Theosis
The book of Genesis tells us that all that God created, including man, was
good. In fact, man is said to have been created in God's image and likeness (Gn
1:26). After Adam and Eve transgressed God's command to not eat the fruit from
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil sin and death entered the world. The
entire world, creation itself, was subjected to the effects of mankind's fall
(Romans 8:19-23). As for man, he lost the divine likeness that he had previously
enjoyed. The image of God in man was also marred by the fall. Now man was born
with a propensity to sin. Though weakened mankind is not totally depraved, and
is still capable of doing good. However, death and sin often times make doing
the good very difficult. Though man was still capable of doing some 'good,' he
was incapable of restoring the image and likeness of God in himself. The gifts
of the divine image and likeness Adam was created with remain the God's
intention for humanity.
When Adam sinned he introduced a foreign element into the world, as well as to
his progeny. This element known as the ancestral curse, or more commonly
original sin (the east prefers ancestral curse), scratched the divine image and
likeness in man. While this curse remains union with God is rendered impossible.
Man, prone to weakness, and fearful of death, sinned and continually turned away
from God, "all have gone astray; all alike are perverse. Not one does what is
right, not even one," the Psalmist says (Psalm 1:3).
The condition of mankind from the time of Adam up until the time of Christ was a
precarious one indeed. However, when "the Word took flesh and made His dwelling
among us" (Jn 1:14) He lifted human nature. The Second Vatican Council put it
this way, "for by His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some
fashion with every man."1
So then, when the Son of God became man He forever changed the dynamic of man,
as well as all creation. While it is true that the dynamic changed, that our
nature was elevated, it is just as true that each person has to cooperate in
God's plan in order to fully receive what God desires for them, union with Him
and the restoration of the divine image and likeness in them. The process of
cooperation is what we call theosis. Theosis is man's participation in the life
of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, whereby the image and likeness of God
are restored to man. The primary scripture used in the east to explain this
concept is 2 Peter 1:3-4:
"His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and
devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power.
Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so
that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping
from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire," (NAB).
Other translations render this passage as,"...that by these you may be made
partakers of the divine nature." Whichever translation, the meaning is the same.
We, in some way, share in the life of God, we are infused with His grace, and
are transformed by His power. This process begins at baptism, "Peter (said) to
them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for
the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit"
(Acts 2:38). This outpouring of the Holy Spirit at our baptism & chrismation
washes away our sins, recreating us from the inside out. We truly become, in
Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, new creatures (2 Cor 5:17), having the
image of God restored in us.
What of the likeness? The divine likeness is a lifelong pursuit. It is what we
are transformed into when we say yes to God, and no to the world. When we say
yes to God the divine likeness within us grows and is more readily apparent.
This is not our doing, it is the work of the Spirit. For the Spirit enables us
to say yes, and grants us grace upon grace (Jn 1:16) when we do. The spiritual
life entails some struggling on our part, as we work out our salvation with fear
and trembling (Phil 2:12), this struggle in turn leads us to become more and
more like Christ. We are not alone in this struggle, Christ did not leave us
orphans. Rather, He promised he would be with us to the end of the world (Mt
28:20), and is present to us in a most tangible way in the Eucharistic Assembly
(Liturgy), when He gives himself to us in the Eucharist. The fathers of the
church saw the Eucharist as the primary sacrament by which we are joined with
God, for when we receive Christ's body and blood He becomes one with us.
"Deification (or theosis) 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 (Gn 1:26) according to human nature... 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 process of re-creation, being
renewed in God's image and likeness... Because of the Incarnation of the Son of
God, being joined to Christ means that it is again possible to experience
deification, the fulfillment of our human destiny."2
1. PASTORAL CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH IN THE MODERN WORLD (GAUDIUM ET SPES) #22
2. The Orthodox Study Bible (pg 1692).
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