The false spiritualities plaguing all religious organizations and society

July 31, 2007

>

> DEFINING THEOSIS

>

> It is not easy to give a definition of theosis, since so many

> aspects of Christian truth are utilized by those who advance the

> teaching, and different writers and traditions emphasize different

> truths. The word " theosis " is the transliteration of the Greek word

> meaning " deification " --being made God. Our English word

> " apotheosis " has much the same meaning.{19} In his definition,

> contemporary Anglican priest Kenneth Leech builds upon the words of

> Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662), considered to be perhaps the

> most creative of Byzantine theologians and the most helpful

> formulator of the doctrine of theosis. Leech writes that according

> to Maximus, " deification is the work of divine grace by which human

> nature is so transformed that it `shines forth with a supernatural

> light and is transported above its own limits by a superabundance

> of glory'. " {20}

>

> Archbishop Basil Krivocheine, expressing the thought of St. Symeon

> the New Theologian, writes:

>

> Divinization is the state of man's total transformation, effected

> by the Holy Spirit, when man observes the commandments of God,

> acquires the evangelical virtues and shares in the sufferings of

> Christ. The Holy Spirit then gives man a divine intelligence and

> incorruptibility. Man does not receive a new soul, but the Holy

> Spirit unites essentially with the whole man, body and soul. He

> makes of him a son of God, a god by adoption, though man does not

> cease being a man, a simple creature, even when he clearly sees the

> Father. He may be called man and god at the same time.{21}

>

> http://www.bethel.edu/~rakrobTHEOSIS2.html

>

i agree that there is a " crying need for a robust, biblical theology

of the Christian life that will refute and replace the plethora of

false spiritualities plaguing Church and society. " It is only after

Jesus had sent the Comforter, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, that it became

possible to thoroughly comprehend theosis and the robust, biblical

theology of Christianity. It is only through Her detailed Divine

Message of the Last Judgment and Resurrection--declared and spread to

many nations and peoples over more than three decades--is it possible

today to become aware of the false spiritualities plaguing all

religious organizations and society. (Since the SY organization and

WCASY has edited out Her Divine Message i regard them to be preaching

a false spirituality too.)

The Last Judgment and Resurrection is pivotal in comprehending " the

deepest questions of our existence: who am I, where did I come from,

what's the meaning and purpose of existence, do I have a soul, what

happens to me after I die, does God exist, and if God exists does God

care about me personally. " [1]

In this Golden Age of the Last Judgment and Resurrection humans will

break free of centuries of false religious dogmas, destructive

indoctrinations, and absurd ideas about the Divine. The decadent

foundations of materialistic society and divisive religious regimes

crumble. The Last Judgment and Resurrection is not the signal of the

apocalyptic end of the world. On the contrary the Dark Age of death,

delusion and destruction humanity has endured for millennia ends. We

awaken to a new dawn of genuine spiritual rebirth and daily

experience of truth, consciousness and bliss (Sat-Chit-Anand).

" Mythological eschatologies depict an eternal struggle between order

and chaos and celebrate the eternity of order and the repeatability

of the origin of the world. The most notable expression of

mythological eschatology is in Hinduism, which maintains belief in

great cycles of the destruction and creation of the universe.

Historical eschatologies are grounded in datable events that are

perceived as fundamental to the progress of history. Judaism,

Christianity, and Islam all have historical eschatologies.

Eschatology in the Hebrew Scriptures sees the catastrophes that beset

the people of Israel as due to their disobedience to the laws and

will of God and holds that conformity to God's plan will result in

renewal and the fulfillment of God's purpose. In Christianity, the

end times are thought to have begun with the life and ministry of

Jesus, the messiah who will return to establish the Kingdom of God.

Millennialism focuses especially on Christ's second coming and the

reign of the righteous on earth. In Shi'ite Islam it is believed that

the mahdi, or restorer of the faith, will come to inaugurate the last

judgment, in which the good will enter heaven and the evil will fall

into hell. In Buddhism, eschatological traditions are associated with

the Buddha Maitreya and with Pure Land Buddhism, as well as with

individual efforts to achieve nirvana. " [2]

Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have historical

eschatologies. The incarnation of the Divine Feminine (Shakti/Holy

Spirit/Ruh) Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has fulfilled all these

historical eschatologies simultaneously, exposing in the process all

the false spiritualities plaguing these religious organizations and

society. Through Her unprecedented powers of Self-realization She has

triggerred the theosis, the " divine grace by which human nature is so

transformed that it `shines forth with a supernatural light and is

transported above its own limits by a superabundance of glory.' "

But why and how does the Shakti (Holy Spirit/Ruh) accomplish such

feats " by which human nature is so transformed that it `shines forth

with a supernatural light and is transported above its own limits by

a superabundance of glory' " ? In the first place, where and through

what process does one find Her?

" The power or active aspect of the immanent God is Sakti. Sakti is

the embodiment of power. She is the supporter of the vast universe.

She is the supreme power by which the world is upheld. She is the

Universal Mother. She is Durga, Kali, Chandi, Chamundi,

Tripurasundari, Rajesvari. There is no difference between God and His

Sakti, just as there is no difference between fire and its burning

power.

He who worships Sakti, that is, God in Mother form, as the supreme

power which creates, sustains and withdraws the universe, is a Sakta.

All women are forms of the Divine Mother.

Siva is the unchanging consciousness. Sakti is His changing power

which appears as mind and matter. Saktivada or Saktadarsana is a form

of monism or Advaitavada.

A Sakta does Sadhana which helps the union of Siva and Sakti, through

the awakening of the forces within the body. He becomes a Siddha in

the Sadhana, when he is able to awaken Kundalini and pierce the six

Chakras. This is to be done in a perfect practical way under the

guidance of a Guru who has become perfect. The Sakti must be awakened

by Dhyana, by Bhava, by Japa, by Mantra-Sakti. The Mother, the

embodiment of the fifty letters, is present in the various letters in

the different Chakras. When the chords of a musical instrument are

struck harmoniously, fine music is produced. Even so, when the chords

of the letters are struck in their order, the Mother who moves in the

six Chakras and who is the very self of the letters, awakens Herself.

The Sadhaka attains Siddhi easily when She is roused. It is difficult

to say when and how She shows Herself and to what Sadhaka. Sadhana

means unfolding, rousing up or awakening of power or Sakti. Mode of

Sadhana depends upon the tendencies and capacities of the Sadhaka.

Sakti may be termed as that by which we live and have our being in

this universe. In this world all the wants of the child are provided

by the mother. The child's growth, development and sustenance are

looked after by the mother. Even so, all the necessaries of life and

its activities in this world and the energy needed for it, depend

upon Sakti or the Universal Mother.

No one can free himself from the thraldom of mind and matter without

Mother's grace. The fetters of Maya are too hard to break. If you

worship Her as the great Mother, you can very easily go beyond

Prakriti through Her benign grace and blessings. She will remove all

obstacles in the path and lead you safely into the illimitable domain

of eternal bliss and make you free. When She is pleased and bestows

Her blessings on you, then alone you can free yourself from the

bondage of this formidable Samsara. " [3]

Shri Mataji is the Comforter sent by Lord Jesus to guide, console,

cheer and comfort you during the Last Judgment and Resurrection. For

more than three decades She has worked tirelessly and selflessly to

enlighten and protect you from the false spiritualities plaguing all

religious organizations and society. She is verily the incarnation of

the Great Mother who alone can free you from the bondage of this

formidable Samsara. She is the source through which the " deification

or theosis of the creature will be realized in its fullness only in

the age to come " . [4] Seek and meditate on Her within as She is the

very core of your eternal soul. She is verily your very Self!

According to Vladimir Lossky, " While remaining a spiritually

conscious state and clearly felt by the one who receives it,

divinization will always remain an awesome mystery, surpassing all

human understanding and unobserved by most people. Indeed, the ones

who are granted it are rare, although all the baptized are called to

it. It is their fault if they deprive themselves of it. " {5}

Since we know that this is the promised age of the Last Judgemnt and

Resurrection (the age to come) i would want to alter it slighty:

" While remaining a spiritually conscious state and clearly felt as

the Cool Breeze of the Holy Spirit by the one who receives Self-

realization, divinization will always remain an awesome mystery,

surpassing all human understanding and unobserved by most people.

Indeed, the ones who are granted it are rare, although all humans are

called to experience it by taking part in the Last Judgment and

Resurrection. It is their fault if they deprive themselves of it. "

Jai Shri Ganapathy,

jagbir

[1] Deepak Chopra

[2] Encyclopedia Britannica

[3] Sri Swami Sivananda, Divine Life Society

[4] Krivocheine, St. Symeon, pp. 389-390.

[5] Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church

(Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1976), p. 196.

, " nicole_bougantouche "

<nicole_bougantouche wrote:

>

> BECOMING LIKE GOD: AN EVANGELICAL DOCTRINE OF THEOSIS

> JETS 40/2 (June 1997) 257-269

>

> Robert V. Rakestraw

>

> In one of his letters, Athanasius, the fourth-century defender of

the faith, made his famous statement that the Son of God became

man " that he might deify us in himself. " {1} In his great work, On the

Incarnation, he wrote similarly that Christ " was made man that we

might be made God. " {2} This is the doctrine of theosis, also known as

deification, divinization, or, as some prefer, participation in God.

{3}

>

> While the concept of theosis has roots in the ante-Nicene period,

it is not an antiquated historical curiosity. The idea of

divinization, of redeemed human nature somehow participating in the

very life of God, is found to a surprising extent throughout

Christian history, although it is practically unknown to the

> majority of Christians (and even many theologians) in the West. In

Orthodox theology, however, it is the controlling doctrine.

Furthermore, " it is not too much to say that the divinization of

humanity is the central theme, chief aim, basic purpose, or primary

religious ideal of Orthodoxy. " {4} With the growing interest in

Eastern Orthodox/Evangelical rapprochement, it is essential that

> theosis studies be pursued. Evangelicals may receive considerable

benefit from a clear understanding and judicious appropriation of the

doctrine. This is so particularly in light of the crying need for a

robust, biblical theology of the Christian life that will refute and

replace the plethora of false spiritualities plaguing Church and

society.

>

> ……….

>

> DEFINING THEOSIS

>

> It is not easy to give a definition of theosis, since so many

aspects of Christian truth are utilized by those who advance the

teaching, and different writers and traditions emphasize different

truths. The word " theosis " is the transliteration of the Greek word

meaning " deification " --being made God. Our English word " apotheosis "

has much the same meaning.{19} In his definition, contemporary

> Anglican priest Kenneth Leech builds upon the words of Maximus the

> Confessor (c. 580-662), considered to be perhaps the most creative

of Byzantine theologians and the most helpful formulator of the

doctrine of theosis. Leech writes that according to Maximus,

" deification is the work of divine grace by which human nature is so

transformed that it `shines forth with a supernatural light and is

transported above its own limits by a superabundance of glory'. " {20}

>

> Archbishop Basil Krivocheine, expressing the thought of St. Symeon

the New Theologian, writes:

>

> Divinization is the state of man's total transformation, effected

by the Holy Spirit, when man observes the commandments of God,

acquires the evangelical virtues and shares in the sufferings of

Christ. The Holy Spirit then gives man a divine intelligence and

incorruptibility. Man does not receive a new soul, but the Holy

Spirit unites essentially with the whole man, body and soul. He makes

of him a son of God, a god by adoption, though man does not cease

being a man, a simple creature, even when he clearly sees the Father.

> He may be called man and god at the same time.{21}

>

> A more Westernized definition comes from Philip Edgecumbe Hughes,

the deceased evangelical Anglican clergyman, biblical scholar and

theologian in the Reformed tradition. Like a fair number of older

Anglicans, he understood and saw considerable value in the doctrine

of theosis. Commenting on the words of Athanasius that we quoted at

the start of this paper, Hughes notes that while Athanasius did not

clarify in every reference what he intended by his concept of

deification, he made it quite clear from his writings as a whole

> that he did not have in mind a transformation of the human into the

divine, an ontological or essential change of humanity into deity.

>

> Hughes goes on to explain, correctly I believe, what Athanasius did

mean, and in so doing gives us a useful definition of theosis as

>

> the reintegration of the divine image of man's creation through the

sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit conforming the redeemed into the

likeness of Christ, and also of the believer's transition from

mortality to immortality so that he is enabled to participate in the

eternal bliss and glory of the kingdom of God.{22}

>

> Above all, theosis is the restoration and reintegration of

the " image " or, as some prefer, " likeness " of God, seriously

distorted by the fall, in the children of God. In this life

Christians grow more and more into the very likeness and

> character of God, as God was revealed in the man Jesus Christ.

>

> This is more than the customary Protestant concept of

sanctification, however. In theosis, while there is no ontological

change of humanity into deity, there is a very real impartation of

the divine life to the whole human being--body and soul. Lutheran

Ross Aden observes that Orthodox theologians, such as John Breck, use

the expression " communion with God " to mean " ontological

> participation. " In contrast to Lutheranism, " the Orthodox hope of

salvation in its broadest sense is more than hope of a divine

sentence of 'not guilty' or even of a beatific vision; it is `human

participation in the being of God . . . a total sharing in the Triune

life.' . . . Created in the image of God, human beings are called to

become like God by realizing the potential for ontological sharing in

> the life of God, " yet never in such a way that theosis means

sharing in God's essence (nature). " Lutherans and Orthodox would

agree that the essence of God is utterly transcendent and therefore

inaccessible to any created reality. " {23}

>

> G. I. Mantzaridis of the University of Thessaloniki writes in a

recent work that deification is God's greatest gift to man and the

ultimate goal of human existence.

>

> It is that which from the beginning has constituted the innermost

longing of man's existence. Adam, in attempting to appropriate it by

transgressing God's command, failed, and in place of deification, met

with corruption and death. The love of God, however, through His

Son's incarnation, restored to man the possibility of deification:

>

> Adam of old was deceived:

>

> wanting to be God he failed to be God.

>

> God becomes man,

>

> so that He may make Adam god.{24}

>

> The Greek Fathers and St. Gregory Palamas incorporate a

strongly " physical " view of theosis, which derives the deification of

human nature from its hypostatic union with the incarnate Logos of

God. This view " does not imply any mechanical commutation of

humanity, but an ontological regeneration of human nature in the

hypostasis of the incarnate Logos of God, accessible to every man who

participates personally and freely in the life of Christ. " {25}

>

> Concerning the time factor in divinization, Vladimir Lossky writes:

>

> The deification or theosis of the creature will be realized in its

fullness only in the age to come, after the resurrection of the dead.

This deifying union has, nevertheless, to be fulfilled ever more and

more even in this present life, through the transformation of our

corruptible and depraved nature and by its adaptation to eternal life.

{26}

>

> With regard to those who receive this gracious gift, Krivocheine

gives the thought of Symeon:

>

> While remaining a spiritually conscious state and clearly felt by

the one who receives it, divinization will always remain an awesome

mystery, surpassing all human understanding and unobserved by most

people. Indeed, the ones who are granted it are rare, although all

the baptized are called to it. It is their fault if they deprive

themselves of it.{27}

>

> John Meyendorff speaks of the never ending nature of deification.

>

> Man is not fully man unless he is in communion with God. . . .

However, because God remains absolutely transcendent in his essence,

man's communion with Him has no limit. It never reaches an End, which

would be a dead end. God is both transcendent and inexhaustible. . . .

In Christ [according to Palamas], man enters into communion not

with " the God of the philosophers and the savants " but with the one

who in human language can only be called " more than God. " {28}

>

> While the doctrine of divinization or theosis is associated

primarily with the Orthodox churches of the East, it has similarities

with the teaching about sanctification in the West. As noted above,

however, the two are not identical. In the Western churches, as Bray

notes, the concept of the imitation of Christ is the closest analogy

to the theosis doctrine of the East. In Orthodox theology, while we

are called to imitate Christ, we are also called to manifest the

> energies of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who proceeds from the

Father rests on the Son and becomes his energies. The Spirit then, by

adopting us as sons of God, makes accessible to us the spiritual

power which belongs to Christ.{29} Eastern writers stress, however,

the distinction between God's essence and his energies. According to

theosis proponent Timothy Ware (Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia), " union

with God means union with the divine energies, not the divine

essence: the Orthodox Church, while speaking of deification and

> union, rejects all forms of pantheism. " {30}

>

> Orthodox churches also work more with the incarnation than with the

> crucifixion of Christ as the basis for man's divinization. This is

not to say that Christ's atonement is minimized in the work of

redemption,{31} but that the intention of the Father in creating

humanity in the first place, and of joining humanity to divinity in

the incarnation, is so that human beings might assume Godlikeness,

and be imagers of God in his divine life, character, and actions.

>

1. Athanasius, Letter 60, to Adelphius, 4. See also sect. 3 and 8.

NPNF, 2nd Series, IV, pp. 575-578.

2. Athanasius, On the Incarnation 54. NPNF, 2nd Series, IV, p. 65.

3. A. M. Allchin titles his book on theosis Participation in God: A

Forgotten Strand in Anglican Tradition (Wilton, CT: Morehouse-Barlow,

1988).

4. Daniel B. Clendenin, Eastern Orthodox Christianity: A Western

Perspective (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), p. 120.

5. Daniel B. Clendenin, " Partakers of Divinity: The Orthodox

Doctrine of Theosis, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

37:3 (1994):365-379.

6. Clendenin, Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

7. G. L. Bray, " Deification, " in Sinclair B. Ferguson, David F.

Wright, J. I. Packer, ed., New Dictionary of Theology (Downers Grove:

InterVarsity, 1988), p. 189.

8. Karl Barth, The Christian Life: Church Dogmatics IV, 4, Lecture

Fragments (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981), p. 28.

9. Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (Baltimore: Penguin, New ed.,

1993), pp. 231. See also Rowan Williams, " Deification, " in Gordon S.

Wakefield, ed., The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality

(Philadelphia: Westminster, 1983), p. 106.

10. Other theosis texts are Gal. 2:20 and I John 4:16. See

Panayiotis Nellas, Deification in Christ (Crestwood, NY: St.

Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1987), pp. 23-25, 35-39, 127, 139. Books

published by St. Vladimir & #65533;s Seminary Press are strongly

supportive

of theosis theology.

11. Irenaeus, Against Heresies V, I, 1. ANF I p. 527.

12. Irenaeus, Against Heresies III, X, 2. ANF I, p. 424.

13. Epistle to Diognetus X. ANF I, p. 29.

14. St. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity IX, 4-5. NPNF, 2nd

Series, IX, p. 156.

15. St. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity IX, 38. NPNF, 2nd Series,

IX, p. 167. See also X, 7 (pp. 183-184). A very helpful work on

Hilary is by Philip T. Wild, The Divinization of Man According to

Saint Hilary of Portiers (Mundelein, IL: Saint Mary of the Lake

Seminary, 1950).

16. Williams, " Deification, " p. 107.

17. Williams, " Deification, " p. 107. Thomas C. Oden notes that the

traditional distinction between incommunicable and communicable

attributes clarifies how the soul may partake of the divine nature:

there can be godlikeness by participation in the communicable

attributes, such as grace, mercy, and longsuffering, but there is no

possibility of finite creatures being made infinite, invisible, pure

spirit, etc. (Life in the Spirit [Harper San Francisco, 1992], pp.

208-209). Winfried Corduan similarly explains how in Eckhart the

believer is said to possess the nature of God ( " A Hair & #65533;s

Breadth

From Pantheism: Meister Eckhart & #65533;s God-Centered Spirituality, "

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 37:2 [1994], pp. 263-

274, esp. pp. 269-271).

18. Williams, " Deification, " p. 106.

19. See articles in G. W. H. Lampe, ed., A Patristic Greek Lexicon

(Oxford: Clarendon, 1961-68).

20. Kenneth Leech, Experiencing God: Theology as Spirituality (San

Francisco: Harper and Row, 1985), p. 258. Theosis writers speak often

of the concept of glory--the supernatural light of God's essence that

may be, in some way, manifested in the children of God. See Vladimir

Lossky, The Vision of God (Bedfordshire: The Faith Press, 1963), pp.

129-137; and Kallistos Ware, " The Hesychasts: Gregory of Sinai,

Gregory Palamas, Nicolas Cabasilas, " in Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey

Wainwright, and Edward Yarnold, ed., The Study of Spirituality (New

York: Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. 251-53.

21. Basil Krivocheine, St. Symeon the New Theologian (Crestwood, NY:

St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1986), p. 389.

22. Philip Edgecumbe Hughes, The True Image (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

1989), p. 281.

23. Ross Aden, " Justification and Sanctification: A Conversation

Between Lutheranism and Orthodoxy, " St. Vladimir's Theological

Quarterly 38:1 (1994):96-98. See also John Meyendorff and Robert

Tobias, ed., Salvation in Christ: A Lutheran-Orthodox Dialogue

(Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1992). While theosis theologians do not

espouse a fusion of deity with humanity in deified believers, they at

times do speak of ontological change in them. Jaroslav Pelikan

observes that in the Cappadocians there does seem to be some sort of

a fundamental ontological change in the theosis experience

(Christianity and Classical Culture [New Haven: Yale University

Press, 1993], p. 318. Krivocheine states that in the thought of St.

Symeon, deification refers to " an ontological rather than to a purely

spiritual transformation, although Symeon does not pretend that man

abandons his created nature when he becomes a god through adoption "

(St. Symeon the New Theologian, p. 390). On the distinction between

God and man, Johannes Quasten writes that while for Athanasius one of

the major themes in his divinization theology is Christ's granting of

immortality to humankind, this is not accomplished by changing

humanity into deity, but by suffering death for us in his body and by

conjoining the divine nature with the human (Patrology, Vol. III: The

Golden Age of Greek Patristic Literature [utrecht: Spectrum, 1975],

pp. 71-72. Andrew Louth notes how basic the ontological gulf between

God and humankind was to Athanasian theology ( " The Cappadocians, " in

Jones, et al., ed., The Study of Spirituality, pp. 161-162).

24. Georgios I. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man (Crestwood, NY:

St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1984), pp. 12-13.

25. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man, p. 31.

26. Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church

(Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1976), p. 196.

27. Krivocheine, St. Symeon, pp. 389-390.

28. John Meyendorff, The Byzantine Legacy in the Orthodox Church

(Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1982), pp. 188-189.

29. Bray, " Deification, " p. 189.

30. Ware, The Orthodox Church, p. 232. For Gregory Palamas' thoughts

on the essence and energies of God see Lossky, The Vision of God, pp.

127-129, and Ware, " The Hesychasts, " pp. 250-251.

31. See, e.g., Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 8-9.

July 31, 2007

, " jagbir

singh " <adishakti_org wrote:

Dear Jagbir and All,

Could you please add this writing on " Theosis " to the HSS " Editor's Choice " . i

had wanted the Theosis added earlier on already, but never got around to it.

That would be greatly appreciated, if you do not mind.

warmest regards,

violet

> > DEFINING THEOSIS

> >

> > It is not easy to give a definition of theosis, since so many

> > aspects of Christian truth are utilized by those who advance the

> > teaching, and different writers and traditions emphasize different

> > truths. The word " theosis " is the transliteration of the Greek

word

> > meaning " deification " --being made God. Our English word

> > " apotheosis " has much the same meaning.{19} In his definition,

> > contemporary Anglican priest Kenneth Leech builds upon the words

of

> > Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662), considered to be perhaps the

> > most creative of Byzantine theologians and the most helpful

> > formulator of the doctrine of theosis. Leech writes that according

> > to Maximus, " deification is the work of divine grace by which

human

> > nature is so transformed that it `shines forth with a supernatural

> > light and is transported above its own limits by a superabundance

> > of glory'. " {20}

> >

> > Archbishop Basil Krivocheine, expressing the thought of St. Symeon

> > the New Theologian, writes:

> >

> > Divinization is the state of man's total transformation, effected

> > by the Holy Spirit, when man observes the commandments of God,

> > acquires the evangelical virtues and shares in the sufferings of

> > Christ. The Holy Spirit then gives man a divine intelligence and

> > incorruptibility. Man does not receive a new soul, but the Holy

> > Spirit unites essentially with the whole man, body and soul. He

> > makes of him a son of God, a god by adoption, though man does not

> > cease being a man, a simple creature, even when he clearly sees

the

> > Father. He may be called man and god at the same time.{21}

> >

> > http://www.bethel.edu/~rakrobTHEOSIS2.html

> >

>

> i agree that there is a " crying need for a robust, biblical theology

> of the Christian life that will refute and replace the plethora of

> false spiritualities plaguing Church and society. " It is only after

> Jesus had sent the Comforter, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, that it

became

> possible to thoroughly comprehend theosis and the robust, biblical

> theology of Christianity. It is only through Her detailed Divine

> Message of the Last Judgment and Resurrection--declared and spread

to

> many nations and peoples over more than three decades--is it

possible

> today to become aware of the false spiritualities plaguing all

> religious organizations and society. (Since the SY organization and

> WCASY has edited out Her Divine Message i regard them to be

preaching

> a false spirituality too.)

>

> The Last Judgment and Resurrection is pivotal in comprehending " the

> deepest questions of our existence: who am I, where did I come from,

> what's the meaning and purpose of existence, do I have a soul, what

> happens to me after I die, does God exist, and if God exists does

God

> care about me personally. " [1]

>

> In this Golden Age of the Last Judgment and Resurrection humans will

> break free of centuries of false religious dogmas, destructive

> indoctrinations, and absurd ideas about the Divine. The decadent

> foundations of materialistic society and divisive religious regimes

> crumble. The Last Judgment and Resurrection is not the signal of the

> apocalyptic end of the world. On the contrary the Dark Age of death,

> delusion and destruction humanity has endured for millennia ends. We

> awaken to a new dawn of genuine spiritual rebirth and daily

> experience of truth, consciousness and bliss (Sat-Chit-Anand).

>

> " Mythological eschatologies depict an eternal struggle between order

> and chaos and celebrate the eternity of order and the repeatability

> of the origin of the world. The most notable expression of

> mythological eschatology is in Hinduism, which maintains belief in

> great cycles of the destruction and creation of the universe.

> Historical eschatologies are grounded in datable events that are

> perceived as fundamental to the progress of history. Judaism,

> Christianity, and Islam all have historical eschatologies.

> Eschatology in the Hebrew Scriptures sees the catastrophes that

beset

> the people of Israel as due to their disobedience to the laws and

> will of God and holds that conformity to God's plan will result in

> renewal and the fulfillment of God's purpose. In Christianity, the

> end times are thought to have begun with the life and ministry of

> Jesus, the messiah who will return to establish the Kingdom of God.

> Millennialism focuses especially on Christ's second coming and the

> reign of the righteous on earth. In Shi'ite Islam it is believed

that

> the mahdi, or restorer of the faith, will come to inaugurate the

last

> judgment, in which the good will enter heaven and the evil will fall

> into hell. In Buddhism, eschatological traditions are associated

with

> the Buddha Maitreya and with Pure Land Buddhism, as well as with

> individual efforts to achieve nirvana. " [2]

>

> Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have historical

> eschatologies. The incarnation of the Divine Feminine (Shakti/Holy

> Spirit/Ruh) Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has fulfilled all these

> historical eschatologies simultaneously, exposing in the process all

> the false spiritualities plaguing these religious organizations and

> society. Through Her unprecedented powers of Self-realization She

has

> triggerred the theosis, the " divine grace by which human nature is

so

> transformed that it `shines forth with a supernatural light and is

> transported above its own limits by a superabundance of glory.' "

>

> But why and how does the Shakti (Holy Spirit/Ruh) accomplish such

> feats " by which human nature is so transformed that it `shines forth

> with a supernatural light and is transported above its own limits by

> a superabundance of glory' " ? In the first place, where and through

> what process does one find Her?

>

> " The power or active aspect of the immanent God is Sakti. Sakti is

> the embodiment of power. She is the supporter of the vast universe.

> She is the supreme power by which the world is upheld. She is the

> Universal Mother. She is Durga, Kali, Chandi, Chamundi,

> Tripurasundari, Rajesvari. There is no difference between God and

His

> Sakti, just as there is no difference between fire and its burning

> power.

>

> He who worships Sakti, that is, God in Mother form, as the supreme

> power which creates, sustains and withdraws the universe, is a

Sakta.

> All women are forms of the Divine Mother.

>

> Siva is the unchanging consciousness. Sakti is His changing power

> which appears as mind and matter. Saktivada or Saktadarsana is a

form

> of monism or Advaitavada.

>

> A Sakta does Sadhana which helps the union of Siva and Sakti,

through

> the awakening of the forces within the body. He becomes a Siddha in

> the Sadhana, when he is able to awaken Kundalini and pierce the six

> Chakras. This is to be done in a perfect practical way under the

> guidance of a Guru who has become perfect. The Sakti must be

awakened

> by Dhyana, by Bhava, by Japa, by Mantra-Sakti. The Mother, the

> embodiment of the fifty letters, is present in the various letters

in

> the different Chakras. When the chords of a musical instrument are

> struck harmoniously, fine music is produced. Even so, when the

chords

> of the letters are struck in their order, the Mother who moves in

the

> six Chakras and who is the very self of the letters, awakens

Herself.

> The Sadhaka attains Siddhi easily when She is roused. It is

difficult

> to say when and how She shows Herself and to what Sadhaka. Sadhana

> means unfolding, rousing up or awakening of power or Sakti. Mode of

> Sadhana depends upon the tendencies and capacities of the Sadhaka.

>

> Sakti may be termed as that by which we live and have our being in

> this universe. In this world all the wants of the child are provided

> by the mother. The child's growth, development and sustenance are

> looked after by the mother. Even so, all the necessaries of life and

> its activities in this world and the energy needed for it, depend

> upon Sakti or the Universal Mother.

>

> No one can free himself from the thraldom of mind and matter without

> Mother's grace. The fetters of Maya are too hard to break. If you

> worship Her as the great Mother, you can very easily go beyond

> Prakriti through Her benign grace and blessings. She will remove all

> obstacles in the path and lead you safely into the illimitable

domain

> of eternal bliss and make you free. When She is pleased and bestows

> Her blessings on you, then alone you can free yourself from the

> bondage of this formidable Samsara. " [3]

>

> Shri Mataji is the Comforter sent by Lord Jesus to guide, console,

> cheer and comfort you during the Last Judgment and Resurrection. For

> more than three decades She has worked tirelessly and selflessly to

> enlighten and protect you from the false spiritualities plaguing all

> religious organizations and society. She is verily the incarnation

of

> the Great Mother who alone can free you from the bondage of this

> formidable Samsara. She is the source through which the " deification

> or theosis of the creature will be realized in its fullness only in

> the age to come " . [4] Seek and meditate on Her within as She is the

> very core of your eternal soul. She is verily your very Self!

>

> According to Vladimir Lossky, " While remaining a spiritually

> conscious state and clearly felt by the one who receives it,

> divinization will always remain an awesome mystery, surpassing all

> human understanding and unobserved by most people. Indeed, the ones

> who are granted it are rare, although all the baptized are called to

> it. It is their fault if they deprive themselves of it. " {5}

>

> Since we know that this is the promised age of the Last Judgemnt and

> Resurrection (the age to come) i would want to alter it slighty:

>

> " While remaining a spiritually conscious state and clearly felt as

> the Cool Breeze of the Holy Spirit by the one who receives Self-

> realization, divinization will always remain an awesome mystery,

> surpassing all human understanding and unobserved by most people.

> Indeed, the ones who are granted it are rare, although all humans

are

> called to experience it by taking part in the Last Judgment and

> Resurrection. It is their fault if they deprive themselves of it. "

>

> Jai Shri Ganapathy,

>

> jagbir

>

> [1] Deepak Chopra

> [2] Encyclopedia Britannica

> [3] Sri Swami Sivananda, Divine Life Society

> [4] Krivocheine, St. Symeon, pp. 389-390.

> [5] Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church

> (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1976), p. 196.

>

> , " nicole_bougantouche "

> <nicole_bougantouche@> wrote:

> >

> > BECOMING LIKE GOD: AN EVANGELICAL DOCTRINE OF THEOSIS

> > JETS 40/2 (June 1997) 257-269

> >

> > Robert V. Rakestraw

> >

> > In one of his letters, Athanasius, the fourth-century defender of

> the faith, made his famous statement that the Son of God became

> man " that he might deify us in himself. " {1} In his great work, On

the

> Incarnation, he wrote similarly that Christ " was made man that we

> might be made God. " {2} This is the doctrine of theosis, also known

as

> deification, divinization, or, as some prefer, participation in God.

> {3}

> >

> > While the concept of theosis has roots in the ante-Nicene period,

> it is not an antiquated historical curiosity. The idea of

> divinization, of redeemed human nature somehow participating in the

> very life of God, is found to a surprising extent throughout

> Christian history, although it is practically unknown to the

> > majority of Christians (and even many theologians) in the West. In

> Orthodox theology, however, it is the controlling doctrine.

> Furthermore, " it is not too much to say that the divinization of

> humanity is the central theme, chief aim, basic purpose, or primary

> religious ideal of Orthodoxy. " {4} With the growing interest in

> Eastern Orthodox/Evangelical rapprochement, it is essential that

> > theosis studies be pursued. Evangelicals may receive considerable

> benefit from a clear understanding and judicious appropriation of

the

> doctrine. This is so particularly in light of the crying need for a

> robust, biblical theology of the Christian life that will refute and

> replace the plethora of false spiritualities plaguing Church and

> society.

