Theosis (Eastern Orthodox )

Further information: (Christian) demic pursuit. Instead it is based on (see See also: Glorification gnosiology), meaning that Orthodox theology and its the- In Eastern Orthodoxy deification (theosis) is a transfor- ologians are validated by ascetic pursuits rather than aca- demic degrees (i.e. scholasticism).[5]

1 Divinization

St. wrote, “He was incarnate that we might be made ” (Αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐνηνθρώπησεν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς θεοποιηθῶμεν).[6] His statement is an apt de- scription of the doctrine. What would otherwise seem absurd—that fallen, sinful man may become holy as God is holy—has been made possible through Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate. Naturally, the crucial Christian assertion, that God is One, sets an limit on the meaning of theosis: as it is not possible for any created be- ing to become God ontologically, or even a necessary part of God (of the three existences of God called hypostases), so a created cannot become Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit nor the Father of the .[7] Most specifically creatures, i.e. created , cannot become God in His transcendent essence, or ousia, hyper- Icon of The Ladder of Divine Ascent (the steps toward theosis as being (see apophaticism). Such a concept would be the described by St. John Climacus) showing monks ascending (and , or absorption and fusion into God of Greek pa- falling from) the ladder to Jesus. Saint Catherine’s Monastery. gan philosophy. However, every being and reality itself is considered as composed of the immanent energy, or mative process whose goal is likeness to or union with Energeia, of God. As energy is the actuality of God, i.e. God. As a process of transformation, theosis is brought His , from God’s being, it is also the Energeia about by the effects of katharsis (purification of and or activity of God. Thus the doctrine avoids body) and theoria. According to Eastern Orthodox teach- while partially accepting 's terms and gen- ing, theosis is very much the purpose of human life. It eral concepts, but not its substance (see ).[7] is considered achievable only through a synergy (or co- operation) between human activity and God’s uncreated St. Maximus the Confessor wrote: “A sure warrant for energies (or operations).[1][2] looking forward with hope to deification of human nature is provided by the Incarnation of God, which makes man According to Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, the pri- God to the same degree as God Himself became man ... . macy of theosis in Orthodox theology is directly related Let us become the image of the one whole God, bearing to the fact that Orthodox theology (as historically con- nothing earthly in ourselves, so that we may consort with ceived by its principal exponents) is based to a greater God and become , receiving from God our existence extent than Western Catholic Latin theology on the di- as gods. For it is clear that He Who became man without rect spiritual insights of the saints or mystics of the church sin (cf. Heb. 4:15) will divinize human nature without rather than the apparently more rational thought tradition [3] changing it into the Divine Nature, and will raise it up for of the West. Eastern Orthodox consider that “no one His Own sake to the same degree as He lowered Himself who does not follow the path of union with God can be a [4] for man’s sake. This is what St[.] Paul teaches mystically theologian”. when he says, '[]that in the ages to come he might display Theology in Eastern Orthodoxy is not treated as an aca- the overflowing richness of His grace' (Eph. 2:7)"[8]

1 2 6 ASCETIC PRACTICE

2 Theoria 4 Stages

Main article: Theoria Theosis has three stages: first, the purgative way, purifi- cation, or katharsis; second, illumination, the illuminative Through theoria, the of the Triune God, way, the vision of God, or theoria; and third, sainthood, human beings come to know and experience what it the unitive way, or theosis. Thus the term "theosis" de- means to be fully human, i.e., the created image of God; scribes the whole process and its objective. By means of through their communion with Jesus Christ, God shares purification a person comes to theoria and then to theo- Himself with the human race, in order to conform them sis. Theosis is the participation of the person in the life of to all that He is in knowledge, righteousness, and holi- God. According to this doctrine, the holy life of God, ness. As God became human, in all ways except sin, He given in Jesus Christ to the believer through the Holy will also make humans “God”, i.e., “holy” or “saintly”, in Spirit, is expressed through the three stages of theosis, all ways except His Divine Essence, which is uncaused beginning in the struggles of this life, increasing in the and uncreated. St. Irenaeus explained this doctrine in the experience of knowledge of God, and consummated in work Against Heresies, Book 5, Preface: “the Word of the resurrection of the believer, when the victory of God God, our Jesus Christ, Who did, through His tran- over fear, sin, and death, accomplished in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, is made manifest in the scendent love, become what we are, that He might bring [11] us to be even what He is Himself.” believer forever.

