The 12th century Ladder of Divine Ascent icon (St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt) showing monks, lead by John Climacus, ascending the ladder to Jesus, at the top right.
Yesterday afternoon, an old friend of mine asked me to compare the Eastern Orthodox conception of theosis to Oswald Chambers’ conception of “Christian Perfection.” Given the widespread use of Chambers’ devotional classic, My Utmost For His Highest, and the growing evangelical interest in Eastern Orthodoxy, I have decided to post a reply to his inquiry here, on this site. If you are unfamiliar with either of these concepts, consider this an opportunity to learn a little more about the theological thinking of millions upon millions of Christians around the world.
So, let’s start with the origins of theosis. The earliest extra-biblical references to theosis date back to the early church fathers, Ireneaus (ca. 202 AD) and Athanasius (ca. 300 AD) who wrote: “If the Word is made man, it is that men might become gods.”[1] Now here, in the West, I expect that many of my evangelical and/or atheistic readers likely have a sound similar to an alarm at ground zero going off in their minds. “That men might become gods?! That can’t be!” I hear you. I hear you. Stick with me, friend.
Let’s take a look at the evidence. The first thing you need to know is that this theological construct is not simply created out of thin air. Rather, it is most explicitly grounded in the Apostle Peter’s Second Epistle, with slightly more ambiguous references being found in other passages throughout the New Testament as well.[2]
God has bestowed upon us, through his divine power, everything that we need for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue. The result is that he has given us, through these things, his precious and wonderful promises; and the purpose of all this is so that you may run away from the corruption of lust that is in the world, and may become partakers of the divine nature. So, because of this, you should strain every nerve to supplement your faith with virtue, and your virtue with knowledge, and your knowledge with self-control, and your self-control with patience, and your patience with piety, and your piety with family affection, and your family affection with love. If you have these things in plentiful supply, you see, you will not be wasting your time, or failing to bear fruit, in relation to your knowledge of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. Someone who doesn’t have these things, in fact, is so shortsighted as to be actually blind, and has forgotten what it means to be cleaned from earlier sins. So, my dear family, you must make the effort all the more to confirm that God has called you and chosen you. If you do this, you will never trip up. That is how you will have, richly laid out before you, an entrance into the kingdom of God’s coming age, the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah.[3]
Now that we have seen the passage in its entirety, I want to take a few moments to slowly pull it apart. Let’s start by taking a look at the opening section.
God has bestowed upon us, through his divine power, everything that we need for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue.
The first thing that needs to be said on the subject of theosis is that this concept is grounded, first and foremost, in the grace of Yahweh and the Christ. It is not an independent act of man nor is it something we have merited. Rather, for the Eastern Orthodox believer, theosis is a gift that is bestowed upon the followers of the Christ, who does all things for His own glory.
But what is the purpose of this gift? What is the result of deification?
The result is that he has given us, through these things, his precious and wonderful promises; and the purpose of all this is so that you may run away from the corruption of lust that is in the world, and may become partakers of the divine nature.
Look again. What does it say? “The purpose of all this [grace] is so that you may run away from the corruption of the lust that is in the world …” Yes, yes. We get that. We’re evangelicals. We understand avoidance. Keep going. “The purpose of all this [grace] is so that you… may become partakers of the divine nature.”
That’s the key. Now stop and think for a minute. In Western Christianity, and in evangelicalism in particular, we are very comfortable talking about being like Jesus. We even have pithy, little catch-phrases like “What would Jesus do?” to remind us that we need to seek to be like our Rabbi and Savior. But what this passage seems to suggest, is that we actually become partakers in the divine nature. In other words, we’re not merely becoming like Jesus in a moral or ethical sense, but rather, we’re becoming like Jesus in a limited, ontological sense. Is that a bit confusing? Let me try to clarify. Eastern Orthodox believers put a clear limitation on theosis. On the one hand, they want to affirm the believer is saved from a state of unholiness unto a state of perfect holy union with Yahweh. But on the other hand, they want to avoid the heresy of apotheosis, which is broadly defined as “deification in essence,” or becoming One with the One. In other words, they are trying to maintain a distinction between the Trinitarian God and those that bear His image, whilst making that distinction as minimal as possible. [4]
Let’s keep going because this gets more and more interesting as you proceed.
So, because of this [grace-rooted partaking in the divine nature], you should strain every nerve to supplement your faith with virtue, and your virtue with knowledge, and your knowledge with self-control, and your self-control with patience, and your patience with piety, and your piety with family affection, and your family affection with love. If you have these things in plentiful supply, you see, you will not be wasting your time, or failing to bear fruit, in relation to your knowledge of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.
Now in Western Christianity, these are all activities that we place under the category of “sanctification.” “Justification” is the act of God graciously removing our inequity through the substitutionary atonement of Jesus on the cross, but “sanctification” is the process that follows “justification.” And “sanctification” is the term given to our cooperation with the Holy Spirit as the Spirit strives to lead us into becoming more like the One that died for us.
What is particularly interesting in this passage is that the process of becoming “divinized,” is directly related to our sanctification. More significantly, it also appears to be directly related to our justification and entrance into the Kingdom of God. Take a look:
Someone who doesn’t have these things [e.g. love, patience, self-control, etc…], in fact, is so shortsighted as to be actually blind, and has forgotten what it means to be cleansed from earlier sins. So, my dear family, you must make the effort all the more to confirm that God has called you and chosen you. If you do this, you will never trip up. That is how you will have, richly laid out before you, an entrance into the kingdom of God’s coming age, the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah.
Read that one more time:
… you must make the effort all the more to confirm that God has called you and chosen you …
And …
… if you do this, you will never trip up. That is how you will have, richly laid out before you, an entrance into the kingdom of God’s coming age, the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah.
When it comes right down to it, this is an absolutely fascinating passage with implications that are rarely, if ever, discussed in evangelical circles. For the Eastern Orthodox Christian, theosis is the grace-driven process of becoming morally and ontologically like Jesus. It is the process of becoming a “god.” It is the reason that when faced with the question: “Are you saved?” the Eastern Orthodox Christian responds: “I was saved. I am being saved. And I will be saved.”
For many Western Christians, salvation has come to mean nothing more than justification. In other words, salvation is nothing more than a declaration of innocence before a Holy and uncompromising God. It has been stripped of its fullness of its power and meaning and finds itself wallowing in a reductionistic, minimalistic malaise. For Eastern Christians, on the other hand, salvation entails far more than justification. Salvation is a process that involves (at a minimum): justification, sanctification, and deification, all of which play into the “already and not yet” nature of the Kingdom of God.
Now the ramifications of this could not be more significant. Regardless of how you emotionally respond to this post, you must understand there is a movement within the larger Christian Church that is beginning to question some of the formalized doctrines and delineations of the Protestant Reformation. What’s more, there is a social trend in which evangelicals are beginning to migrate back to the Roman Catholic Church and even back to the Eastern Orthodox Church. For many of these people, it is the mystical concepts of theosis and being “in Christ” that are drawing them to an experience that is neither Modern in its orientation nor entirely rational in its expression. It is a move towards the unknown in the belief that God is not entirely knowable from a rational perspective. And for the sake of understanding these brothers and sisters in Christ, and for the sake of potentially learning something from them, it is incumbent upon us to begin to come to terms with this theology.
One final note. I am aware that many protestant theologians and pastors might desire to unpack the passage above in different manner than that which I have done. My point in dissecting the passage as I did was to attempt to be as fair as I could to the Eastern Orthodox perspective on these matters.
So what do you think, friend? Are the lines between justification and sanctification as clean as we, in the West, have been taught? Or might it be that the two are far more intimately connected? And if so, what does this do to our understanding of the assurance of salvation? The phone lines are now open and operators are standing by to take your call.
[1] Although I have only quoted Ireneaus, the reader needs to understand that this concept is widely discussed in the writing of early church fathers. Notable theologians working with the topic include: Ireneaus, Clement of Alexandria, Athanasius of Alexandria, Cyril of Alexandria, and Basil the Great, as well as many others.
[2] See also Romans 8, John 14-17, and even John 10:34, when Jesus himself quotes Psalm 82:6 by saying: “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods.’”
[3] 2 Peter 1:3-11
[4] The language that is used here is the language of essence and energies. While theosis brings one into perfect union with God’s “energies,” it does not bring one into union with His “essence.”
