Litwa, “Becoming Divine: An Introduction to Deification in Western Culture” (reviewed by James E. Faulconer)

Review
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Title: Becoming Divine: An Introduction to Deification in Western Culture
Author: M. David Litwa
Publisher: Cascade Books, Eugene OR; www.wipfandstock.com
Genre: Non-fiction
Year published: 2013
Number of Pages: 274
Binding: Paper
ISBN 10: N/A
ISBN 13: 978-1-62564-155-7
Price: $32.00

Reviewed by James E. Faulconer for the Association for Mormon Letters.

At first glance M. David Litwa’s *Becoming Divine: An Introduction to Deification in Western Culture* seems to be an impossible project. It purports to give an overview of the understanding of deification in ancient Egypt, Dionysian cults, Orphism, Paul’s teaching, Mithraism, the hermetic tradition, Plotinus, Augustine, Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj (Sufism), Eckhart, Gregory Palamas, Martin Luther, Mormonism, Nietzsche, and contemporary life. And it purports to do that in a relatively slim volume. In spite of what appears impossible at first glance, Litwa succeeds.

Because Litwa includes mystical oneness with God under the rubric of deification, there are some surprises among those he discusses. Nietzsche is an obvious case. It is difficult to make the case that *amor fati* is a doctrine of deification, even if the deity in question is Dionysian. But Litwa’s argument for Luther, someone few would think of as having a doctrine of deification, or perhaps even a doctrine of divine unity, is surprisingly strong. He points out that for Luther deification means something other than substantial deification: “After the union between humans and God, humans remain human and Word remains Word” (173). Yet it is also true that Luther was tremendously influenced by the anonymous mystical work *Theologia Germanica* and by the writings of the fourteenth-century mystic, John Tauler. Litwa takes that into account to argue for something like a doctrine of deification in Luther.

The inclusion of Mormonism is perhaps obvious, but because it is relatively unknown one might expect missteps in its discussion. But Litwa has a steady footing throughout. He is one of the few I have seen who makes no significant mistakes in talking about deification in Mormonism. He describes the origins and history of the doctrine without putting more weight on Brigham Young’s interpretation of it than the doctrine can bear. He also doesn’t make the mistake that so many critics have made by thinking that the doctrine means that Mormons are able to make themselves into gods: “That humans are naturally fitted by God for deification does not undermine God’s grace, but underscores it” (201). At the same time, he points out something that many Mormons are prone to forget: “Mormonism does not so much teach the deification of the individual as the deification of the family and the larger family of the church. Godhood is eternal communion, and the increase of this communion with God and with each other” (203).

Litwa’s book does what it purports to do, and it does it well. I cannot speak authoritatively about all of those Litwa deals with, but he is very good on those I am acquainted with such as Mormonism, the Christian writers, Dionysian cults, and Orphism. Litwa is a clear writer as well as an accurate one, so both his target audience and any interested, educated audience will find his book easy to understand and highly readable.

The title makes it obvious that the book is not aimed at the specialist so much as those in religion or religious studies looking for an accurate but brief overview of one or more of the movements that Litwa considers. It will reach that audience successfully.

There are two indexes, a subject index and an ancient document index, as well as a large bibliography of both primary and secondary sources. The latter makes the book a valuable resource not only for beginners, but also for those doing scholarly research.

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