Subject: We Shall be Like Him. (Deification).
Date: Fri, 05 Feb 1999 09:44:47 GMT
From:  (St.Athanasius)
Newsgroups: aus.religion.christian

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One God, Amen. Peace and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Dear Readers,
I thought that with the copious posts from 'Truth' relating to the post resurrection age that I might post something about the end purpose of God with mankind. This will only concentrate on one area-Theosis, (sometimes called Deification in the Orthodox Church). This is a doctrine that is usually found wanting in the west and is a 'major tenet' of the Apostolic Faith. I have copied this article from "The Orthodox Study Bible." New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993, page 561, copyrighted. A side point to note is the Orthodox view of the Fall where mankind's creation in the image of God is 'marred' as opposed to the view of totally depraved. Yet perhaps this one is a future post.

DEIFICATION.

Deification is the ancient theological word used to describe the process by which a Christian becomes more like God. St Peter speaks of this process when he writes, " As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness... you may be partakers of the divine nature." (2 Pet. 1:3,4).

What does it mean to partake of the divine nature and how do we experience it? To give an answer, [we must] first address what deification is not, then describe what it is.

What Deification is not.

When the Church calls us to pursue godliness, to be more like God, this does not mean that human beings then become divine. We do not become like God in His nature. That would not only be heresy, it would be impossible. For we are human, always have been human, and always will be human. We cannot take on the nature of God.

St John of Damascus, writing in the eigth century, makes a remarkable observation. The word "God" in the Scriptures refers not to the divine nature or essence, for that is unknowable. "God" refers rather to the divine energies-the power and grace of God which we can perceive in this world. The Greek word for God, Theos, comes from a verb meaning 'run', 'see', or 'burn'. These are energy words, so to speak, not essence words.

In John 10:34, Jesus quoting Psalm 82:6, repeats the passage, "You are gods." The fact that he was speaking to a group of hypocritical religious leaders who were accusing Him of blasphemy makes the meaning doubly clear: Jesus is not using "god" to refer to diving nature. We are gods in that we bear His image, not His nature.

What Deification is.

Deification means we are to become more like God through His grace or divine energies. In creation, humans were made in the image and likeness of God (Gen.1:26) according to human nature. In other words, humanity by nature is an icon or image of deity: The divine image is in all humanity. Through sin, however, this image and likeness of God was marred, and we fell.

When the Son of God assumed our humanity in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, the process of our being renewed in God's image and likeness was begun. Thus, those who are joined to Christ through faith in Holy Baptism begin a re-creation process, being renewed in God's image and likeness. We become, as St Peter writes, 'partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4).

Because of the Incarnation of the Son of God, because the fullness of God has inhabited human flesh, being joined to Christ means that it is again possible to experience deification, the fulfillment of our human destiny. That is, through union with Christ, we become by grace what God is by nature-we 'become children of God' (John 1:12). His deity interpenetrates our humanity.

Historically, deification has often been illustrated by the 'sword and fire' example. A steel sword is thrust into a hot fire until the sword takes on a red glow. The energy of the fire interpenetrates the sword. The sword never becomes fire, but it picks up the properties of fire.

By application, the divine energies interpenetrate the human nature of Christ. Being joined to Christ, our humanity is interpenetrated with the energies of God through Christ's glorified flesh. Nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ, we partake of the grace of God-His strength, His righteousness, His love-and are enabled to serve Him and glorify Him. Thus we, being human, are being deified.