Deifying Democracy: Liberalism and the Politics of Theosis (Orthodox Christianity and Contemporary Thought)

An Orthodox Christian theological defense of liberal democracy that builds on the daring Christian humanist reinterpretation of incarnation and deification (theosis) in the Russian religious philosophy of Divine-Humanity. At a time when Christianity is becoming increasingly associated with anti-liberal and authoritarian sentiment, Deifying Democracy offers a theological defense of liberal democracy grounded in the Orthodox Christian doctrine of deification (theosis).Building on the participatory metaphysics of "Divine-Humanity" in the modern Russian theologians Vladimir Soloviev, Sergei Bulgakov, and S.L. Frank, the book challenges the widespread view - perpetuated by prominent Orthodox voices, including Patriarch Kirill of Moscow - that deification is fundamentally incompatible with liberal democracy and universal human rights.The book particularly responds to the liberalism critique of John Mibank, who enlists modern Russian theology and its understanding of deification in support of