> >

> > ……….

> >

> > DEFINING THEOSIS

> >

> > It is not easy to give a definition of theosis, since so many

> aspects of Christian truth are utilized by those who advance the

> teaching, and different writers and traditions emphasize different

> truths. The word " theosis " is the transliteration of the Greek word

> meaning " deification " --being made God. Our English word " apotheosis "

> has much the same meaning.{19} In his definition, contemporary

> > Anglican priest Kenneth Leech builds upon the words of Maximus the

> > Confessor (c. 580-662), considered to be perhaps the most creative

> of Byzantine theologians and the most helpful formulator of the

> doctrine of theosis. Leech writes that according to Maximus,

> " deification is the work of divine grace by which human nature is so

> transformed that it `shines forth with a supernatural light and is

> transported above its own limits by a superabundance of glory'. " {20}

> >

> > Archbishop Basil Krivocheine, expressing the thought of St. Symeon

> the New Theologian, writes:

> >

> > Divinization is the state of man's total transformation, effected

> by the Holy Spirit, when man observes the commandments of God,

> acquires the evangelical virtues and shares in the sufferings of

> Christ. The Holy Spirit then gives man a divine intelligence and

> incorruptibility. Man does not receive a new soul, but the Holy

> Spirit unites essentially with the whole man, body and soul. He

makes

> of him a son of God, a god by adoption, though man does not cease

> being a man, a simple creature, even when he clearly sees the

Father.

> > He may be called man and god at the same time.{21}

> >

> > A more Westernized definition comes from Philip Edgecumbe Hughes,

> the deceased evangelical Anglican clergyman, biblical scholar and

> theologian in the Reformed tradition. Like a fair number of older

> Anglicans, he understood and saw considerable value in the doctrine

> of theosis. Commenting on the words of Athanasius that we quoted at

> the start of this paper, Hughes notes that while Athanasius did not

> clarify in every reference what he intended by his concept of

> deification, he made it quite clear from his writings as a whole

> > that he did not have in mind a transformation of the human into

the

> divine, an ontological or essential change of humanity into deity.

> >

> > Hughes goes on to explain, correctly I believe, what Athanasius

did

> mean, and in so doing gives us a useful definition of theosis as

> >

> > the reintegration of the divine image of man's creation through

the

> sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit conforming the redeemed into the

> likeness of Christ, and also of the believer's transition from

> mortality to immortality so that he is enabled to participate in the

> eternal bliss and glory of the kingdom of God.{22}

> >

> > Above all, theosis is the restoration and reintegration of

> the " image " or, as some prefer, " likeness " of God, seriously

> distorted by the fall, in the children of God. In this life

> Christians grow more and more into the very likeness and

> > character of God, as God was revealed in the man Jesus Christ.

> >

> > This is more than the customary Protestant concept of

> sanctification, however. In theosis, while there is no ontological

> change of humanity into deity, there is a very real impartation of

> the divine life to the whole human being--body and soul. Lutheran

> Ross Aden observes that Orthodox theologians, such as John Breck,

use

> the expression " communion with God " to mean " ontological

> > participation. " In contrast to Lutheranism, " the Orthodox hope of

> salvation in its broadest sense is more than hope of a divine

> sentence of 'not guilty' or even of a beatific vision; it is `human

> participation in the being of God . . . a total sharing in the

Triune

> life.' . . . Created in the image of God, human beings are called to

> become like God by realizing the potential for ontological sharing

in

> > the life of God, " yet never in such a way that theosis means

> sharing in God's essence (nature). " Lutherans and Orthodox would

> agree that the essence of God is utterly transcendent and therefore

> inaccessible to any created reality. " {23}

> >

> > G. I. Mantzaridis of the University of Thessaloniki writes in a

> recent work that deification is God's greatest gift to man and the

> ultimate goal of human existence.

> >

> > It is that which from the beginning has constituted the innermost

> longing of man's existence. Adam, in attempting to appropriate it by

> transgressing God's command, failed, and in place of deification,

met

> with corruption and death. The love of God, however, through His

> Son's incarnation, restored to man the possibility of deification:

> >

> > Adam of old was deceived:

> >

> > wanting to be God he failed to be God.

> >

> > God becomes man,

> >

> > so that He may make Adam god.{24}

> >

> > The Greek Fathers and St. Gregory Palamas incorporate a

> strongly " physical " view of theosis, which derives the deification

of

> human nature from its hypostatic union with the incarnate Logos of

> God. This view " does not imply any mechanical commutation of

> humanity, but an ontological regeneration of human nature in the

> hypostasis of the incarnate Logos of God, accessible to every man

who

> participates personally and freely in the life of Christ. " {25}

> >

> > Concerning the time factor in divinization, Vladimir Lossky

writes:

> >

> > The deification or theosis of the creature will be realized in its

> fullness only in the age to come, after the resurrection of the

dead.

> This deifying union has, nevertheless, to be fulfilled ever more and

> more even in this present life, through the transformation of our

> corruptible and depraved nature and by its adaptation to eternal

life.

> {26}

> >

> > With regard to those who receive this gracious gift, Krivocheine

> gives the thought of Symeon:

> >

> > While remaining a spiritually conscious state and clearly felt by

> the one who receives it, divinization will always remain an awesome

> mystery, surpassing all human understanding and unobserved by most

> people. Indeed, the ones who are granted it are rare, although all

> the baptized are called to it. It is their fault if they deprive

> themselves of it.{27}

> >

> > John Meyendorff speaks of the never ending nature of deification.

> >

> > Man is not fully man unless he is in communion with God. . . .

> However, because God remains absolutely transcendent in his essence,

> man's communion with Him has no limit. It never reaches an End,

which

> would be a dead end. God is both transcendent and

inexhaustible. . . .

> In Christ [according to Palamas], man enters into communion not

> with " the God of the philosophers and the savants " but with the one

> who in human language can only be called " more than God. " {28}

> >

> > While the doctrine of divinization or theosis is associated

> primarily with the Orthodox churches of the East, it has

similarities

> with the teaching about sanctification in the West. As noted above,

> however, the two are not identical. In the Western churches, as Bray

> notes, the concept of the imitation of Christ is the closest analogy

> to the theosis doctrine of the East. In Orthodox theology, while we

> are called to imitate Christ, we are also called to manifest the

> > energies of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who proceeds from the

> Father rests on the Son and becomes his energies. The Spirit then,

by

> adopting us as sons of God, makes accessible to us the spiritual

> power which belongs to Christ.{29} Eastern writers stress, however,

> the distinction between God's essence and his energies. According to

> theosis proponent Timothy Ware (Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia),

" union

> with God means union with the divine energies, not the divine

> essence: the Orthodox Church, while speaking of deification and

> > union, rejects all forms of pantheism. " {30}

> >

> > Orthodox churches also work more with the incarnation than with

the

> > crucifixion of Christ as the basis for man's divinization. This is

> not to say that Christ's atonement is minimized in the work of

> redemption,{31} but that the intention of the Father in creating

> humanity in the first place, and of joining humanity to divinity in

> the incarnation, is so that human beings might assume Godlikeness,

> and be imagers of God in his divine life, character, and actions.

> >

>

> 1. Athanasius, Letter 60, to Adelphius, 4. See also sect. 3 and 8.

> NPNF, 2nd Series, IV, pp. 575-578.

> 2. Athanasius, On the Incarnation 54. NPNF, 2nd Series, IV, p. 65.

> 3. A. M. Allchin titles his book on theosis Participation in God: A

> Forgotten Strand in Anglican Tradition (Wilton, CT: Morehouse-

Barlow,

> 1988).

> 4. Daniel B. Clendenin, Eastern Orthodox Christianity: A Western

> Perspective (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), p. 120.

> 5. Daniel B. Clendenin, " Partakers of Divinity: The Orthodox

> Doctrine of Theosis, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

> 37:3 (1994):365-379.

> 6. Clendenin, Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

> 7. G. L. Bray, " Deification, " in Sinclair B. Ferguson, David F.

> Wright, J. I. Packer, ed., New Dictionary of Theology (Downers

Grove:

> InterVarsity, 1988), p. 189.

> 8. Karl Barth, The Christian Life: Church Dogmatics IV, 4, Lecture

> Fragments (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981), p. 28.

> 9. Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (Baltimore: Penguin, New ed.,

> 1993), pp. 231. See also Rowan Williams, " Deification, " in Gordon S.

> Wakefield, ed., The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality

> (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1983), p. 106.

> 10. Other theosis texts are Gal. 2:20 and I John 4:16. See

> Panayiotis Nellas, Deification in Christ (Crestwood, NY: St.

> Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1987), pp. 23-25, 35-39, 127, 139. Books

> published by St. Vladimir & #65533;s Seminary Press are strongly

> supportive

> of theosis theology.

> 11. Irenaeus, Against Heresies V, I, 1. ANF I p. 527.

> 12. Irenaeus, Against Heresies III, X, 2. ANF I, p. 424.

> 13. Epistle to Diognetus X. ANF I, p. 29.

> 14. St. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity IX, 4-5. NPNF, 2nd

> Series, IX, p. 156.

> 15. St. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity IX, 38. NPNF, 2nd Series,

> IX, p. 167. See also X, 7 (pp. 183-184). A very helpful work on

> Hilary is by Philip T. Wild, The Divinization of Man According to

> Saint Hilary of Portiers (Mundelein, IL: Saint Mary of the Lake

> Seminary, 1950).

> 16. Williams, " Deification, " p. 107.

> 17. Williams, " Deification, " p. 107. Thomas C. Oden notes that the

> traditional distinction between incommunicable and communicable

> attributes clarifies how the soul may partake of the divine nature:

> there can be godlikeness by participation in the communicable

> attributes, such as grace, mercy, and longsuffering, but there is no

> possibility of finite creatures being made infinite, invisible, pure

> spirit, etc. (Life in the Spirit [Harper San Francisco, 1992], pp.

> 208-209). Winfried Corduan similarly explains how in Eckhart the

> believer is said to possess the nature of God ( " A Hair & #65533;s

> Breadth

> From Pantheism: Meister Eckhart & #65533;s God-Centered Spirituality, "

> Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 37:2 [1994], pp. 263-

> 274, esp. pp. 269-271).

> 18. Williams, " Deification, " p. 106.

> 19. See articles in G. W. H. Lampe, ed., A Patristic Greek Lexicon

> (Oxford: Clarendon, 1961-68).

> 20. Kenneth Leech, Experiencing God: Theology as Spirituality (San

> Francisco: Harper and Row, 1985), p. 258. Theosis writers speak

often

> of the concept of glory--the supernatural light of God's essence

that

> may be, in some way, manifested in the children of God. See Vladimir

> Lossky, The Vision of God (Bedfordshire: The Faith Press, 1963), pp.

> 129-137; and Kallistos Ware, " The Hesychasts: Gregory of Sinai,

> Gregory Palamas, Nicolas Cabasilas, " in Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey

> Wainwright, and Edward Yarnold, ed., The Study of Spirituality (New

> York: Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. 251-53.

> 21. Basil Krivocheine, St. Symeon the New Theologian (Crestwood, NY:

> St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1986), p. 389.

> 22. Philip Edgecumbe Hughes, The True Image (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

> 1989), p. 281.

> 23. Ross Aden, " Justification and Sanctification: A Conversation

> Between Lutheranism and Orthodoxy, " St. Vladimir's Theological

> Quarterly 38:1 (1994):96-98. See also John Meyendorff and Robert

> Tobias, ed., Salvation in Christ: A Lutheran-Orthodox Dialogue

> (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1992). While theosis theologians do not

> espouse a fusion of deity with humanity in deified believers, they

at

> times do speak of ontological change in them. Jaroslav Pelikan

> observes that in the Cappadocians there does seem to be some sort of

> a fundamental ontological change in the theosis experience

> (Christianity and Classical Culture [New Haven: Yale University

> Press, 1993], p. 318. Krivocheine states that in the thought of St.

> Symeon, deification refers to " an ontological rather than to a

purely

> spiritual transformation, although Symeon does not pretend that man

> abandons his created nature when he becomes a god through adoption "

> (St. Symeon the New Theologian, p. 390). On the distinction between

> God and man, Johannes Quasten writes that while for Athanasius one

of

> the major themes in his divinization theology is Christ's granting

of

> immortality to humankind, this is not accomplished by changing

> humanity into deity, but by suffering death for us in his body and

by

> conjoining the divine nature with the human (Patrology, Vol. III:

The

> Golden Age of Greek Patristic Literature [utrecht: Spectrum, 1975],

> pp. 71-72. Andrew Louth notes how basic the ontological gulf between

> God and humankind was to Athanasian theology ( " The Cappadocians, " in

> Jones, et al., ed., The Study of Spirituality, pp. 161-162).

> 24. Georgios I. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man (Crestwood, NY:

> St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1984), pp. 12-13.

> 25. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man, p. 31.

> 26. Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church

> (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1976), p. 196.

> 27. Krivocheine, St. Symeon, pp. 389-390.

> 28. John Meyendorff, The Byzantine Legacy in the Orthodox Church

> (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1982), pp. 188-189.

> 29. Bray, " Deification, " p. 189.

> 30. Ware, The Orthodox Church, p. 232. For Gregory Palamas' thoughts

> on the essence and energies of God see Lossky, The Vision of God,

pp.

> 127-129, and Ware, " The Hesychasts, " pp. 250-251.

> 31. See, e.g., Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 8-9.

>

August 1, 2007

, " Violet "

<violet.tubb wrote:

>

> Dear Jagbir and All,

>

> Could you please add this writing on " Theosis " to the HSS " Editor's

> Choice " . i had wanted the Theosis added earlier on already, but never

> got around to it. That would be greatly appreciated, if you do not

> mind.

>

> warmest regards,

>

> violet

>

Dear Violet and All,

i surely will. After reading the article i have realized that no

religion, by a far margin and any measure, is as fragmented and divided

as Christianity.

Only Shri Mataji has made sense of it and brought all of us as to

Jesus' true teachings. The Savior did live to His promise that He will

send the Comforter!

regards to all,

jagbir

August 13, 2007

Dear Jagbir,

Could you please add this article of Theosis to the HSS site too? Thanks.

violet

,

" Violet " <violet.tubb wrote:

>

> , " jagbir

> singh " <adishakti_org@> wrote:

>

> Dear Jagbir and All,

>

> Could you please add this writing on " Theosis " to the HSS " Editor's

Choice " . i had wanted the Theosis added earlier on already, but never

got around to it. That would be greatly appreciated, if you do not

mind.

>

> warmest regards,

>

> violet

>

> > > DEFINING THEOSIS

> > >

> > > It is not easy to give a definition of theosis, since so many

> > > aspects of Christian truth are utilized by those who advance the

> > > teaching, and different writers and traditions emphasize

different

> > > truths. The word " theosis " is the transliteration of the Greek

> word

> > > meaning " deification " --being made God. Our English word

> > > " apotheosis " has much the same meaning.{19} In his definition,

> > > contemporary Anglican priest Kenneth Leech builds upon the words

> of

> > > Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662), considered to be perhaps the

> > > most creative of Byzantine theologians and the most helpful

> > > formulator of the doctrine of theosis. Leech writes that

according

> > > to Maximus, " deification is the work of divine grace by which

> human

> > > nature is so transformed that it `shines forth with a

supernatural

> > > light and is transported above its own limits by a

superabundance

> > > of glory'. " {20}

> > >

> > > Archbishop Basil Krivocheine, expressing the thought of St.

Symeon

> > > the New Theologian, writes:

> > >

> > > Divinization is the state of man's total transformation,

effected

> > > by the Holy Spirit, when man observes the commandments of God,

> > > acquires the evangelical virtues and shares in the sufferings of

> > > Christ. The Holy Spirit then gives man a divine intelligence and

> > > incorruptibility. Man does not receive a new soul, but the Holy

> > > Spirit unites essentially with the whole man, body and soul. He

> > > makes of him a son of God, a god by adoption, though man does

not

> > > cease being a man, a simple creature, even when he clearly sees

> the

> > > Father. He may be called man and god at the same time.{21}

> > >

> > > http://www.bethel.edu/~rakrobTHEOSIS2.html

> > >

> >

> > i agree that there is a " crying need for a robust, biblical

theology

> > of the Christian life that will refute and replace the plethora of

> > false spiritualities plaguing Church and society. " It is only

after

> > Jesus had sent the Comforter, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, that it

> became

> > possible to thoroughly comprehend theosis and the robust, biblical

> > theology of Christianity. It is only through Her detailed Divine

> > Message of the Last Judgment and Resurrection--declared and spread

> to

> > many nations and peoples over more than three decades--is it

> possible

> > today to become aware of the false spiritualities plaguing all

> > religious organizations and society. (Since the SY organization

and

> > WCASY has edited out Her Divine Message i regard them to be

> preaching

> > a false spirituality too.)