3 As a Patristic and historical 5 “Like minded” as a form of unity teaching Yet through we can attain phronema, an understand- ing of the faith of the Church. A common analogy for For many Church Fathers, theosis goes beyond simply theosis, given by the Greek fathers, is that of a metal restoring people to their before the Fall of Adam which is put into the fire. The metal obtains all the proper- and Eve, teaching that because Christ united the human ties of the fire (heat, light), while its essence remains that and divine natures in Jesus’ person, it is now possible for of a metal.[12] Using the head-body analogy from St Paul, someone to experience closer fellowship with God than every man in whom Christ lives partakes of the glory of Adam and Eve initially experienced in the Garden of Christ. As St observes, “where the head Eden, and that people can become more like God than is, the body is also; for by no means is the head sepa- Adam and Eve were at that . Some Orthodox the- rated from the body; for if it were indeed separated, there ologians go so far as to say that Jesus would have become would not be a body and there would not be a head”.[13] incarnate for this reason alone, even if Adam and Eve had never sinned.[9] All of humanity is fully restored to the full potential of 6 Ascetic practice humanity because the Son of God took to himself a hu- man nature to be born of a woman, and takes to himself See also: , Maximus the Confessor and also the sufferings due to sin (yet is not himself sinful, and is God unchanged in being). In Christ the two natures of Monasticism God and human are not two persons but one; thus a union is effected in Christ between all of humanity in principle The journey toward theosis includes many forms of and God. So the holy God and sinful humanity are rec- praxis. The most obvious form being monasticism onciled in principle in the one sinless man, Jesus Christ. and clergy. Of the monastic tradition the practice of (See Jesus’ as recorded in John 17.)[10] is most important as a way to establish a di- This reconciliation is made actual through the struggle to rect relationship with God. Living in the community of conform to the image of Christ. Without the struggle, the the church and partaking regularly of the sacraments, and praxis, there is no real faith; faith leads to action, without especially the Eucharist, is taken for granted. Also impor- which it is dead. One must unite will, thought, and ac- tant is cultivating "prayer of the heart", and prayer that tion to God’s will, his thoughts, and his actions. A person never ceases, as Paul exhorts the Thessalonians (1 and 2). must fashion his life to be a mirror, a true likeness of This unceasing prayer of the heart is a dominant theme in God. More than that, since God and humanity are more the writings of the Fathers, especially in those collected in than a similarity in Christ but rather a true union, Chris- the . It is considered that no one can reach theo- ’ lives are more than mere imitation and are rather a sis without an impeccable Christian living, crowned by faithful, warm, and, ultimately, silent, continuous Prayer union with the life of God himself: so that the one who is [14] working out is united with God working within of the Heart. the penitent both to will and to do that which pleases God. The “doer” in deification is the Holy Spirit, with whom 3 the human being joins his will to receive this transform- method for arriving at perfect contemplation “no more ing grace by praxis and prayer, and as Gregory Palamas than a crude form of auto-suggestion"[24] teaches, the Christian mystics are deified as they become Different concepts of “natural contemplation” existed in filled with the Light of Tabor of the Holy Spirit in the de- the East and in the medieval West.[25] gree that they make themselves open to it by (divinization being not a one-sided act of God, but a lov- The twentieth century saw a remarkable change in the ing cooperation between God and the advanced Chris- attitude of theologians to Palamas, a , which Palamas considers a synergy).[15] “rehabilitation” of him that has led to increasing parts of the Western Church considering him a saint, even This synergeia or co-operation between God and Man if uncanonized.[26] Some Western scholars maintain that does not lead to mankind being absorbed into the God there is no conflict between Palamas’s teaching and Ro- as was taught in earlier pagan forms of deification like man Catholic thought.[27] According to G. Philips, the henosis. Rather it expresses unity, in the complementary essence-energies distinction is “a typical example of a nature between the created and the creator. Acquisition perfectly admissible theological pluralism” that is com- of the Holy Spirit is key as the acquisition of the spirit [28] [16] patible with the Roman Catholic magisterium. Jeffrey leads to self-realization. D. Finch claims that “the future of East-West rapproche- ment appears to be overcoming the modern polemics of neo-scholasticism and neo-”.[29] Some Western 7 Western attitudes theologians have incorporated the theology of Palamas into their own thinking.[30] Further information: Divinization (Christian) Pope John Paul II said Catholics should be familiar with “the venerable and ancient tradition of the East- Western attitudes towards theosis have traditionally been ern Churches”, so as to be nourished by it. Among negative. In his article, Bloor highlights various West- the treasures of that tradition he mentioned in particu- ern theologians who have contributed to what he calls a lar “the teaching of the Cappadocian Fathers on diviniza- “stigma” towards theosis.[17] Yet, recent theological dis- tion (which) passed into the tradition of all the Eastern course has seen a reversal of this, with Bloor drawing Churches and is part of their common heritage. This can upon Western theologians from an array of traditions, be summarized in the thought already expressed by Saint whom, he claims, embrace theosis/deification.[18] Irenaeus at the end of the second century: God passed into man so that man might pass over to God. This theol- Further information: Hesychasm ogy of divinization remains one of the achievements par- ticularly dear to Eastern Christian thought.”[31] The practice of ascetic prayer called Hesychasm in the is centered on the enlighten- ment or deification, theosis of man.[19] 8 See also Hesychasm is directed to a goal that is not limited to nat- ural life alone and goes beyond this to deification (theo- • sis).[20][21] • Beatific vision In the past, Roman Catholic theologians generally ex- pressed a negative view of Hesychasm. The doctrine • Christian Perfection of Gregory Palamas won almost no following in the West,[21] and the distrustful attitude of Barlaam in its re- • Christian Universalism gard prevailed among Western theologians, surviving into • Consecration the early 20th century, as shown in Adrian Fortescue's article on hesychasm in the 1910 Catholic Encyclope- • Divine filiation dia.[21][22] Fortescue translated the Greek words ἥσυχος and ἡσυχαστής as “quiet” and “quietist”.[21] • Entire Sanctification

