight: Paul and the Order of Salvation, 35–41, 58–68. Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster, 2006.
George, Archimandrite. Theosis: The True Purpose of Human Life
Gingrich, Roy E. “The Doctrine of Union with Christ.” In Reception-of-Salvation Doctrines. Rev ed., 13–17. Bellingham, WA: Logos, 2008.
Kuyper, Abraham. “The Mystical Union with Immanuel.” In The Work of the Holy Spirit, translated by Henri de Vries, 333–37. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1900.
Letham, Robert “Union with Christ effected by the Holy Spirit through faith” in The Work of Christ. (G. Bray, Ed.). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. “Union with Christ.” In God the Holy Spirit. Vol. 2 of Great Doctrines of the Bible, 106–16. Wheaton: Crossway, 1997.
Maddox, David B. “Union with Christ: The Implications for Biblical Counseling.” In Introduction to Biblical Counseling: A Basic Guide to the Principles and Practice of Counseling, 116–30. Dallas: Word, 1994.
Morey, Robert A. “Union with Christ.” In Studies in the Atonement, 89–102. Las Vegas, NV: Christian Scholars, 1989.
Stavropoulos, Christoforos “Partakers of Divine Nature.” in Eastern Orthodox Theology: A Contemporary Reader 183-192, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2003.
Warfield, Benjamin B. “Communion with Christ.” In Faith and Life: “Conferences” in the Oratory of Princeton Seminary, 415–27. London: Longmans, 1916.

External books

The Ground of Union: Deification in Aquinas and Palamas by A. N. Williams
The Deification of Man: St. Gregory Palamas and the Orthodox Tradition (Contemporary Greek Theologians Series , No 2) by Georgios I. Mantzaridis, Liadain Sherrard and Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia

Web Links

Wikipedia: “Union with Christ”
Wikipedia: “Theosis”
Theopedia: “Union with Christ”
Orthodox Wiki: “Theosis”
Monergism: “Union with Christ”
Horton, Michael S. “Union with Christ: The Double Cure.” Modern Reformation, July–August 2006, 6–11.
Stanford, Miles J. “Our History in the Last Adam.”
Stanford, Miles J. “The New-Creation Christian.”

Bibliographies

Union with Christ by Phil Gons

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