ABSTRACT
The main aim of this paper is to focus on the topic of deification, θεοποιεῖσθαι, in the exegetical and theological context of Origen’s interpretation of Jn. 13:31–32. First, the paper concentrates on the meaning of ‘deification’ in book II of Origen’s Commentary on John, where it is defined as “participation (μετοχή) in divinity”; then, it analyzes the entire text of book XXXII in which Origen comments on Jn. 13:31–32 and shows that, at first, there is a strict correspondence between Origen’s logical explanation of Jn. 13:31–32 and his exegesis of Jn. 1:1–2; second, the concept of the glorification of the face – which is suggested to him by the collation of some biblical quotations (Ex. 40:34–35; 3 Kgs. 8:10–11; Ex. 34:29–30; Lk. 9:29–31; 2 Cor. 3:18) – is converted into the concept of the deification of the intellect, νοῦς – which is the allegorical meaning of the face, according to Origen’s other texts, e.g. HEz 12,3; third, there are different kinds of glorification, i.e. mainly the glorification of the Son-Logos and of the God-Father. Moreover, the paper points out that Origen’s identification of the glorification of the face, δοξάζεσθαι, and the deification of the intellect, θεοποιεῖσθαι, is grounded in the Platonic idea of μετοχή, i.e. participation.
