M. David Litwa, University of Virginia

M. David Litwa earned his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia (2013). He has taught in the Classics departments of the University of Virginia and the College of William & Mary. His most recent books include Iesus Deus: The Early Christian Depiction of Jesus as a Mediterranean God (2014) and a new edition of the Refutation of all Heresies: Text, Translation, and Notes (2015).

"Litwa has offered an extremely well written and well thought- out volume that will be indispensable to anyone interested in the phenomenon of self-deification, regardless one's chosen historical period or religious milieu." - Nickolas P. Roubekas, Religion

"In six examples, delicately and stunningly considered, Litwa brings insight and compassion to one of the most controversial phenomena in the study of religion, the instances in which some people claim to be divine. Litwa engages the reader in excavating an entire realm of immense theological importance, one banished and disdained by generations, yet ever-existing just behind the text of the most omnipresent book in human history. Drawing from his famil-iarity with the world of nascent Christianity, Litwa shows how self-deification was utilized by ancient religious groups as either a source of ultimate condem-nation or the final stage in human destiny." - Dell Joseph Rose, Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies