Daniel Keating: Deification in Leo the Great

This is a paper for the workshop (WS): Deification in the Latin Patristic Tradition

In this workshop I will examine evidence for a doctrine of deification in Leo's writings. While he never employs the terminology of deification, Leo casts human salvation in terms of the ‘formula of exchange,' makes reference to 2 Peter 1:4 in the context of Christian baptism, and speaks of God imparting divinity to our humanity through Christ. I will argue that Leo views salvation in terms consistent with a doctrine of deification and that, despite views to the contrary, his Christology is at the service of a soteriology centred on human participation in divine glory.