> >

> > The Last Judgment and Resurrection is pivotal in comprehending

" the

> > deepest questions of our existence: who am I, where did I come

from,

> > what's the meaning and purpose of existence, do I have a soul,

what

> > happens to me after I die, does God exist, and if God exists does

> God

> > care about me personally. " [1]

> >

> > In this Golden Age of the Last Judgment and Resurrection humans

will

> > break free of centuries of false religious dogmas, destructive

> > indoctrinations, and absurd ideas about the Divine. The decadent

> > foundations of materialistic society and divisive religious

regimes

> > crumble. The Last Judgment and Resurrection is not the signal of

the

> > apocalyptic end of the world. On the contrary the Dark Age of

death,

> > delusion and destruction humanity has endured for millennia ends.

We

> > awaken to a new dawn of genuine spiritual rebirth and daily

> > experience of truth, consciousness and bliss (Sat-Chit-Anand).

> >

> > " Mythological eschatologies depict an eternal struggle between

order

> > and chaos and celebrate the eternity of order and the

repeatability

> > of the origin of the world. The most notable expression of

> > mythological eschatology is in Hinduism, which maintains belief in

> > great cycles of the destruction and creation of the universe.

> > Historical eschatologies are grounded in datable events that are

> > perceived as fundamental to the progress of history. Judaism,

> > Christianity, and Islam all have historical eschatologies.

> > Eschatology in the Hebrew Scriptures sees the catastrophes that

> beset

> > the people of Israel as due to their disobedience to the laws and

> > will of God and holds that conformity to God's plan will result in

> > renewal and the fulfillment of God's purpose. In Christianity, the

> > end times are thought to have begun with the life and ministry of

> > Jesus, the messiah who will return to establish the Kingdom of

God.

> > Millennialism focuses especially on Christ's second coming and the

> > reign of the righteous on earth. In Shi'ite Islam it is believed

> that

> > the mahdi, or restorer of the faith, will come to inaugurate the

> last

> > judgment, in which the good will enter heaven and the evil will

fall

> > into hell. In Buddhism, eschatological traditions are associated

> with

> > the Buddha Maitreya and with Pure Land Buddhism, as well as with

> > individual efforts to achieve nirvana. " [2]

> >

> > Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have historical

> > eschatologies. The incarnation of the Divine Feminine (Shakti/Holy

> > Spirit/Ruh) Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has fulfilled all these

> > historical eschatologies simultaneously, exposing in the process

all

> > the false spiritualities plaguing these religious organizations

and

> > society. Through Her unprecedented powers of Self-realization She

> has

> > triggerred the theosis, the " divine grace by which human nature is

> so

> > transformed that it `shines forth with a supernatural light and is

> > transported above its own limits by a superabundance of glory.' "

> >

> > But why and how does the Shakti (Holy Spirit/Ruh) accomplish such

> > feats " by which human nature is so transformed that it `shines

forth

> > with a supernatural light and is transported above its own limits

by

> > a superabundance of glory' " ? In the first place, where and through

> > what process does one find Her?

> >

> > " The power or active aspect of the immanent God is Sakti. Sakti is

> > the embodiment of power. She is the supporter of the vast

universe.

> > She is the supreme power by which the world is upheld. She is the

> > Universal Mother. She is Durga, Kali, Chandi, Chamundi,

> > Tripurasundari, Rajesvari. There is no difference between God and

> His

> > Sakti, just as there is no difference between fire and its burning

> > power.

> >

> > He who worships Sakti, that is, God in Mother form, as the supreme

> > power which creates, sustains and withdraws the universe, is a

> Sakta.

> > All women are forms of the Divine Mother.

> >

> > Siva is the unchanging consciousness. Sakti is His changing power

> > which appears as mind and matter. Saktivada or Saktadarsana is a

> form

> > of monism or Advaitavada.

> >

> > A Sakta does Sadhana which helps the union of Siva and Sakti,

> through

> > the awakening of the forces within the body. He becomes a Siddha

in

> > the Sadhana, when he is able to awaken Kundalini and pierce the

six

> > Chakras. This is to be done in a perfect practical way under the

> > guidance of a Guru who has become perfect. The Sakti must be

> awakened

> > by Dhyana, by Bhava, by Japa, by Mantra-Sakti. The Mother, the

> > embodiment of the fifty letters, is present in the various letters

> in

> > the different Chakras. When the chords of a musical instrument are

> > struck harmoniously, fine music is produced. Even so, when the

> chords

> > of the letters are struck in their order, the Mother who moves in

> the

> > six Chakras and who is the very self of the letters, awakens

> Herself.

> > The Sadhaka attains Siddhi easily when She is roused. It is

> difficult

> > to say when and how She shows Herself and to what Sadhaka. Sadhana

> > means unfolding, rousing up or awakening of power or Sakti. Mode

of

> > Sadhana depends upon the tendencies and capacities of the Sadhaka.

> >

> > Sakti may be termed as that by which we live and have our being in

> > this universe. In this world all the wants of the child are

provided

> > by the mother. The child's growth, development and sustenance are

> > looked after by the mother. Even so, all the necessaries of life

and

> > its activities in this world and the energy needed for it, depend

> > upon Sakti or the Universal Mother.

> >

> > No one can free himself from the thraldom of mind and matter

without

> > Mother's grace. The fetters of Maya are too hard to break. If you

> > worship Her as the great Mother, you can very easily go beyond

> > Prakriti through Her benign grace and blessings. She will remove

all

> > obstacles in the path and lead you safely into the illimitable

> domain

> > of eternal bliss and make you free. When She is pleased and

bestows

> > Her blessings on you, then alone you can free yourself from the

> > bondage of this formidable Samsara. " [3]

> >

> > Shri Mataji is the Comforter sent by Lord Jesus to guide, console,

> > cheer and comfort you during the Last Judgment and Resurrection.

For

> > more than three decades She has worked tirelessly and selflessly

to

> > enlighten and protect you from the false spiritualities plaguing

all

> > religious organizations and society. She is verily the incarnation

> of

> > the Great Mother who alone can free you from the bondage of this

> > formidable Samsara. She is the source through which the

" deification

> > or theosis of the creature will be realized in its fullness only

in

> > the age to come " . [4] Seek and meditate on Her within as She is

the

> > very core of your eternal soul. She is verily your very Self!

> >

> > According to Vladimir Lossky, " While remaining a spiritually

> > conscious state and clearly felt by the one who receives it,

> > divinization will always remain an awesome mystery, surpassing all

> > human understanding and unobserved by most people. Indeed, the

ones

> > who are granted it are rare, although all the baptized are called

to

> > it. It is their fault if they deprive themselves of it. " {5}

> >

> > Since we know that this is the promised age of the Last Judgemnt

and

> > Resurrection (the age to come) i would want to alter it slighty:

> >

> > " While remaining a spiritually conscious state and clearly felt as

> > the Cool Breeze of the Holy Spirit by the one who receives Self-

> > realization, divinization will always remain an awesome mystery,

> > surpassing all human understanding and unobserved by most people.

> > Indeed, the ones who are granted it are rare, although all humans

> are

> > called to experience it by taking part in the Last Judgment and

> > Resurrection. It is their fault if they deprive themselves of it. "

> >

> > Jai Shri Ganapathy,

> >

> > jagbir

> >

> > [1] Deepak Chopra

> > [2] Encyclopedia Britannica

> > [3] Sri Swami Sivananda, Divine Life Society

> > [4] Krivocheine, St. Symeon, pp. 389-390.

> > [5] Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church

> > (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1976), p. 196.

> >

> > ,

" nicole_bougantouche "

> > <nicole_bougantouche@> wrote:

> > >

> > > BECOMING LIKE GOD: AN EVANGELICAL DOCTRINE OF THEOSIS

> > > JETS 40/2 (June 1997) 257-269

> > >

> > > Robert V. Rakestraw

> > >

> > > In one of his letters, Athanasius, the fourth-century defender

of

> > the faith, made his famous statement that the Son of God became

> > man " that he might deify us in himself. " {1} In his great work, On

> the

> > Incarnation, he wrote similarly that Christ " was made man that we

> > might be made God. " {2} This is the doctrine of theosis, also known

> as

> > deification, divinization, or, as some prefer, participation in

God.

> > {3}

> > >

> > > While the concept of theosis has roots in the ante-Nicene

period,

> > it is not an antiquated historical curiosity. The idea of

> > divinization, of redeemed human nature somehow participating in

the

> > very life of God, is found to a surprising extent throughout

> > Christian history, although it is practically unknown to the

> > > majority of Christians (and even many theologians) in the West.

In

> > Orthodox theology, however, it is the controlling doctrine.

> > Furthermore, " it is not too much to say that the divinization of

> > humanity is the central theme, chief aim, basic purpose, or

primary

> > religious ideal of Orthodoxy. " {4} With the growing interest in

> > Eastern Orthodox/Evangelical rapprochement, it is essential that

> > > theosis studies be pursued. Evangelicals may receive

considerable

> > benefit from a clear understanding and judicious appropriation of

> the

> > doctrine. This is so particularly in light of the crying need for

a

> > robust, biblical theology of the Christian life that will refute

and

> > replace the plethora of false spiritualities plaguing Church and

> > society.

> > >

> > > ……….

> > >

> > > DEFINING THEOSIS

> > >

> > > It is not easy to give a definition of theosis, since so many

> > aspects of Christian truth are utilized by those who advance the

> > teaching, and different writers and traditions emphasize different

> > truths. The word " theosis " is the transliteration of the Greek

word

> > meaning " deification " --being made God. Our English word

" apotheosis "

> > has much the same meaning.{19} In his definition, contemporary

> > > Anglican priest Kenneth Leech builds upon the words of Maximus

the

> > > Confessor (c. 580-662), considered to be perhaps the most

creative

> > of Byzantine theologians and the most helpful formulator of the

> > doctrine of theosis. Leech writes that according to Maximus,

> > " deification is the work of divine grace by which human nature is

so

> > transformed that it `shines forth with a supernatural light and is

> > transported above its own limits by a superabundance of

glory'. " {20}

> > >

> > > Archbishop Basil Krivocheine, expressing the thought of St.

Symeon

> > the New Theologian, writes:

> > >

> > > Divinization is the state of man's total transformation,

effected

> > by the Holy Spirit, when man observes the commandments of God,

> > acquires the evangelical virtues and shares in the sufferings of

> > Christ. The Holy Spirit then gives man a divine intelligence and

> > incorruptibility. Man does not receive a new soul, but the Holy

> > Spirit unites essentially with the whole man, body and soul. He

> makes

> > of him a son of God, a god by adoption, though man does not cease

> > being a man, a simple creature, even when he clearly sees the

> Father.

> > > He may be called man and god at the same time.{21}

> > >

> > > A more Westernized definition comes from Philip Edgecumbe

Hughes,

> > the deceased evangelical Anglican clergyman, biblical scholar and

> > theologian in the Reformed tradition. Like a fair number of older

> > Anglicans, he understood and saw considerable value in the

doctrine

> > of theosis. Commenting on the words of Athanasius that we quoted

at

> > the start of this paper, Hughes notes that while Athanasius did

not

> > clarify in every reference what he intended by his concept of

> > deification, he made it quite clear from his writings as a whole

> > > that he did not have in mind a transformation of the human into

> the

> > divine, an ontological or essential change of humanity into deity.

> > >

> > > Hughes goes on to explain, correctly I believe, what Athanasius

> did

> > mean, and in so doing gives us a useful definition of theosis as

> > >

> > > the reintegration of the divine image of man's creation through

> the

> > sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit conforming the redeemed into

the

> > likeness of Christ, and also of the believer's transition from

> > mortality to immortality so that he is enabled to participate in

the

> > eternal bliss and glory of the kingdom of God.{22}

> > >

> > > Above all, theosis is the restoration and reintegration of

> > the " image " or, as some prefer, " likeness " of God, seriously

> > distorted by the fall, in the children of God. In this life

> > Christians grow more and more into the very likeness and

> > > character of God, as God was revealed in the man Jesus Christ.

> > >

> > > This is more than the customary Protestant concept of

> > sanctification, however. In theosis, while there is no ontological

> > change of humanity into deity, there is a very real impartation of

> > the divine life to the whole human being--body and soul. Lutheran

> > Ross Aden observes that Orthodox theologians, such as John Breck,

> use

> > the expression " communion with God " to mean " ontological

> > > participation. " In contrast to Lutheranism, " the Orthodox hope

of

> > salvation in its broadest sense is more than hope of a divine

> > sentence of 'not guilty' or even of a beatific vision; it is

`human

> > participation in the being of God . . . a total sharing in the

> Triune

> > life.' . . . Created in the image of God, human beings are called

to

> > become like God by realizing the potential for ontological sharing

> in

> > > the life of God, " yet never in such a way that theosis means

> > sharing in God's essence (nature). " Lutherans and Orthodox would

> > agree that the essence of God is utterly transcendent and

therefore

> > inaccessible to any created reality. " {23}

> > >

> > > G. I. Mantzaridis of the University of Thessaloniki writes in a

> > recent work that deification is God's greatest gift to man and the

> > ultimate goal of human existence.

> > >

> > > It is that which from the beginning has constituted the

innermost

> > longing of man's existence. Adam, in attempting to appropriate it

by

> > transgressing God's command, failed, and in place of deification,

> met

> > with corruption and death. The love of God, however, through His

> > Son's incarnation, restored to man the possibility of deification:

> > >

> > > Adam of old was deceived:

> > >

> > > wanting to be God he failed to be God.

> > >

> > > God becomes man,

> > >

> > > so that He may make Adam god.{24}

> > >

> > > The Greek Fathers and St. Gregory Palamas incorporate a

> > strongly " physical " view of theosis, which derives the deification

> of

> > human nature from its hypostatic union with the incarnate Logos of

> > God. This view " does not imply any mechanical commutation of

> > humanity, but an ontological regeneration of human nature in the

> > hypostasis of the incarnate Logos of God, accessible to every man

> who

> > participates personally and freely in the life of Christ. " {25}

> > >

> > > Concerning the time factor in divinization, Vladimir Lossky

> writes:

> > >

> > > The deification or theosis of the creature will be realized in

its

> > fullness only in the age to come, after the resurrection of the

> dead.

> > This deifying union has, nevertheless, to be fulfilled ever more

and

> > more even in this present life, through the transformation of our

> > corruptible and depraved nature and by its adaptation to eternal

> life.

> > {26}

> > >

> > > With regard to those who receive this gracious gift, Krivocheine

> > gives the thought of Symeon:

> > >

> > > While remaining a spiritually conscious state and clearly felt

by

> > the one who receives it, divinization will always remain an

awesome

> > mystery, surpassing all human understanding and unobserved by most

> > people. Indeed, the ones who are granted it are rare, although all

> > the baptized are called to it. It is their fault if they deprive

> > themselves of it.{27}

> > >

> > > John Meyendorff speaks of the never ending nature of

deification.

> > >

> > > Man is not fully man unless he is in communion with God. . . .

> > However, because God remains absolutely transcendent in his

essence,

> > man's communion with Him has no limit. It never reaches an End,

> which

> > would be a dead end. God is both transcendent and

> inexhaustible. . . .

> > In Christ [according to Palamas], man enters into communion not

> > with " the God of the philosophers and the savants " but with the

one

> > who in human language can only be called " more than God. " {28}

> > >

> > > While the doctrine of divinization or theosis is associated

> > primarily with the Orthodox churches of the East, it has

> similarities

> > with the teaching about sanctification in the West. As noted

above,

> > however, the two are not identical. In the Western churches, as

Bray

> > notes, the concept of the imitation of Christ is the closest

analogy

> > to the theosis doctrine of the East. In Orthodox theology, while

we

> > are called to imitate Christ, we are also called to manifest the

> > > energies of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who proceeds from the

> > Father rests on the Son and becomes his energies. The Spirit then,

> by

> > adopting us as sons of God, makes accessible to us the spiritual

> > power which belongs to Christ.{29} Eastern writers stress,

however,

> > the distinction between God's essence and his energies. According

to

> > theosis proponent Timothy Ware (Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia),

> " union

> > with God means union with the divine energies, not the divine

> > essence: the Orthodox Church, while speaking of deification and

> > > union, rejects all forms of pantheism. " {30}

> > >

> > > Orthodox churches also work more with the incarnation than with

> the

> > > crucifixion of Christ as the basis for man's divinization. This

is

> > not to say that Christ's atonement is minimized in the work of

> > redemption,{31} but that the intention of the Father in creating

> > humanity in the first place, and of joining humanity to divinity

in

> > the incarnation, is so that human beings might assume Godlikeness,

> > and be imagers of God in his divine life, character, and actions.

