Divinization (Christian)
In Christian theology, divinization ("divinization" may also refer to apotheosis, lit. "making divine"), or theopoesis or theosis, is the transforming effect of divine grace,[1] the spirit of God, or the atonement of Christ. Although it literally means to become divine, or to become God, most modern Christian denominations do not interpret the doctrine as implying an overcoming of a fundamental ontological difference between God and humanity; for example, John of the Cross (AD 1542–1591) indicated that while "God communicates to it [the individual soul] His supernatural Being, in such wise that it appears to be God Himself, and has all that God Himself has", yet "it is true that its natural being, though thus transformed, is as distinct from the Being of God as it was before".[Primary 1][2]
Not to be confused with Divination.
The term theosis was originally used in Greco-Roman pagan society to venerate a ruler. It was inconceivable to Jewish piety. Yet it was adopted in Eastern Christianity by the Greek Fathers to describe the spiritual transformation of a Christian. The change of human nature was understood by them as a consequence of a baptized person being incorporated into the Church as the Body of Christ. Divinization was thus developed within the context of incarnational theology.
The teaching about deification of a Christian can be found as early as in the works of Irenaeus (c. 130–202), a Greek Father who is also known as the Father of Catholic theology,[3] and who was bishop of the church of Lyons in France. For example, in the preface to his apologetic work Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies) vol. 5, Irenaeus states that "[T]he Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ ... did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself"."[4] Athanasius of Alexandria was an author of the phrase about Jesus Christ which has become popular in Christmas homilies: "He was made human so that he might make us sons of god" (De incarnatione 54,3, cf. Contra Arianos 1.39). Divinization in the context of the Eucharist was taught by Gregory of Nyssa and Cyril of Alexandria. The term never meant for them breaching the absolute ontological distinction between God and his creation.[2]
There were many different references to divinization in the writings of the Church Fathers.
As previously noted, in the second century, Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons (c. 130–202) said that the Word Jesus Christ had "become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself."[4] He added:
At about the same time, Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–215), wrote: "Yea, I say, the Word of God became a man so that you might learn from a man how to become a god."[6] Clement further stated that "[i]f one knows himself, he will know God, and knowing God will become like God. . . . His is beauty, true beauty, for it is God, and that man becomes a god, since God wills it. So Heraclitus was right when he said, 'Men are gods, and gods are men.'"[7] Clement of Alexandria also stated that "he who obeys the Lord and follows the prophecy given through him ... becomes a god while still moving about in the flesh."[8]
Justin Martyr (c. 100–165) insisted that in the beginning men "were made like God, free from suffering and death," and that they are thus "deemed worthy of becoming gods and of having power to become sons of the highest."[9]
Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria (c. 296–373), stated his belief in literal deification: "The Word was made flesh in order that we might be made gods. ... Just as the Lord, putting on the body, became a man, so also we men are both deified through his flesh, and henceforth inherit everlasting life."[10] Athanasius also observed: "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God."[11][12]
Augustine of Hippo (354–430) said: "But he himself that justifies also deifies, for by justifying he makes sons of God. 'For he has given them power to become the sons of God' [referring to John 1:12]. If then we have been made sons of god, we have also been made gods."[13] "To make human beings gods," Augustine said, "He was made man who was God" (sermon 192.1.1). Augustine goes on to write that "[they] are not born of His Substance, that they should be the same as He, but that by favour they should come to Him... (Ibid)".
Other references to divinization in the writings of the Church Fathers include the following: