Editing Transfiguration of Jesus (section)

=== Historical development ===
[[File:Transfiguration of Christ Icon Sinai 12th century.jpg|thumb|left|12th-century icon of the Transfiguration]]
The theology of the transfiguration received the attention of the [[Church Fathers]] from the earliest times. In the 2nd century, [[Irenaeus]] was fascinated by the transfiguration and wrote: "the glory of God is a live human being and a truly human life is the vision of God".{{sfn|Louth|2003|pp=228–234}} [[Origen]]'s theology of the transfiguration influenced the [[patristic]] tradition and became a basis for theological writings by others.{{sfn|Andreopoulos|2005|pp=60–65}} Among other issues, given the instruction to the apostles to keep silent about what they had seen until the resurrection, Origen comments that the glorified states of the transfiguration and the resurrection must be related.{{sfn|Andreopoulos|2005|pp=60–65}}

The [[Desert Fathers]] emphasized the light of the ascetic experience and related it to the light of the transfiguration – a theme developed further by [[Evagrius Ponticus]] in the 4th century.{{sfn|Andreopoulos|2005|pp=60–65}} Around the same time [[Gregory of Nyssa]] and later [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]] were developing a "theology of light" which then influenced [[Byzantine]] meditative and mystical traditions such as the [[Tabor light]] and [[theoria]].{{sfn|Andreopoulos|2005|pp=60–65}} The [[iconography]] of the transfiguration continued to develop in this time period, and there is a 6th-century symbolic representation in the [[apse]] of the [[Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe]] and a well known depiction at [[Saint Catherine's Monastery]] on [[Mount Sinai]] in [[Egypt]].{{sfn|Baggley|2000|pp=58–60}}

Byzantine Fathers often relied on highly visual metaphors in their writings, indicating that they may have been influenced by the established iconography.{{sfn|Andreopoulos|2005|pp=67–69}} The extensive writings of [[Maximus the Confessor]] may have been shaped by his contemplations on the [[katholikon]] at Saint Catherine's Monastery – not a unique case of a theological idea appearing in icons long before it appears in writings.{{sfn|Andreopoulos|2005|pp=67–81}}

In the 7th century, [[Maximus the Confessor]] said that the senses of the apostles were transfigured to enable them to perceive the true glory of Christ. In the same vein, building on [[s:Bible (American Standard)/2 Corinthians#3:18|2 Corinthians 3:18]], by the end of the 13th century the concept of "transfiguration of the believer" had stabilized and [[Gregory Palamas]] considered "true knowledge of God" to be a ''transfiguration of man by the Spirit of God''.{{sfn|Palamas|1983|p=14}} The spiritual transfiguration of the believer then continued to remain a theme for achieving a closer union with God.{{sfn|Majerník|Ponessa|Manhardt|2005|p=121}}{{sfn|Wiersbe|2007|p=167}}

One of the generalizations of Christian belief has been that the [[Eastern Church]] emphasizes the transfiguration while the [[Western Church]] focuses on the crucifixion. However, in practice both branches continue to attach significance to both events, although specific nuances continue to persist.{{sfn|Poe|1996|p=177}} An example of such a nuance is the saintly signs of the ''[[Imitation of Christ]]''. Unlike Catholic saints such as [[Padre Pio]] or [[Francis of Assisi]] (who considered [[stigmata]] a sign of the imitation of Christ) Eastern Orthodox saints have never reported stigmata, but saints such as [[Seraphim of Sarov]] and [[Silouan the Athonite]] have reported being transfigured by an inward light of grace.{{sfn|Brown|2012|p=39}}{{sfn|Langan|1998|p=139}}