> > >

> >

> > 1. Athanasius, Letter 60, to Adelphius, 4. See also sect. 3 and 8.

> > NPNF, 2nd Series, IV, pp. 575-578.

> > 2. Athanasius, On the Incarnation 54. NPNF, 2nd Series, IV, p. 65.

> > 3. A. M. Allchin titles his book on theosis Participation in God:

A

> > Forgotten Strand in Anglican Tradition (Wilton, CT: Morehouse-

> Barlow,

> > 1988).

> > 4. Daniel B. Clendenin, Eastern Orthodox Christianity: A Western

> > Perspective (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), p. 120.

> > 5. Daniel B. Clendenin, " Partakers of Divinity: The Orthodox

> > Doctrine of Theosis, Journal of the Evangelical Theological

Society

> > 37:3 (1994):365-379.

> > 6. Clendenin, Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

> > 7. G. L. Bray, " Deification, " in Sinclair B. Ferguson, David F.

> > Wright, J. I. Packer, ed., New Dictionary of Theology (Downers

> Grove:

> > InterVarsity, 1988), p. 189.

> > 8. Karl Barth, The Christian Life: Church Dogmatics IV, 4, Lecture

> > Fragments (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981), p. 28.

> > 9. Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (Baltimore: Penguin, New ed.,

> > 1993), pp. 231. See also Rowan Williams, " Deification, " in Gordon

S.

> > Wakefield, ed., The Westminster Dictionary of Christian

Spirituality

> > (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1983), p. 106.

> > 10. Other theosis texts are Gal. 2:20 and I John 4:16. See

> > Panayiotis Nellas, Deification in Christ (Crestwood, NY: St.

> > Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1987), pp. 23-25, 35-39, 127, 139.

Books

> > published by St. Vladimir & #65533;s Seminary Press are strongly

> > supportive

> > of theosis theology.

> > 11. Irenaeus, Against Heresies V, I, 1. ANF I p. 527.

> > 12. Irenaeus, Against Heresies III, X, 2. ANF I, p. 424.

> > 13. Epistle to Diognetus X. ANF I, p. 29.

> > 14. St. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity IX, 4-5. NPNF, 2nd

> > Series, IX, p. 156.

> > 15. St. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity IX, 38. NPNF, 2nd

Series,

> > IX, p. 167. See also X, 7 (pp. 183-184). A very helpful work on

> > Hilary is by Philip T. Wild, The Divinization of Man According to

> > Saint Hilary of Portiers (Mundelein, IL: Saint Mary of the Lake

> > Seminary, 1950).

> > 16. Williams, " Deification, " p. 107.

> > 17. Williams, " Deification, " p. 107. Thomas C. Oden notes that the

> > traditional distinction between incommunicable and communicable

> > attributes clarifies how the soul may partake of the divine

nature:

> > there can be godlikeness by participation in the communicable

> > attributes, such as grace, mercy, and longsuffering, but there is

no

> > possibility of finite creatures being made infinite, invisible,

pure

> > spirit, etc. (Life in the Spirit [Harper San Francisco, 1992], pp.

> > 208-209). Winfried Corduan similarly explains how in Eckhart the

> > believer is said to possess the nature of God ( " A Hair & #65533;s

> > Breadth

> > From Pantheism: Meister Eckhart & #65533;s God-Centered

Spirituality, "

> > Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 37:2 [1994], pp.

263-

> > 274, esp. pp. 269-271).

> > 18. Williams, " Deification, " p. 106.

> > 19. See articles in G. W. H. Lampe, ed., A Patristic Greek Lexicon

> > (Oxford: Clarendon, 1961-68).

> > 20. Kenneth Leech, Experiencing God: Theology as Spirituality (San

> > Francisco: Harper and Row, 1985), p. 258. Theosis writers speak

> often

> > of the concept of glory--the supernatural light of God's essence

> that

> > may be, in some way, manifested in the children of God. See

Vladimir

> > Lossky, The Vision of God (Bedfordshire: The Faith Press, 1963),

pp.

> > 129-137; and Kallistos Ware, " The Hesychasts: Gregory of Sinai,

> > Gregory Palamas, Nicolas Cabasilas, " in Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey

> > Wainwright, and Edward Yarnold, ed., The Study of Spirituality

(New

> > York: Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. 251-53.

> > 21. Basil Krivocheine, St. Symeon the New Theologian (Crestwood,

NY:

> > St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1986), p. 389.

> > 22. Philip Edgecumbe Hughes, The True Image (Grand Rapids:

Eerdmans,

> > 1989), p. 281.

> > 23. Ross Aden, " Justification and Sanctification: A Conversation

> > Between Lutheranism and Orthodoxy, " St. Vladimir's Theological

> > Quarterly 38:1 (1994):96-98. See also John Meyendorff and Robert

> > Tobias, ed., Salvation in Christ: A Lutheran-Orthodox Dialogue

> > (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1992). While theosis theologians do not

> > espouse a fusion of deity with humanity in deified believers, they

> at

> > times do speak of ontological change in them. Jaroslav Pelikan

> > observes that in the Cappadocians there does seem to be some sort

of

> > a fundamental ontological change in the theosis experience

> > (Christianity and Classical Culture [New Haven: Yale University

> > Press, 1993], p. 318. Krivocheine states that in the thought of

St.

> > Symeon, deification refers to " an ontological rather than to a

> purely

> > spiritual transformation, although Symeon does not pretend that

man

> > abandons his created nature when he becomes a god through

adoption "

> > (St. Symeon the New Theologian, p. 390). On the distinction

between

> > God and man, Johannes Quasten writes that while for Athanasius one

> of

> > the major themes in his divinization theology is Christ's granting

> of

> > immortality to humankind, this is not accomplished by changing

> > humanity into deity, but by suffering death for us in his body and

> by

> > conjoining the divine nature with the human (Patrology, Vol. III:

> The

> > Golden Age of Greek Patristic Literature [utrecht: Spectrum,

1975],

> > pp. 71-72. Andrew Louth notes how basic the ontological gulf

between

> > God and humankind was to Athanasian theology ( " The Cappadocians, "

in

> > Jones, et al., ed., The Study of Spirituality, pp. 161-162).

> > 24. Georgios I. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man (Crestwood,

NY:

> > St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1984), pp. 12-13.

> > 25. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man, p. 31.

> > 26. Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church

> > (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1976), p. 196.

> > 27. Krivocheine, St. Symeon, pp. 389-390.

> > 28. John Meyendorff, The Byzantine Legacy in the Orthodox Church

> > (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1982), pp. 188-189.

> > 29. Bray, " Deification, " p. 189.

> > 30. Ware, The Orthodox Church, p. 232. For Gregory Palamas'

thoughts

> > on the essence and energies of God see Lossky, The Vision of God,

> pp.

> > 127-129, and Ware, " The Hesychasts, " pp. 250-251.

> > 31. See, e.g., Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 8-9.

> >

>

August 15, 2007

Dear Violet,

i have uploaded both articles. Check to see if they are alright. i

also intend to just tidy up the site when i have the time i.e., just

some minor adjustments. Thanks for the reminder.

warmest regards,

jagbir

, " Violet "

<violet.tubb wrote:

>

> Dear Jagbir,

>

> Could you please add this article of Theosis to the HSS site too?

Thanks.

>

> violet

>

> ,

> " Violet " <violet.tubb@> wrote:

> >

> > , " jagbir

> > singh " <adishakti_org@> wrote:

> >

> > Dear Jagbir and All,

> >

> > Could you please add this writing on " Theosis " to the

HSS " Editor's

> Choice " . i had wanted the Theosis added earlier on already, but

never

> got around to it. That would be greatly appreciated, if you do not

> mind.

> >

> > warmest regards,

> >

> > violet

> >

> > > > DEFINING THEOSIS

> > > >

> > > > It is not easy to give a definition of theosis, since so many

> > > > aspects of Christian truth are utilized by those who advance

the

> > > > teaching, and different writers and traditions emphasize

> different

> > > > truths. The word " theosis " is the transliteration of the Greek

> > word

> > > > meaning " deification " --being made God. Our English word

> > > > " apotheosis " has much the same meaning.{19} In his definition,

> > > > contemporary Anglican priest Kenneth Leech builds upon the

words

> > of

> > > > Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662), considered to be perhaps

the

> > > > most creative of Byzantine theologians and the most helpful

> > > > formulator of the doctrine of theosis. Leech writes that

> according

> > > > to Maximus, " deification is the work of divine grace by which

> > human

> > > > nature is so transformed that it `shines forth with a

> supernatural

> > > > light and is transported above its own limits by a

> superabundance

> > > > of glory'. " {20}

> > > >

> > > > Archbishop Basil Krivocheine, expressing the thought of St.

> Symeon

> > > > the New Theologian, writes:

> > > >

> > > > Divinization is the state of man's total transformation,

> effected

> > > > by the Holy Spirit, when man observes the commandments of God,

> > > > acquires the evangelical virtues and shares in the sufferings

of

> > > > Christ. The Holy Spirit then gives man a divine intelligence

and

> > > > incorruptibility. Man does not receive a new soul, but the

Holy

> > > > Spirit unites essentially with the whole man, body and soul.

He

> > > > makes of him a son of God, a god by adoption, though man does

> not

> > > > cease being a man, a simple creature, even when he clearly

sees

> > the

> > > > Father. He may be called man and god at the same time.{21}

> > > >

> > > > http://www.bethel.edu/~rakrobTHEOSIS2.html

> > > >

> > >

> > > i agree that there is a " crying need for a robust, biblical

> theology

> > > of the Christian life that will refute and replace the plethora

of

> > > false spiritualities plaguing Church and society. " It is only

> after

> > > Jesus had sent the Comforter, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, that it

> > became

> > > possible to thoroughly comprehend theosis and the robust,

biblical

> > > theology of Christianity. It is only through Her detailed Divine

> > > Message of the Last Judgment and Resurrection--declared and

spread

> > to

> > > many nations and peoples over more than three decades--is it

> > possible

> > > today to become aware of the false spiritualities plaguing all

> > > religious organizations and society. (Since the SY organization

> and

> > > WCASY has edited out Her Divine Message i regard them to be

> > preaching

> > > a false spirituality too.)

> > >

> > > The Last Judgment and Resurrection is pivotal in comprehending

> " the

> > > deepest questions of our existence: who am I, where did I come

> from,

> > > what's the meaning and purpose of existence, do I have a soul,

> what

> > > happens to me after I die, does God exist, and if God exists

does

> > God

> > > care about me personally. " [1]

> > >

> > > In this Golden Age of the Last Judgment and Resurrection humans

> will

> > > break free of centuries of false religious dogmas, destructive

> > > indoctrinations, and absurd ideas about the Divine. The decadent

> > > foundations of materialistic society and divisive religious

> regimes

> > > crumble. The Last Judgment and Resurrection is not the signal of

> the

> > > apocalyptic end of the world. On the contrary the Dark Age of

> death,

> > > delusion and destruction humanity has endured for millennia

ends.

> We

> > > awaken to a new dawn of genuine spiritual rebirth and daily

> > > experience of truth, consciousness and bliss (Sat-Chit-Anand).

> > >

> > > " Mythological eschatologies depict an eternal struggle between

> order

> > > and chaos and celebrate the eternity of order and the

> repeatability

> > > of the origin of the world. The most notable expression of

> > > mythological eschatology is in Hinduism, which maintains belief

in

> > > great cycles of the destruction and creation of the universe.

> > > Historical eschatologies are grounded in datable events that are

> > > perceived as fundamental to the progress of history. Judaism,

> > > Christianity, and Islam all have historical eschatologies.

> > > Eschatology in the Hebrew Scriptures sees the catastrophes that

> > beset

> > > the people of Israel as due to their disobedience to the laws

and

> > > will of God and holds that conformity to God's plan will result

in

> > > renewal and the fulfillment of God's purpose. In Christianity,

the

> > > end times are thought to have begun with the life and ministry

of

> > > Jesus, the messiah who will return to establish the Kingdom of

> God.

> > > Millennialism focuses especially on Christ's second coming and

the

> > > reign of the righteous on earth. In Shi'ite Islam it is believed

> > that

> > > the mahdi, or restorer of the faith, will come to inaugurate the

> > last

> > > judgment, in which the good will enter heaven and the evil will

> fall

> > > into hell. In Buddhism, eschatological traditions are associated

> > with

> > > the Buddha Maitreya and with Pure Land Buddhism, as well as with

> > > individual efforts to achieve nirvana. " [2]

> > >

> > > Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have historical

> > > eschatologies. The incarnation of the Divine Feminine

(Shakti/Holy

> > > Spirit/Ruh) Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has fulfilled all these

> > > historical eschatologies simultaneously, exposing in the process

> all

> > > the false spiritualities plaguing these religious organizations

> and

> > > society. Through Her unprecedented powers of Self-realization

She

> > has

> > > triggerred the theosis, the " divine grace by which human nature

is

> > so

> > > transformed that it `shines forth with a supernatural light and

is

> > > transported above its own limits by a superabundance of

glory.' "

> > >

> > > But why and how does the Shakti (Holy Spirit/Ruh) accomplish

such

> > > feats " by which human nature is so transformed that it `shines

> forth

> > > with a supernatural light and is transported above its own

limits

> by

> > > a superabundance of glory' " ? In the first place, where and

through

> > > what process does one find Her?

> > >

> > > " The power or active aspect of the immanent God is Sakti. Sakti

is

> > > the embodiment of power. She is the supporter of the vast

> universe.

> > > She is the supreme power by which the world is upheld. She is

the

> > > Universal Mother. She is Durga, Kali, Chandi, Chamundi,

> > > Tripurasundari, Rajesvari. There is no difference between God

and

> > His

> > > Sakti, just as there is no difference between fire and its

burning

> > > power.

> > >

> > > He who worships Sakti, that is, God in Mother form, as the

supreme

> > > power which creates, sustains and withdraws the universe, is a

> > Sakta.

> > > All women are forms of the Divine Mother.

> > >

> > > Siva is the unchanging consciousness. Sakti is His changing

power

> > > which appears as mind and matter. Saktivada or Saktadarsana is a

> > form

> > > of monism or Advaitavada.

> > >

> > > A Sakta does Sadhana which helps the union of Siva and Sakti,

> > through

> > > the awakening of the forces within the body. He becomes a Siddha

> in

> > > the Sadhana, when he is able to awaken Kundalini and pierce the

> six

> > > Chakras. This is to be done in a perfect practical way under the

> > > guidance of a Guru who has become perfect. The Sakti must be

> > awakened

> > > by Dhyana, by Bhava, by Japa, by Mantra-Sakti. The Mother, the

> > > embodiment of the fifty letters, is present in the various

letters

> > in

> > > the different Chakras. When the chords of a musical instrument

are

> > > struck harmoniously, fine music is produced. Even so, when the

> > chords

> > > of the letters are struck in their order, the Mother who moves

in

> > the

> > > six Chakras and who is the very self of the letters, awakens

> > Herself.

> > > The Sadhaka attains Siddhi easily when She is roused. It is

> > difficult

> > > to say when and how She shows Herself and to what Sadhaka.

Sadhana

> > > means unfolding, rousing up or awakening of power or Sakti. Mode

> of

> > > Sadhana depends upon the tendencies and capacities of the

Sadhaka.

> > >

> > > Sakti may be termed as that by which we live and have our being

in

> > > this universe. In this world all the wants of the child are

> provided

> > > by the mother. The child's growth, development and sustenance

are

> > > looked after by the mother. Even so, all the necessaries of life

> and

> > > its activities in this world and the energy needed for it,

depend

> > > upon Sakti or the Universal Mother.

> > >

> > > No one can free himself from the thraldom of mind and matter

> without

> > > Mother's grace. The fetters of Maya are too hard to break. If

you

> > > worship Her as the great Mother, you can very easily go beyond

> > > Prakriti through Her benign grace and blessings. She will remove

> all

> > > obstacles in the path and lead you safely into the illimitable

> > domain

> > > of eternal bliss and make you free. When She is pleased and

> bestows

> > > Her blessings on you, then alone you can free yourself from the

> > > bondage of this formidable Samsara. " [3]

> > >

> > > Shri Mataji is the Comforter sent by Lord Jesus to guide,

console,

> > > cheer and comfort you during the Last Judgment and Resurrection.

> For

> > > more than three decades She has worked tirelessly and selflessly

> to

> > > enlighten and protect you from the false spiritualities plaguing

> all

> > > religious organizations and society. She is verily the

incarnation

> > of

> > > the Great Mother who alone can free you from the bondage of this

> > > formidable Samsara. She is the source through which the

> " deification

> > > or theosis of the creature will be realized in its fullness only

> in

> > > the age to come " . [4] Seek and meditate on Her within as She is

> the

> > > very core of your eternal soul. She is verily your very Self!

> > >

> > > According to Vladimir Lossky, " While remaining a spiritually

> > > conscious state and clearly felt by the one who receives it,

> > > divinization will always remain an awesome mystery, surpassing

all

> > > human understanding and unobserved by most people. Indeed, the

> ones

> > > who are granted it are rare, although all the baptized are

called

> to

> > > it. It is their fault if they deprive themselves of it. " {5}

> > >

> > > Since we know that this is the promised age of the Last Judgemnt

> and

> > > Resurrection (the age to come) i would want to alter it slighty:

> > >

> > > " While remaining a spiritually conscious state and clearly felt

as

> > > the Cool Breeze of the Holy Spirit by the one who receives Self-

> > > realization, divinization will always remain an awesome mystery,

> > > surpassing all human understanding and unobserved by most

people.

> > > Indeed, the ones who are granted it are rare, although all

humans

> > are

> > > called to experience it by taking part in the Last Judgment and

> > > Resurrection. It is their fault if they deprive themselves of

it. "

> > >

> > > Jai Shri Ganapathy,

> > >

> > > jagbir

> > >

> > > [1] Deepak Chopra

> > > [2] Encyclopedia Britannica

> > > [3] Sri Swami Sivananda, Divine Life Society

> > > [4] Krivocheine, St. Symeon, pp. 389-390.

> > > [5] Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church

> > > (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1976), p. 196.

> > >

> > > ,

> " nicole_bougantouche "

> > > <nicole_bougantouche@> wrote:

> > > >

> > > > BECOMING LIKE GOD: AN EVANGELICAL DOCTRINE OF THEOSIS

> > > > JETS 40/2 (June 1997) 257-269

> > > >

> > > > Robert V. Rakestraw

> > > >

> > > > In one of his letters, Athanasius, the fourth-century defender

> of

> > > the faith, made his famous statement that the Son of God became

> > > man " that he might deify us in himself. " {1} In his great work,

On

> > the

> > > Incarnation, he wrote similarly that Christ " was made man that

we

> > > might be made God. " {2} This is the doctrine of theosis, also

known

> > as

> > > deification, divinization, or, as some prefer, participation in

> God.

> > > {3}

> > > >

> > > > While the concept of theosis has roots in the ante-Nicene

> period,

> > > it is not an antiquated historical curiosity. The idea of

> > > divinization, of redeemed human nature somehow participating in

> the

> > > very life of God, is found to a surprising extent throughout

> > > Christian history, although it is practically unknown to the

> > > > majority of Christians (and even many theologians) in the

West.

> In

> > > Orthodox theology, however, it is the controlling doctrine.

> > > Furthermore, " it is not too much to say that the divinization of

> > > humanity is the central theme, chief aim, basic purpose, or

> primary

> > > religious ideal of Orthodoxy. " {4} With the growing interest in

> > > Eastern Orthodox/Evangelical rapprochement, it is essential that

> > > > theosis studies be pursued. Evangelicals may receive

> considerable

> > > benefit from a clear understanding and judicious appropriation

of

> > the

> > > doctrine. This is so particularly in light of the crying need

for

> a

> > > robust, biblical theology of the Christian life that will refute

> and

> > > replace the plethora of false spiritualities plaguing Church and

> > > society.

> > > >

> > > > ……….

> > > >

> > > > DEFINING THEOSIS

> > > >

> > > > It is not easy to give a definition of theosis, since so many

> > > aspects of Christian truth are utilized by those who advance the

> > > teaching, and different writers and traditions emphasize

different

> > > truths. The word " theosis " is the transliteration of the Greek

> word

> > > meaning " deification " --being made God. Our English word

> " apotheosis "

> > > has much the same meaning.{19} In his definition, contemporary

> > > > Anglican priest Kenneth Leech builds upon the words of Maximus

> the

> > > > Confessor (c. 580-662), considered to be perhaps the most

> creative

> > > of Byzantine theologians and the most helpful formulator of the

> > > doctrine of theosis. Leech writes that according to Maximus,

> > > " deification is the work of divine grace by which human nature

is

> so

> > > transformed that it `shines forth with a supernatural light and

is

> > > transported above its own limits by a superabundance of

> glory'. " {20}

> > > >

> > > > Archbishop Basil Krivocheine, expressing the thought of St.

> Symeon

> > > the New Theologian, writes:

> > > >

> > > > Divinization is the state of man's total transformation,

> effected

> > > by the Holy Spirit, when man observes the commandments of God,

> > > acquires the evangelical virtues and shares in the sufferings of

> > > Christ. The Holy Spirit then gives man a divine intelligence and

> > > incorruptibility. Man does not receive a new soul, but the Holy

> > > Spirit unites essentially with the whole man, body and soul. He

> > makes

> > > of him a son of God, a god by adoption, though man does not

cease

> > > being a man, a simple creature, even when he clearly sees the

> > Father.

> > > > He may be called man and god at the same time.{21}

> > > >

> > > > A more Westernized definition comes from Philip Edgecumbe

> Hughes,

> > > the deceased evangelical Anglican clergyman, biblical scholar

and

> > > theologian in the Reformed tradition. Like a fair number of

older

> > > Anglicans, he understood and saw considerable value in the

> doctrine

> > > of theosis. Commenting on the words of Athanasius that we quoted

> at

> > > the start of this paper, Hughes notes that while Athanasius did

> not

> > > clarify in every reference what he intended by his concept of

> > > deification, he made it quite clear from his writings as a whole

> > > > that he did not have in mind a transformation of the human

into

> > the

> > > divine, an ontological or essential change of humanity into

deity.

> > > >

> > > > Hughes goes on to explain, correctly I believe, what

Athanasius

> > did

> > > mean, and in so doing gives us a useful definition of theosis as

> > > >

> > > > the reintegration of the divine image of man's creation

through

> > the

> > > sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit conforming the redeemed into

> the

> > > likeness of Christ, and also of the believer's transition from

> > > mortality to immortality so that he is enabled to participate in

> the

> > > eternal bliss and glory of the kingdom of God.{22}

> > > >

> > > > Above all, theosis is the restoration and reintegration of

> > > the " image " or, as some prefer, " likeness " of God, seriously

> > > distorted by the fall, in the children of God. In this life

> > > Christians grow more and more into the very likeness and

> > > > character of God, as God was revealed in the man Jesus Christ.

> > > >

> > > > This is more than the customary Protestant concept of

> > > sanctification, however. In theosis, while there is no

ontological

> > > change of humanity into deity, there is a very real impartation

of

> > > the divine life to the whole human being--body and soul.

Lutheran

> > > Ross Aden observes that Orthodox theologians, such as John

Breck,

> > use

> > > the expression " communion with God " to mean " ontological

> > > > participation. " In contrast to Lutheranism, " the Orthodox hope

> of

> > > salvation in its broadest sense is more than hope of a divine

> > > sentence of 'not guilty' or even of a beatific vision; it is

> `human

> > > participation in the being of God . . . a total sharing in the

> > Triune

> > > life.' . . . Created in the image of God, human beings are

called

> to

> > > become like God by realizing the potential for ontological

sharing

> > in

> > > > the life of God, " yet never in such a way that theosis means

> > > sharing in God's essence (nature). " Lutherans and Orthodox would

> > > agree that the essence of God is utterly transcendent and

> therefore

> > > inaccessible to any created reality. " {23}

> > > >

> > > > G. I. Mantzaridis of the University of Thessaloniki writes in

a

> > > recent work that deification is God's greatest gift to man and

the

> > > ultimate goal of human existence.

> > > >

> > > > It is that which from the beginning has constituted the

> innermost

> > > longing of man's existence. Adam, in attempting to appropriate

it

> by

> > > transgressing God's command, failed, and in place of

deification,

> > met

> > > with corruption and death. The love of God, however, through His

> > > Son's incarnation, restored to man the possibility of

deification:

> > > >

> > > > Adam of old was deceived:

> > > >

> > > > wanting to be God he failed to be God.

> > > >

> > > > God becomes man,

> > > >

> > > > so that He may make Adam god.{24}

> > > >

> > > > The Greek Fathers and St. Gregory Palamas incorporate a

> > > strongly " physical " view of theosis, which derives the

deification

> > of

> > > human nature from its hypostatic union with the incarnate Logos

of

> > > God. This view " does not imply any mechanical commutation of

> > > humanity, but an ontological regeneration of human nature in the

> > > hypostasis of the incarnate Logos of God, accessible to every

man

> > who

> > > participates personally and freely in the life of Christ. " {25}

> > > >

> > > > Concerning the time factor in divinization, Vladimir Lossky

> > writes:

> > > >

> > > > The deification or theosis of the creature will be realized in

> its

> > > fullness only in the age to come, after the resurrection of the

> > dead.

> > > This deifying union has, nevertheless, to be fulfilled ever more

> and

> > > more even in this present life, through the transformation of

our

> > > corruptible and depraved nature and by its adaptation to eternal

> > life.

> > > {26}

> > > >

> > > > With regard to those who receive this gracious gift,

Krivocheine

> > > gives the thought of Symeon:

> > > >

> > > > While remaining a spiritually conscious state and clearly felt

> by

> > > the one who receives it, divinization will always remain an

> awesome

> > > mystery, surpassing all human understanding and unobserved by

most

> > > people. Indeed, the ones who are granted it are rare, although

all

> > > the baptized are called to it. It is their fault if they deprive

> > > themselves of it.{27}

> > > >

> > > > John Meyendorff speaks of the never ending nature of

> deification.

> > > >

> > > > Man is not fully man unless he is in communion with God. . . .

> > > However, because God remains absolutely transcendent in his

> essence,

> > > man's communion with Him has no limit. It never reaches an End,

> > which

> > > would be a dead end. God is both transcendent and

> > inexhaustible. . . .

> > > In Christ [according to Palamas], man enters into communion not

> > > with " the God of the philosophers and the savants " but with the

> one

> > > who in human language can only be called " more than God. " {28}

> > > >

> > > > While the doctrine of divinization or theosis is associated

> > > primarily with the Orthodox churches of the East, it has

> > similarities

> > > with the teaching about sanctification in the West. As noted

> above,

> > > however, the two are not identical. In the Western churches, as

> Bray

> > > notes, the concept of the imitation of Christ is the closest

> analogy

> > > to the theosis doctrine of the East. In Orthodox theology, while

> we

> > > are called to imitate Christ, we are also called to manifest the

> > > > energies of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who proceeds from the

> > > Father rests on the Son and becomes his energies. The Spirit

then,

> > by

> > > adopting us as sons of God, makes accessible to us the spiritual

> > > power which belongs to Christ.{29} Eastern writers stress,

> however,

> > > the distinction between God's essence and his energies.

According

> to

> > > theosis proponent Timothy Ware (Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia),

> > " union

> > > with God means union with the divine energies, not the divine

> > > essence: the Orthodox Church, while speaking of deification and

> > > > union, rejects all forms of pantheism. " {30}

> > > >

> > > > Orthodox churches also work more with the incarnation than

with

> > the

> > > > crucifixion of Christ as the basis for man's divinization.

This

> is

> > > not to say that Christ's atonement is minimized in the work of

> > > redemption,{31} but that the intention of the Father in creating

> > > humanity in the first place, and of joining humanity to divinity

> in

> > > the incarnation, is so that human beings might assume

Godlikeness,

> > > and be imagers of God in his divine life, character, and

actions.

> > > >

> > >

> > > 1. Athanasius, Letter 60, to Adelphius, 4. See also sect. 3 and

8.

> > > NPNF, 2nd Series, IV, pp. 575-578.

> > > 2. Athanasius, On the Incarnation 54. NPNF, 2nd Series, IV, p.

65.

> > > 3. A. M. Allchin titles his book on theosis Participation in

God:

> A

> > > Forgotten Strand in Anglican Tradition (Wilton, CT: Morehouse-

> > Barlow,

> > > 1988).

> > > 4. Daniel B. Clendenin, Eastern Orthodox Christianity: A Western

> > > Perspective (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), p. 120.

> > > 5. Daniel B. Clendenin, " Partakers of Divinity: The Orthodox

> > > Doctrine of Theosis, Journal of the Evangelical Theological

> Society

> > > 37:3 (1994):365-379.

> > > 6. Clendenin, Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

> > > 7. G. L. Bray, " Deification, " in Sinclair B. Ferguson, David F.

> > > Wright, J. I. Packer, ed., New Dictionary of Theology (Downers

> > Grove:

> > > InterVarsity, 1988), p. 189.

> > > 8. Karl Barth, The Christian Life: Church Dogmatics IV, 4,

Lecture

> > > Fragments (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981), p. 28.

> > > 9. Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (Baltimore: Penguin, New

ed.,

> > > 1993), pp. 231. See also Rowan Williams, " Deification, " in

Gordon

> S.

> > > Wakefield, ed., The Westminster Dictionary of Christian

> Spirituality

> > > (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1983), p. 106.

> > > 10. Other theosis texts are Gal. 2:20 and I John 4:16. See

> > > Panayiotis Nellas, Deification in Christ (Crestwood, NY: St.

> > > Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1987), pp. 23-25, 35-39, 127, 139.

> Books

> > > published by St. Vladimir & #65533;s Seminary Press are strongly

> > > supportive

> > > of theosis theology.

> > > 11. Irenaeus, Against Heresies V, I, 1. ANF I p. 527.

> > > 12. Irenaeus, Against Heresies III, X, 2. ANF I, p. 424.

> > > 13. Epistle to Diognetus X. ANF I, p. 29.

> > > 14. St. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity IX, 4-5. NPNF, 2nd

> > > Series, IX, p. 156.

> > > 15. St. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity IX, 38. NPNF, 2nd

> Series,

> > > IX, p. 167. See also X, 7 (pp. 183-184). A very helpful work on

> > > Hilary is by Philip T. Wild, The Divinization of Man According

to

> > > Saint Hilary of Portiers (Mundelein, IL: Saint Mary of the Lake

> > > Seminary, 1950).

> > > 16. Williams, " Deification, " p. 107.

> > > 17. Williams, " Deification, " p. 107. Thomas C. Oden notes that

the

> > > traditional distinction between incommunicable and communicable

> > > attributes clarifies how the soul may partake of the divine

> nature:

> > > there can be godlikeness by participation in the communicable

> > > attributes, such as grace, mercy, and longsuffering, but there

is

> no

> > > possibility of finite creatures being made infinite, invisible,

> pure

> > > spirit, etc. (Life in the Spirit [Harper San Francisco, 1992],

pp.

> > > 208-209). Winfried Corduan similarly explains how in Eckhart the

> > > believer is said to possess the nature of God ( " A Hair & #65533;s

> > > Breadth

> > > From Pantheism: Meister Eckhart & #65533;s God-Centered

> Spirituality, "

> > > Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 37:2 [1994], pp.

> 263-

> > > 274, esp. pp. 269-271).

> > > 18. Williams, " Deification, " p. 106.

> > > 19. See articles in G. W. H. Lampe, ed., A Patristic Greek

Lexicon

> > > (Oxford: Clarendon, 1961-68).

> > > 20. Kenneth Leech, Experiencing God: Theology as Spirituality

(San

> > > Francisco: Harper and Row, 1985), p. 258. Theosis writers speak

> > often

> > > of the concept of glory--the supernatural light of God's essence

> > that

> > > may be, in some way, manifested in the children of God. See

> Vladimir

> > > Lossky, The Vision of God (Bedfordshire: The Faith Press, 1963),

> pp.

> > > 129-137; and Kallistos Ware, " The Hesychasts: Gregory of Sinai,

> > > Gregory Palamas, Nicolas Cabasilas, " in Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey

> > > Wainwright, and Edward Yarnold, ed., The Study of Spirituality

> (New

> > > York: Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. 251-53.

> > > 21. Basil Krivocheine, St. Symeon the New Theologian (Crestwood,

> NY:

> > > St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1986), p. 389.

> > > 22. Philip Edgecumbe Hughes, The True Image (Grand Rapids:

> Eerdmans,

> > > 1989), p. 281.

> > > 23. Ross Aden, " Justification and Sanctification: A Conversation

> > > Between Lutheranism and Orthodoxy, " St. Vladimir's Theological

> > > Quarterly 38:1 (1994):96-98. See also John Meyendorff and Robert

> > > Tobias, ed., Salvation in Christ: A Lutheran-Orthodox Dialogue

> > > (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1992). While theosis theologians do not

> > > espouse a fusion of deity with humanity in deified believers,

they

> > at

> > > times do speak of ontological change in them. Jaroslav Pelikan

> > > observes that in the Cappadocians there does seem to be some

sort

> of

> > > a fundamental ontological change in the theosis experience

> > > (Christianity and Classical Culture [New Haven: Yale University

> > > Press, 1993], p. 318. Krivocheine states that in the thought of

> St.

> > > Symeon, deification refers to " an ontological rather than to a

> > purely

> > > spiritual transformation, although Symeon does not pretend that

> man

> > > abandons his created nature when he becomes a god through

> adoption "

> > > (St. Symeon the New Theologian, p. 390). On the distinction

> between

> > > God and man, Johannes Quasten writes that while for Athanasius

one

> > of

> > > the major themes in his divinization theology is Christ's

granting

> > of

> > > immortality to humankind, this is not accomplished by changing

> > > humanity into deity, but by suffering death for us in his body

and

> > by

> > > conjoining the divine nature with the human (Patrology, Vol.

III:

> > The

> > > Golden Age of Greek Patristic Literature [utrecht: Spectrum,

> 1975],

> > > pp. 71-72. Andrew Louth notes how basic the ontological gulf

> between

> > > God and humankind was to Athanasian theology ( " The

Cappadocians, "

> in

> > > Jones, et al., ed., The Study of Spirituality, pp. 161-162).

> > > 24. Georgios I. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man (Crestwood,

> NY:

> > > St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1984), pp. 12-13.

> > > 25. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man, p. 31.

> > > 26. Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church

> > > (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1976), p. 196.

> > > 27. Krivocheine, St. Symeon, pp. 389-390.

> > > 28. John Meyendorff, The Byzantine Legacy in the Orthodox Church

> > > (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1982), pp. 188-

189.

> > > 29. Bray, " Deification, " p. 189.

> > > 30. Ware, The Orthodox Church, p. 232. For Gregory Palamas'

> thoughts

> > > on the essence and energies of God see Lossky, The Vision of

God,

> > pp.

> > > 127-129, and Ware, " The Hesychasts, " pp. 250-251.

> > > 31. See, e.g., Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 8-9.

> > >

> >

>

August 15, 2007

Dear Jagbir

i just checked the HSS, and yes, it is looking great. Thanks.

violet

, " jagbir

singh " <adishakti_org wrote:

>

> Dear Violet,

>

> i have uploaded both articles. Check to see if they are alright. i

> also intend to just tidy up the site when i have the time i.e.,

just

> some minor adjustments. Thanks for the reminder.

>

> warmest regards,

>

> jagbir

>

> , " Violet "

> <violet.tubb@> wrote:

> >

> > Dear Jagbir,

> >

> > Could you please add this article of Theosis to the HSS site too?

> Thanks.

> >

> > violet

> >

> > ,

> > " Violet " <violet.tubb@> wrote:

> > >

> > > , " jagbir

> > > singh " <adishakti_org@> wrote:

> > >

> > > Dear Jagbir and All,

> > >

> > > Could you please add this writing on " Theosis " to the

> HSS " Editor's

> > Choice " . i had wanted the Theosis added earlier on already, but

> never

> > got around to it. That would be greatly appreciated, if you do not

> > mind.

> > >

> > > warmest regards,

> > >

> > > violet

> > >

> > > > > DEFINING THEOSIS

> > > > >

> > > > > It is not easy to give a definition of theosis, since so

many

> > > > > aspects of Christian truth are utilized by those who

advance

> the

> > > > > teaching, and different writers and traditions emphasize

> > different

> > > > > truths. The word " theosis " is the transliteration of the

Greek

> > > word

> > > > > meaning " deification " --being made God. Our English word

> > > > > " apotheosis " has much the same meaning.{19} In his

definition,

> > > > > contemporary Anglican priest Kenneth Leech builds upon the

> words

> > > of

> > > > > Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662), considered to be

perhaps

> the

> > > > > most creative of Byzantine theologians and the most helpful

> > > > > formulator of the doctrine of theosis. Leech writes that

> > according

> > > > > to Maximus, " deification is the work of divine grace by

which

> > > human

> > > > > nature is so transformed that it `shines forth with a

> > supernatural

> > > > > light and is transported above its own limits by a

> > superabundance

> > > > > of glory'. " {20}

> > > > >

> > > > > Archbishop Basil Krivocheine, expressing the thought of St.

> > Symeon

> > > > > the New Theologian, writes:

> > > > >

> > > > > Divinization is the state of man's total transformation,

> > effected

> > > > > by the Holy Spirit, when man observes the commandments of

God,

> > > > > acquires the evangelical virtues and shares in the

sufferings

> of

> > > > > Christ. The Holy Spirit then gives man a divine

intelligence

> and

> > > > > incorruptibility. Man does not receive a new soul, but the

> Holy

> > > > > Spirit unites essentially with the whole man, body and

soul.

> He

> > > > > makes of him a son of God, a god by adoption, though man

does

> > not

> > > > > cease being a man, a simple creature, even when he clearly

> sees

> > > the

> > > > > Father. He may be called man and god at the same time.{21}

> > > > >

> > > > > http://www.bethel.edu/~rakrobTHEOSIS2.html

> > > > >

> > > >

> > > > i agree that there is a " crying need for a robust, biblical

> > theology

> > > > of the Christian life that will refute and replace the

plethora

> of

> > > > false spiritualities plaguing Church and society. " It is only

> > after

> > > > Jesus had sent the Comforter, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, that

it

> > > became

> > > > possible to thoroughly comprehend theosis and the robust,

> biblical

> > > > theology of Christianity. It is only through Her detailed

Divine

> > > > Message of the Last Judgment and Resurrection--declared and

> spread

> > > to

> > > > many nations and peoples over more than three decades--is it

> > > possible

> > > > today to become aware of the false spiritualities plaguing all

> > > > religious organizations and society. (Since the SY

organization

> > and

> > > > WCASY has edited out Her Divine Message i regard them to be

> > > preaching

> > > > a false spirituality too.)

> > > >

> > > > The Last Judgment and Resurrection is pivotal in comprehending

> > " the

> > > > deepest questions of our existence: who am I, where did I come

> > from,

> > > > what's the meaning and purpose of existence, do I have a soul,

> > what

> > > > happens to me after I die, does God exist, and if God exists

> does

> > > God

> > > > care about me personally. " [1]

> > > >

> > > > In this Golden Age of the Last Judgment and Resurrection

humans

> > will

> > > > break free of centuries of false religious dogmas, destructive

> > > > indoctrinations, and absurd ideas about the Divine. The

decadent

> > > > foundations of materialistic society and divisive religious

> > regimes

> > > > crumble. The Last Judgment and Resurrection is not the signal

of

> > the

> > > > apocalyptic end of the world. On the contrary the Dark Age of

> > death,

> > > > delusion and destruction humanity has endured for millennia

> ends.

> > We

> > > > awaken to a new dawn of genuine spiritual rebirth and daily

> > > > experience of truth, consciousness and bliss (Sat-Chit-Anand).

> > > >

> > > > " Mythological eschatologies depict an eternal struggle between

> > order

> > > > and chaos and celebrate the eternity of order and the

> > repeatability

> > > > of the origin of the world. The most notable expression of

> > > > mythological eschatology is in Hinduism, which maintains

belief

> in

> > > > great cycles of the destruction and creation of the universe.

> > > > Historical eschatologies are grounded in datable events that

are

> > > > perceived as fundamental to the progress of history. Judaism,

> > > > Christianity, and Islam all have historical eschatologies.

> > > > Eschatology in the Hebrew Scriptures sees the catastrophes

that

> > > beset

> > > > the people of Israel as due to their disobedience to the laws

> and

> > > > will of God and holds that conformity to God's plan will

result

> in

> > > > renewal and the fulfillment of God's purpose. In

Christianity,

> the

> > > > end times are thought to have begun with the life and

ministry

> of

> > > > Jesus, the messiah who will return to establish the Kingdom of

> > God.

> > > > Millennialism focuses especially on Christ's second coming

and

> the

> > > > reign of the righteous on earth. In Shi'ite Islam it is

believed

> > > that

> > > > the mahdi, or restorer of the faith, will come to inaugurate

the

> > > last

> > > > judgment, in which the good will enter heaven and the evil

will

> > fall

> > > > into hell. In Buddhism, eschatological traditions are

associated

> > > with

> > > > the Buddha Maitreya and with Pure Land Buddhism, as well as

with

> > > > individual efforts to achieve nirvana. " [2]

> > > >

> > > > Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have historical

> > > > eschatologies. The incarnation of the Divine Feminine

> (Shakti/Holy

> > > > Spirit/Ruh) Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has fulfilled all these

> > > > historical eschatologies simultaneously, exposing in the

process

> > all

> > > > the false spiritualities plaguing these religious

organizations

> > and

> > > > society. Through Her unprecedented powers of Self-realization

> She

> > > has

> > > > triggerred the theosis, the " divine grace by which human

nature

> is

> > > so

> > > > transformed that it `shines forth with a supernatural light

and

> is

> > > > transported above its own limits by a superabundance of

> glory.' "

> > > >

> > > > But why and how does the Shakti (Holy Spirit/Ruh) accomplish

> such

> > > > feats " by which human nature is so transformed that it `shines

> > forth

> > > > with a supernatural light and is transported above its own

> limits

> > by

> > > > a superabundance of glory' " ? In the first place, where and

> through

> > > > what process does one find Her?

> > > >

> > > > " The power or active aspect of the immanent God is Sakti.

Sakti

> is

> > > > the embodiment of power. She is the supporter of the vast

> > universe.

> > > > She is the supreme power by which the world is upheld. She is

> the

> > > > Universal Mother. She is Durga, Kali, Chandi, Chamundi,

> > > > Tripurasundari, Rajesvari. There is no difference between God

> and

> > > His

> > > > Sakti, just as there is no difference between fire and its

> burning

> > > > power.

> > > >

> > > > He who worships Sakti, that is, God in Mother form, as the

> supreme

> > > > power which creates, sustains and withdraws the universe, is a

> > > Sakta.

> > > > All women are forms of the Divine Mother.

> > > >

> > > > Siva is the unchanging consciousness. Sakti is His changing

> power

> > > > which appears as mind and matter. Saktivada or Saktadarsana

is a

> > > form

> > > > of monism or Advaitavada.

> > > >

> > > > A Sakta does Sadhana which helps the union of Siva and Sakti,

> > > through

> > > > the awakening of the forces within the body. He becomes a

Siddha

> > in

> > > > the Sadhana, when he is able to awaken Kundalini and pierce

the

> > six

> > > > Chakras. This is to be done in a perfect practical way under

the

> > > > guidance of a Guru who has become perfect. The Sakti must be

> > > awakened

> > > > by Dhyana, by Bhava, by Japa, by Mantra-Sakti. The Mother, the

> > > > embodiment of the fifty letters, is present in the various

> letters

> > > in

> > > > the different Chakras. When the chords of a musical

instrument

> are

> > > > struck harmoniously, fine music is produced. Even so, when the

> > > chords

> > > > of the letters are struck in their order, the Mother who

moves

> in

> > > the

> > > > six Chakras and who is the very self of the letters, awakens

> > > Herself.

> > > > The Sadhaka attains Siddhi easily when She is roused. It is

> > > difficult

> > > > to say when and how She shows Herself and to what Sadhaka.

> Sadhana

> > > > means unfolding, rousing up or awakening of power or Sakti.

Mode

> > of

> > > > Sadhana depends upon the tendencies and capacities of the

> Sadhaka.

> > > >

> > > > Sakti may be termed as that by which we live and have our

being

> in

> > > > this universe. In this world all the wants of the child are

> > provided

> > > > by the mother. The child's growth, development and sustenance

> are

> > > > looked after by the mother. Even so, all the necessaries of

life

> > and

> > > > its activities in this world and the energy needed for it,

> depend

> > > > upon Sakti or the Universal Mother.

> > > >

> > > > No one can free himself from the thraldom of mind and matter

> > without

> > > > Mother's grace. The fetters of Maya are too hard to break. If

> you

> > > > worship Her as the great Mother, you can very easily go beyond

> > > > Prakriti through Her benign grace and blessings. She will

remove

> > all

> > > > obstacles in the path and lead you safely into the illimitable

> > > domain

> > > > of eternal bliss and make you free. When She is pleased and

> > bestows

> > > > Her blessings on you, then alone you can free yourself from

the

> > > > bondage of this formidable Samsara. " [3]

> > > >

> > > > Shri Mataji is the Comforter sent by Lord Jesus to guide,

> console,

> > > > cheer and comfort you during the Last Judgment and

Resurrection.

> > For

> > > > more than three decades She has worked tirelessly and

selflessly

> > to

> > > > enlighten and protect you from the false spiritualities

plaguing

> > all

> > > > religious organizations and society. She is verily the

> incarnation

> > > of

> > > > the Great Mother who alone can free you from the bondage of

this

> > > > formidable Samsara. She is the source through which the

> > " deification

> > > > or theosis of the creature will be realized in its fullness

only

> > in

> > > > the age to come " . [4] Seek and meditate on Her within as She

is

> > the

> > > > very core of your eternal soul. She is verily your very Self!

> > > >

> > > > According to Vladimir Lossky, " While remaining a spiritually

> > > > conscious state and clearly felt by the one who receives it,

> > > > divinization will always remain an awesome mystery,

surpassing

> all

> > > > human understanding and unobserved by most people. Indeed, the

> > ones

> > > > who are granted it are rare, although all the baptized are

> called

> > to

> > > > it. It is their fault if they deprive themselves of it. " {5}

> > > >

> > > > Since we know that this is the promised age of the Last

Judgemnt

> > and

> > > > Resurrection (the age to come) i would want to alter it

slighty:

> > > >

> > > > " While remaining a spiritually conscious state and clearly

felt

> as

> > > > the Cool Breeze of the Holy Spirit by the one who receives

Self-

> > > > realization, divinization will always remain an awesome

mystery,

> > > > surpassing all human understanding and unobserved by most

> people.

> > > > Indeed, the ones who are granted it are rare, although all

> humans

> > > are

> > > > called to experience it by taking part in the Last Judgment

and

> > > > Resurrection. It is their fault if they deprive themselves of

> it. "

> > > >

> > > > Jai Shri Ganapathy,

> > > >

> > > > jagbir

> > > >

> > > > [1] Deepak Chopra

> > > > [2] Encyclopedia Britannica

> > > > [3] Sri Swami Sivananda, Divine Life Society

> > > > [4] Krivocheine, St. Symeon, pp. 389-390.

> > > > [5] Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern

Church

> > > > (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1976), p. 196.

> > > >

> > > > ,

> > " nicole_bougantouche "

> > > > <nicole_bougantouche@> wrote:

> > > > >

> > > > > BECOMING LIKE GOD: AN EVANGELICAL DOCTRINE OF THEOSIS

> > > > > JETS 40/2 (June 1997) 257-269

> > > > >

> > > > > Robert V. Rakestraw

> > > > >

> > > > > In one of his letters, Athanasius, the fourth-century

defender

> > of

> > > > the faith, made his famous statement that the Son of God

became

> > > > man " that he might deify us in himself. " {1} In his great

work,

> On

> > > the

> > > > Incarnation, he wrote similarly that Christ " was made man

that

> we

> > > > might be made God. " {2} This is the doctrine of theosis, also

> known

> > > as

> > > > deification, divinization, or, as some prefer, participation

in

> > God.

> > > > {3}

> > > > >

> > > > > While the concept of theosis has roots in the ante-Nicene

> > period,

> > > > it is not an antiquated historical curiosity. The idea of

> > > > divinization, of redeemed human nature somehow participating

in

> > the

> > > > very life of God, is found to a surprising extent throughout

> > > > Christian history, although it is practically unknown to the

> > > > > majority of Christians (and even many theologians) in the

> West.

> > In

> > > > Orthodox theology, however, it is the controlling doctrine.

> > > > Furthermore, " it is not too much to say that the divinization

of

> > > > humanity is the central theme, chief aim, basic purpose, or

> > primary

> > > > religious ideal of Orthodoxy. " {4} With the growing interest in

> > > > Eastern Orthodox/Evangelical rapprochement, it is essential

that

> > > > > theosis studies be pursued. Evangelicals may receive

> > considerable

> > > > benefit from a clear understanding and judicious

appropriation

> of

> > > the

> > > > doctrine. This is so particularly in light of the crying need

> for

> > a

> > > > robust, biblical theology of the Christian life that will

refute

> > and

> > > > replace the plethora of false spiritualities plaguing Church

and

> > > > society.

> > > > >

> > > > > ……….

> > > > >

> > > > > DEFINING THEOSIS

> > > > >

> > > > > It is not easy to give a definition of theosis, since so

many

> > > > aspects of Christian truth are utilized by those who advance

the

> > > > teaching, and different writers and traditions emphasize

> different

> > > > truths. The word " theosis " is the transliteration of the Greek

> > word

> > > > meaning " deification " --being made God. Our English word

> > " apotheosis "

> > > > has much the same meaning.{19} In his definition, contemporary

> > > > > Anglican priest Kenneth Leech builds upon the words of

Maximus

> > the

> > > > > Confessor (c. 580-662), considered to be perhaps the most

> > creative

> > > > of Byzantine theologians and the most helpful formulator of

the

> > > > doctrine of theosis. Leech writes that according to Maximus,

> > > > " deification is the work of divine grace by which human

nature

> is

> > so

> > > > transformed that it `shines forth with a supernatural light

and

> is

> > > > transported above its own limits by a superabundance of

> > glory'. " {20}

> > > > >

> > > > > Archbishop Basil Krivocheine, expressing the thought of St.

> > Symeon

> > > > the New Theologian, writes:

> > > > >

> > > > > Divinization is the state of man's total transformation,

> > effected

> > > > by the Holy Spirit, when man observes the commandments of God,

> > > > acquires the evangelical virtues and shares in the sufferings

of

> > > > Christ. The Holy Spirit then gives man a divine intelligence

and

> > > > incorruptibility. Man does not receive a new soul, but the

Holy

> > > > Spirit unites essentially with the whole man, body and soul.

He

> > > makes

> > > > of him a son of God, a god by adoption, though man does not

> cease

> > > > being a man, a simple creature, even when he clearly sees the

> > > Father.

> > > > > He may be called man and god at the same time.{21}

> > > > >

> > > > > A more Westernized definition comes from Philip Edgecumbe

> > Hughes,

> > > > the deceased evangelical Anglican clergyman, biblical scholar

> and

> > > > theologian in the Reformed tradition. Like a fair number of

> older

> > > > Anglicans, he understood and saw considerable value in the

> > doctrine

> > > > of theosis. Commenting on the words of Athanasius that we

quoted

> > at

> > > > the start of this paper, Hughes notes that while Athanasius

did

> > not

> > > > clarify in every reference what he intended by his concept of

> > > > deification, he made it quite clear from his writings as a

whole

> > > > > that he did not have in mind a transformation of the human

> into

> > > the

> > > > divine, an ontological or essential change of humanity into

> deity.

> > > > >

> > > > > Hughes goes on to explain, correctly I believe, what

> Athanasius

> > > did

> > > > mean, and in so doing gives us a useful definition of theosis

as

> > > > >

> > > > > the reintegration of the divine image of man's creation

> through

> > > the

> > > > sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit conforming the redeemed

into

> > the

> > > > likeness of Christ, and also of the believer's transition from

> > > > mortality to immortality so that he is enabled to participate

in

> > the

> > > > eternal bliss and glory of the kingdom of God.{22}

> > > > >

> > > > > Above all, theosis is the restoration and reintegration of

> > > > the " image " or, as some prefer, " likeness " of God, seriously

> > > > distorted by the fall, in the children of God. In this life

> > > > Christians grow more and more into the very likeness and

> > > > > character of God, as God was revealed in the man Jesus

Christ.

> > > > >

> > > > > This is more than the customary Protestant concept of

> > > > sanctification, however. In theosis, while there is no

> ontological

> > > > change of humanity into deity, there is a very real

impartation

> of

> > > > the divine life to the whole human being--body and soul.

> Lutheran

> > > > Ross Aden observes that Orthodox theologians, such as John

> Breck,

> > > use

> > > > the expression " communion with God " to mean " ontological

> > > > > participation. " In contrast to Lutheranism, " the Orthodox

hope

> > of

> > > > salvation in its broadest sense is more than hope of a divine

> > > > sentence of 'not guilty' or even of a beatific vision; it is

> > `human

> > > > participation in the being of God . . . a total sharing in the

> > > Triune

> > > > life.' . . . Created in the image of God, human beings are

> called

> > to

> > > > become like God by realizing the potential for ontological

> sharing

> > > in

> > > > > the life of God, " yet never in such a way that theosis means

> > > > sharing in God's essence (nature). " Lutherans and Orthodox

would

> > > > agree that the essence of God is utterly transcendent and

> > therefore

> > > > inaccessible to any created reality. " {23}

> > > > >

> > > > > G. I. Mantzaridis of the University of Thessaloniki writes

in

> a

> > > > recent work that deification is God's greatest gift to man

and

> the

> > > > ultimate goal of human existence.

> > > > >

> > > > > It is that which from the beginning has constituted the

> > innermost

> > > > longing of man's existence. Adam, in attempting to

appropriate

> it

> > by

> > > > transgressing God's command, failed, and in place of

> deification,

> > > met

> > > > with corruption and death. The love of God, however, through

His

> > > > Son's incarnation, restored to man the possibility of

> deification:

> > > > >

> > > > > Adam of old was deceived:

> > > > >

> > > > > wanting to be God he failed to be God.

> > > > >

> > > > > God becomes man,

> > > > >

> > > > > so that He may make Adam god.{24}

> > > > >

> > > > > The Greek Fathers and St. Gregory Palamas incorporate a

> > > > strongly " physical " view of theosis, which derives the

> deification

> > > of

> > > > human nature from its hypostatic union with the incarnate

Logos

> of

> > > > God. This view " does not imply any mechanical commutation of

> > > > humanity, but an ontological regeneration of human nature in

the

> > > > hypostasis of the incarnate Logos of God, accessible to every

> man

> > > who

> > > > participates personally and freely in the life of Christ. " {25}

> > > > >

> > > > > Concerning the time factor in divinization, Vladimir Lossky

> > > writes:

> > > > >

> > > > > The deification or theosis of the creature will be realized

in

> > its

> > > > fullness only in the age to come, after the resurrection of

the

> > > dead.

> > > > This deifying union has, nevertheless, to be fulfilled ever

more

> > and

> > > > more even in this present life, through the transformation of

> our

> > > > corruptible and depraved nature and by its adaptation to

eternal

> > > life.

> > > > {26}

> > > > >

> > > > > With regard to those who receive this gracious gift,

> Krivocheine

> > > > gives the thought of Symeon:

> > > > >

> > > > > While remaining a spiritually conscious state and clearly

felt

> > by

> > > > the one who receives it, divinization will always remain an

> > awesome

> > > > mystery, surpassing all human understanding and unobserved by

> most

> > > > people. Indeed, the ones who are granted it are rare,

although

> all

> > > > the baptized are called to it. It is their fault if they

deprive

> > > > themselves of it.{27}

> > > > >

> > > > > John Meyendorff speaks of the never ending nature of

> > deification.

> > > > >

> > > > > Man is not fully man unless he is in communion with

God. . . .

> > > > However, because God remains absolutely transcendent in his

> > essence,

> > > > man's communion with Him has no limit. It never reaches an

End,

> > > which

> > > > would be a dead end. God is both transcendent and

> > > inexhaustible. . . .

> > > > In Christ [according to Palamas], man enters into communion

not

> > > > with " the God of the philosophers and the savants " but with

the

> > one

> > > > who in human language can only be called " more than God. " {28}

> > > > >

> > > > > While the doctrine of divinization or theosis is associated

> > > > primarily with the Orthodox churches of the East, it has

> > > similarities

> > > > with the teaching about sanctification in the West. As noted

> > above,

> > > > however, the two are not identical. In the Western churches,

as

> > Bray

> > > > notes, the concept of the imitation of Christ is the closest

> > analogy

> > > > to the theosis doctrine of the East. In Orthodox theology,

while

> > we

> > > > are called to imitate Christ, we are also called to manifest

the

> > > > > energies of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who proceeds from

the

> > > > Father rests on the Son and becomes his energies. The Spirit

> then,

> > > by

> > > > adopting us as sons of God, makes accessible to us the

spiritual

> > > > power which belongs to Christ.{29} Eastern writers stress,

> > however,

> > > > the distinction between God's essence and his energies.

> According

> > to

> > > > theosis proponent Timothy Ware (Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia),

> > > " union

> > > > with God means union with the divine energies, not the divine

> > > > essence: the Orthodox Church, while speaking of deification

and

> > > > > union, rejects all forms of pantheism. " {30}

> > > > >

> > > > > Orthodox churches also work more with the incarnation than

> with

> > > the

> > > > > crucifixion of Christ as the basis for man's divinization.

> This

> > is

> > > > not to say that Christ's atonement is minimized in the work of

> > > > redemption,{31} but that the intention of the Father in

creating

> > > > humanity in the first place, and of joining humanity to

divinity

> > in

> > > > the incarnation, is so that human beings might assume

> Godlikeness,

> > > > and be imagers of God in his divine life, character, and

> actions.

> > > > >

> > > >

> > > > 1. Athanasius, Letter 60, to Adelphius, 4. See also sect. 3

and

> 8.

> > > > NPNF, 2nd Series, IV, pp. 575-578.

> > > > 2. Athanasius, On the Incarnation 54. NPNF, 2nd Series, IV,

p.

> 65.

> > > > 3. A. M. Allchin titles his book on theosis Participation in

> God:

> > A

> > > > Forgotten Strand in Anglican Tradition (Wilton, CT: Morehouse-

> > > Barlow,

> > > > 1988).

> > > > 4. Daniel B. Clendenin, Eastern Orthodox Christianity: A

Western

> > > > Perspective (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), p. 120.

> > > > 5. Daniel B. Clendenin, " Partakers of Divinity: The Orthodox

> > > > Doctrine of Theosis, Journal of the Evangelical Theological

> > Society

> > > > 37:3 (1994):365-379.

> > > > 6. Clendenin, Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

> > > > 7. G. L. Bray, " Deification, " in Sinclair B. Ferguson, David

F.

> > > > Wright, J. I. Packer, ed., New Dictionary of Theology (Downers

> > > Grove:

> > > > InterVarsity, 1988), p. 189.

> > > > 8. Karl Barth, The Christian Life: Church Dogmatics IV, 4,

> Lecture

> > > > Fragments (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981), p. 28.

> > > > 9. Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (Baltimore: Penguin, New

> ed.,

> > > > 1993), pp. 231. See also Rowan Williams, " Deification, " in

> Gordon

> > S.

> > > > Wakefield, ed., The Westminster Dictionary of Christian

> > Spirituality

> > > > (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1983), p. 106.

> > > > 10. Other theosis texts are Gal. 2:20 and I John 4:16. See

> > > > Panayiotis Nellas, Deification in Christ (Crestwood, NY: St.

> > > > Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1987), pp. 23-25, 35-39, 127, 139.

> > Books

> > > > published by St. Vladimir & #65533;s Seminary Press are strongly

> > > > supportive

> > > > of theosis theology.

> > > > 11. Irenaeus, Against Heresies V, I, 1. ANF I p. 527.

> > > > 12. Irenaeus, Against Heresies III, X, 2. ANF I, p. 424.

> > > > 13. Epistle to Diognetus X. ANF I, p. 29.

> > > > 14. St. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity IX, 4-5. NPNF, 2nd

> > > > Series, IX, p. 156.

> > > > 15. St. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity IX, 38. NPNF, 2nd

> > Series,

> > > > IX, p. 167. See also X, 7 (pp. 183-184). A very helpful work

on

> > > > Hilary is by Philip T. Wild, The Divinization of Man

According

> to

> > > > Saint Hilary of Portiers (Mundelein, IL: Saint Mary of the

Lake

> > > > Seminary, 1950).

> > > > 16. Williams, " Deification, " p. 107.

> > > > 17. Williams, " Deification, " p. 107. Thomas C. Oden notes

that

> the

> > > > traditional distinction between incommunicable and

communicable

> > > > attributes clarifies how the soul may partake of the divine

> > nature:

> > > > there can be godlikeness by participation in the communicable

> > > > attributes, such as grace, mercy, and longsuffering, but

there

> is

> > no

> > > > possibility of finite creatures being made infinite,

invisible,

> > pure

> > > > spirit, etc. (Life in the Spirit [Harper San Francisco,

1992],

> pp.

> > > > 208-209). Winfried Corduan similarly explains how in Eckhart

the

> > > > believer is said to possess the nature of God ( " A

Hair & #65533;s

> > > > Breadth

> > > > From Pantheism: Meister Eckhart & #65533;s God-Centered

> > Spirituality, "

> > > > Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 37:2 [1994],

pp.

> > 263-

> > > > 274, esp. pp. 269-271).

> > > > 18. Williams, " Deification, " p. 106.

> > > > 19. See articles in G. W. H. Lampe, ed., A Patristic Greek

> Lexicon

> > > > (Oxford: Clarendon, 1961-68).

> > > > 20. Kenneth Leech, Experiencing God: Theology as Spirituality

> (San

> > > > Francisco: Harper and Row, 1985), p. 258. Theosis writers

speak

> > > often

> > > > of the concept of glory--the supernatural light of God's

essence

> > > that

> > > > may be, in some way, manifested in the children of God. See

> > Vladimir

> > > > Lossky, The Vision of God (Bedfordshire: The Faith Press,

1963),

> > pp.

> > > > 129-137; and Kallistos Ware, " The Hesychasts: Gregory of

Sinai,

> > > > Gregory Palamas, Nicolas Cabasilas, " in Cheslyn Jones,

Geoffrey

> > > > Wainwright, and Edward Yarnold, ed., The Study of Spirituality

> > (New

> > > > York: Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. 251-53.

> > > > 21. Basil Krivocheine, St. Symeon the New Theologian

(Crestwood,

> > NY:

> > > > St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1986), p. 389.

> > > > 22. Philip Edgecumbe Hughes, The True Image (Grand Rapids:

> > Eerdmans,

> > > > 1989), p. 281.

> > > > 23. Ross Aden, " Justification and Sanctification: A

Conversation

> > > > Between Lutheranism and Orthodoxy, " St. Vladimir's Theological

> > > > Quarterly 38:1 (1994):96-98. See also John Meyendorff and

Robert

> > > > Tobias, ed., Salvation in Christ: A Lutheran-Orthodox Dialogue

> > > > (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1992). While theosis theologians do

not

> > > > espouse a fusion of deity with humanity in deified believers,

> they

> > > at

> > > > times do speak of ontological change in them. Jaroslav Pelikan

> > > > observes that in the Cappadocians there does seem to be some

> sort

> > of

> > > > a fundamental ontological change in the theosis experience

> > > > (Christianity and Classical Culture [New Haven: Yale

University

> > > > Press, 1993], p. 318. Krivocheine states that in the thought

of

> > St.

> > > > Symeon, deification refers to " an ontological rather than to a

> > > purely

> > > > spiritual transformation, although Symeon does not pretend

that

> > man

> > > > abandons his created nature when he becomes a god through

> > adoption "

> > > > (St. Symeon the New Theologian, p. 390). On the distinction

> > between

> > > > God and man, Johannes Quasten writes that while for

Athanasius

> one

> > > of

> > > > the major themes in his divinization theology is Christ's

> granting

> > > of

> > > > immortality to humankind, this is not accomplished by changing

> > > > humanity into deity, but by suffering death for us in his

body

> and

> > > by

> > > > conjoining the divine nature with the human (Patrology, Vol.

> III:

> > > The

> > > > Golden Age of Greek Patristic Literature [utrecht: Spectrum,

> > 1975],

> > > > pp. 71-72. Andrew Louth notes how basic the ontological gulf

> > between

> > > > God and humankind was to Athanasian theology ( " The

> Cappadocians, "

> > in

> > > > Jones, et al., ed., The Study of Spirituality, pp. 161-162).

> > > > 24. Georgios I. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man

(Crestwood,

> > NY:

> > > > St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1984), pp. 12-13.

> > > > 25. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man, p. 31.

> > > > 26. Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern

Church

> > > > (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1976), p. 196.

> > > > 27. Krivocheine, St. Symeon, pp. 389-390.

> > > > 28. John Meyendorff, The Byzantine Legacy in the Orthodox

Church

> > > > (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1982), pp. 188-

> 189.

> > > > 29. Bray, " Deification, " p. 189.

> > > > 30. Ware, The Orthodox Church, p. 232. For Gregory Palamas'

> > thoughts

> > > > on the essence and energies of God see Lossky, The Vision of

> God,

> > > pp.

> > > > 127-129, and Ware, " The Hesychasts, " pp. 250-251.

> > > > 31. See, e.g., Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 8-9.

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

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