Unification (ἕνωσις/hénōsis) with the divine is the goal of mystical theology. In both the Neoplatonism of Plotinus and Proclus and in the Christian mysticism of Gregory of Nyssa and Dionysius Areopagita, the term refers to an ecstatic experience of self-transcendence through direct participation in God, which leads to deification. The Latin equivalent is unio mystica; here Augustine of Hippo played a fundamental role.
The Neoplatonic approach was based on the theological dialectic of transcendence and immanence along with the theory of emanation. The so…