In the same period, Edward Pace’s article on quietism in- • Exaltation (Mormonism) dicated that, while in the strictest sense quietism is a 17th- century doctrine proposed by Miguel de Molinos, the • Hermit term is also used more broadly to cover both Indian reli- gions and what Edward Pace called “the vagaries of Hesy- • Holiness movement chasm”, thus betraying the same prejudices as Fortescue • with regard to hesychasm [23] and, again in the same pe- riod, Siméon Vailhé described some aspects of the teach- • Vladimir Lossky ing of Palamas as “monstrous errors”, “heresies” and “a resurrection of ”,[24] and called the hesychast • Poustinia 4 9 REFERENCES

• Sanctification [19] “Hesychasm, then, which is centered on the enlightenment or deification (θέωσις, or theosis, in Greek) of man, per- • Soteriology fectly encapsulates the soteriological principles and full • scope of the spiritual life of the Eastern Church. As Unio Mystica Bishop Auxentios of Photiki writes: "[W]e must under- stand the Hesychastic notions of theosis and the vision of Uncreated Light, the vision of God, in the context of hu- 9 References man salvation. Thus, according to St. Nicodemos the Ha- giorite (†1809): 'Know that if your mind is not deified by the Holy Spirit, it is impossible for you to be saved.'" Be- 9.1 Notes fore looking in detail at what it was that St. Gregory Pala- mas’ opponents found objectionable in his Hesychastic 9.2 Citations theology and practices, let us briefly examine the history of the Hesychastic Controversy proper. ...” Archbishop [1] George 2006. Chrysostomos, Orthodox and Roman Catholic Relations from the Fourth Crusade to the Hesychastic Controversy [2] “Deification in Eastern Orthodox theology” ISBN 978-0- (Etna, CA: Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, 85364-956-4 2001), pp. 199‒232 .

