Editing Divinization (Christian) (section)

==Eastern Orthodox==
[[File:StJohnClimacus.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Icon of ''[[The Ladder of Divine Ascent]]'' (the steps toward theosis as described by [[John Climacus]]) showing monks ascending (and falling from) the ladder to Jesus, [[Saint Catherine's Monastery]].]]
{{main|Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology)}}
{{See also|Glorification}}
The teaching of deification or ''theosis'' in [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodoxy]] refers to the attainment of ''likeness of God'',  ''union with God'' or ''reconciliation with God''. Deification has three stages in its process of transformation: ''katharsis'', ''theoria'', ''theosis''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://greekorthodoxchurch.org/theosis_contents.html |title= Deification as the Purpose of Man's Life |work= Kapsanis, George (n.d.): Deification as the Purpose of Man's Life, English translation by Photius Coutsoukis |access-date= 2018-12-04}}</ref> ''Theosis'' as such is the goal, it is the purpose of life, and it is considered achievable only through a synergy (or cooperation) between humans' activities and God's uncreated energies (or operations).<ref>{{harvnb|George|2006}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bartos|1999}}</ref> ''Theosis'' is an important concept in Eastern Orthodox theology deriving from the fact that Eastern Orthodox theology is of an explicitly mystical character. Theology in the Eastern Orthodox Church is what is derived from saints or mystics of the tradition, and Eastern Orthodoxy considers that "''no one who does not follow the path of union with God can be a theologian.''"<ref>{{harvnb|Lossky|2002|p=39}}</ref> In Eastern Orthodoxy, theology is not treated as an academic pursuit, but it is based on revelation (see [[gnosiology]]), meaning that Eastern Orthodox theology and its theologians are validated by ascetic pursuits, rather than academic degrees (i.e. [[scholasticism]]).

According to the ''Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology'', as quoted by Millet and Reynolds:

{{Quote|Deification (Greek theosis) is for Orthodoxy the goal of every Christian. Man, according to the Bible, is 'made in the image and likeness of God.' ... It is possible for man to become like God, to become deified, to become god by grace. This doctrine is based on many passages of both OT and NT (e.g. Ps. 82 (81).6; II Peter 1.4), and it is essentially the teaching both of St Paul, though he tends to use the language of filial adoption (cf. Rom. 8.9—17; Gal. 4.5—7), and the Fourth Gospel (cf. 17.21—23).}}

{{Quote|The language of II Peter is taken up by St Irenaeus, in his famous phrase, 'if the Word has been made man, it is so that men may be made gods' (Adv. Haer V, Pref.), and becomes the standard in Greek theology. In the fourth century, St. Athanasius repeats Irenaeus almost word for word, and in the fifth century St Cyril of Alexandria says that we shall become sons 'by participation' (Greek methexis). Deification is the central idea in the spirituality of St. Maximus the Confessor, for whom the doctrine is the corollary of the Incarnation: 'Deification, briefly, is the encompassing and fulfillment of all times and ages,' ... and St. Symeon the New Theologian at the end of the tenth century writes, 'He who is God by nature converses with those whom he has made gods by grace, as a friend converses with his friends, face to face.' ...<ref name="Millet and Reynolds 1998"/>}}

=== Vision of God ===

According to Hierotheos Vlachos, divinization, also called ''theosis'', "is the participation in the Uncreated grace of God" and "is identified and connected with the ''[[theoria]]'' (vision) of the Uncreated Light". "''Theoria'' is the vision of the glory of God. ''Theoria'' is identified with the vision of the uncreated Light, the uncreated energy of God, with the union of man with God, with man's ''theosis''. This vision, by which faith is attained, is what saves: "Faith comes by hearing the Word and by experiencing ''theoria'' (the vision of God). We accept faith at first by hearing in order to be healed, and then we attain to faith by ''theoria'', which saves man." It is also one of the means by which Christians came to know the [[Trinity]]: "The disciples of Christ acquired the knowledge of the Triune God in ''theoria'' (vision of God) and by revelation."<ref>{{harvnb|Vlachos|1994}}</ref>

=== As a patristic and historical teaching ===

For many [[Church Fathers]], ''theosis'' goes beyond simply restoring people to their state before the Fall of Adam and Eve, teaching that because Christ united the human and divine natures in Jesus' person, it is now possible for someone to experience closer fellowship with God than Adam and Eve initially experienced in the Garden of Eden, and that people can become more like God than Adam and Eve were at that time. Some Eastern Orthodox theologians go so far as to say that Jesus would have become [[Incarnation|incarnate]] for this reason alone, even if Adam and Eve had never sinned.<ref>{{harvnb|Lossky|2002}}</ref>

=== Ascetic practice ===

{{See also|Desert Fathers|Maximus the Confessor|Monasticism}}

The journey toward theosis includes many forms of [[praxis (Orthodox)|praxis]]. The most obvious form being Monasticism and Clergy. Of the Monastic tradition the practice of [[hesychasm]] is most important as a way to establish a direct relationship with God. Living in the community of the church and partaking regularly of the sacraments, and especially the [[Eucharist]], is taken for granted. Also important is cultivating "[[prayer of the heart]]", and prayer that never ceases, as Paul exhorts the Thessalonians ([[First Epistle to the Thessalonians|1]] and [[Second Epistle to the Thessalonians|2]]). This unceasing prayer of the heart is a dominant theme in the writings of the Fathers, especially in those collected in the [[Philokalia]]. It is considered that no one can reach theosis without an impeccable Christian living, crowned by faithful, warm, and, ultimately, silent ([[hesychasm|hesychast]]), continuous Prayer of the Heart. The "doer" in deification is the Holy Spirit, with whom the human being joins his will to receive this transforming grace by praxis and prayer, and as [[Gregory Palamas]] teaches, the Christian mystics are deified as they become filled with the [[Light of Tabor]] of the Holy Spirit in the degree that they make themselves open to it by asceticism (divinization being not a one-sided act of God, but a loving cooperation between God and the advanced Christian, which Palamas considers a synergy).<ref>{{harvnb|Maloney|2003}}</ref> This [[Synergism (theology)|synergy]] or co-operation between God and Man does not lead to mankind being absorbed into God as was taught in earlier pagan forms of deification like [[Henosis]]. Rather it expresses unity, in the complementary nature between the created and the creator. Acquisition of the Holy Spirit is key as the acquisition of the spirit leads to [[self-realization]].