[3] The Difference Between Orthodox Spirituality and Other [20] Coming back to theological and anthropological prob- Traditions by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos lems, we can see at once that Hesychasm is indeed such a field, in which theology and anthropology meet and al- [4] by Vladimir Lossky pg39 most merge together. It is spiritual or mystico-ascetic [5] The Difference Between Orthodox Spirituality and Other practice, and, as I explain in my other Hongkong lecture, Traditions by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos spiritual practice is such anthropological strategy that is oriented to a goal, which does not belong to the horizon [6] Saint Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word, 54.3. of man’s empiric existence. This goal is, in other words, Translation by John Behr (Saint Vladimir’s Seminary meta-anthropological, and so it obtains its characteristics Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-88141427-1), p. 167 not from usual experience of empiric being, but from ba- sic postulates of the religious tradition, to which the cor- [7] Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern responding practice belongs. In the case of Hesychasm, Church (St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0- the goal is defined by the Orthodox doctrine as deifica- 91383631-6), pp. 29–33 tion (theosis, in Greek), which is conceived as the per- fect union of all man’s energies with the Divine Energy [8] PHILOKALIA, Volume 2, page 178). (God’s grace). This concept has a specific dual nature: [9] “Theology and in the Tradition of the East- it belongs to dogmatic theology, but at the same time it ern Church” from The Mystical Theology of the Eastern represents the goal, to which ascetic works are oriented Church by V Lossky and which they approach actually, according to all the rich corpus of ascetic texts with the first-hand descriptions [10] of hesychast experience. Thus it is both theological and anthropological concept. CHRISTIAN ANTHROPOL- [11] “Theology and Mysticism in the Tradition of the Eastern OGY AND EASTERN-ORTHODOX (HESYCHAST) Church”, in The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, ASCETICISM Prof. Dr. Sergey S. Horujy pages 8–9, 39, 126, 133, 154, 196. [21] Hesychasm article on the Catholic Encyclopedia online [12] [22] Andreopoulos, Metamorphosis: The Transfiguration in [13] Byzantine Theology and Iconography (St Vladimir’s Sem- inary Press 2005, ISBN 0-88141-295-3), p. 215 [14]

[15] “The undreamed has happened: God lives within us” [23] Edward Pace, “Quietism” in The Catholic Encyclopedia ISBN 978-1-58966-017-5 Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. Retrieved 10 September 2010 [16] Theosis-The deification of man. According to the Ortho- dox Tradition, man’s purpose in life is to achieve union [24] The Greek Church in The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 12. with God, and to become god by grace. Acquisition of New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. Retrieved the Holy Spirit; self-realization. 10 September 2010

[17] Bloor, J. D. A. (21 April 2015). “New Directions [25] “The debate between Barlaam and the hesychasts can in Western Soteriology”. Theology 118 (3): 179–187. probably be best understood in the light of their differ- doi:10.1177/0040571X14564932. ent interpretations of what St. Maximus the Confessor used to call 'natural contemplation' (physikē theōria) or [18] Bloor, J. D. A. (21 April 2015). “New Directions the new state of creative being in Christ. Barlaam – and in Western Soteriology”. Theology 118 (3): 179–187. also medieval Latin tradition – tends to understand this doi:10.1177/0040571X14564932. created habitus as a condition for and not a consequence 5

of grace. Palamas, on the contrary, proclaims the over- • Mantzardis, Georgios. The Deification of Man. St whelming novelty of the Kingdom of God revealed in Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1997. Christ, and the gratuitous nature of the divine and saving acts of God. Hence, for him, vision of God cannot depend • Nellas, Panayiotis. Deification in Christ: The Nature on human 'knowledge'.” – The Triads by Saint Gregory of the Human Person. St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Palamas, edited by John Meyendorff, pp. 12–13. Pub- 1987. lisher: Paulist Press (Series “Classics of Western Spiritu- ality”) ISBN 0-8091-2447-5 ISBN 978-0809124473 • Finlan, Stephen ed. and Vladimir Kharlamov ed. Theosis: Deification in , Volume [26] John Meyendorff (editor),Gregory Palamas – The Triads, 1. Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2006. p. xi • Kharlamov, Vladimir. Theosis: Deification in Chris- [27] “Several Western scholars contend that the teaching of tian Theology, Volume 2. Wipf & Stock Publishers, St. Gregory Palamas himself is compatible with Roman 2006. Catholic thought on the matter” (Michael J. Christensen, Jeffery A. Wittung (editors), Partakers of the Divine Na- • Christensen, Michael J. ed. and Jeffery A. Wittung ture (Associated University Presses 2007 ISBN 0-8386- ed. Partakers of the Divine Nature: The History and 4111-3), p. 243). Development of Deification in the Christian Tradi- [28] Michael J. Christensen, Jeffery A. Wittung (editors), Par- tion. Baker Academic, 2008. takers of the Divine Nature (Associated University Presses • 2007 ISBN 0-8386-4111-3), p. 243 Russell, Norman. The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition. USA: Oxford University [29] Michael J. Christensen, Jeffery A. Wittung (editors), Par- Press, 2006. takers of the Divine Nature (Associated University Presses 2007 ISBN 0-8386-4111-3), p. 244 • Keating, Daniel. Deification and Grace. Sapientia Press 2007. [30] Kallistos Ware in Oxford Companion to Christian Thought (Oxford University Press 2000 ISBN 0-19-860024-0), p. • Pelikan, Jaraslov. The Christian Tradition: A 186 History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol. 2: The Spirit of Eastern Christendom. University Of [31] Pope John Paul II, Orientale Lumen Chicago Press, 1977.

• Braaten, Carl E. ed. and Robert W. Jenson ed. 10 Bibliography Union with Christ: The New Finnish Interpretation of Luther. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1998.

• Anstall, Kharalambos (2007). “Juridical Justifi- • Karkkainen, Veli-Matti. One with God: Salvation as cation Theology and a Statement of the Orthodox Deification and Justification. Liturgical Press, 2005. Teaching,” Stricken by God? Nonviolent Identifica- • tion and the Victory of Christ”. Grand Rapids, MI: Meconi, David Vincent. The One Christ: St. Augus- Eerdmans. tine’s Theology of Deification. The Catholic Univer- sity of America Press, 2013. • George, Archimandrite (2006). Theosis: The True Purpose of Human Life (PDF) (4th ed.). Mount Athos, : Holy Monastery of St. Gregorios. 12 External links ISBN 960-7553-26-8. Retrieved 8 May 2014. • • Lossky, Vladimir (1997). The Mystical Theology of Theosis_in_the_Christian_West Orthodoxwiki arti- the Eastern Church. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press. cle ISBN 978-0-913836-31-6. • Deification – online issue of Affirmation & Critique devoted entirely to the topic of theosis (Affirmation • Gross, Jules (2003). The Divinization of the Chris- & Critique, Vol. 7 no. 2, October 2002) tian According to the Greek Fathers. A & C Press. ISBN 978-0-7363-1600-2. • "...that we might be made God” by Kerry S. Ro- bichaux (Affirmation & Critique, Vol. 1 no. 3, July 1996) 11 Further reading • Deification in Contemporary Theology by Roger Ol- son (Theology Today, July 2007 Vol. 64 no. 2) • Bloor, J. D. A. (2015), “New Directions in West- ern Soteriology”, Theology 118 (3): 179–187, • Luther and Theosis by Kurt E. Marquart (Concordia doi:10.1177/0040571X14564932 Theological Quarterly, July 2000) 6 12 EXTERNAL LINKS

• Justification as Declaration and Deification by Bruce D. Marshall (International Journal of Systematic Theology 4, no. 1)

• Shine As the Sun: C.S. Lewis and the Doctrine of Deification by Chris Jensen

• Partakers of God by Panayiotis Christou • Partakers of the Divine Nature by Norman Russell

• Keeping the End in View by James R. Payton Jr. • Partakers of Divinity: The Orthodox Doctrine of Theosis by Daniel B. Clendenin (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, September 1994)

• The Greatest Possible Blessing: Calvin and Deifica- tion by Carl Mosser (Scottish Journal of Theology) • Some themes in by John Zuck 7

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