THEOSIS

THEOSIS

The fundamental vocation and goal of each and every person is to share in the life of God. We have been created by God to live in fellowship with Him. The descent of God in the Person of Jesus Christ has made possible the human ascent to the Father through the work of the Holy Spirit. Orthodoxy believes that each Christian is involved in a movement toward God which is known as theosis or deification.

Theosis describes the spiritual pilgrimage to which each person becomes ever more perfect, ever more holy, ever more united with God. It is not a static relationship, nor does it take place only after death. On the contrary, theosis is a movement of love toward God which begins for each Christian with the rites of Baptism and which continues throughout this life, as well as the life which is to come.

Salvation means liberation from sin, death and evil. Redemption means our repossesion by God. In Orthodoxy, both salvation and redemption are within the context of theosis.

This rich vision of Christian life was expressed well by Saint Peter when he wrote in the early pages of his second Epistle that we are called "to become partakers of the divine nature." It was affirmed by Saint Basil the Great when he described man as "the creature who has received the order to become a god."

These are certainly bold affirmations which must be properly understood. The Orthodox Church understands theosis as a union with the energies of God and not the essence of God which always remains hidden and unknown.

However, the experience of the Church testifies that this is a true union with God. It is also one which is not pantheistic, because in this union the divine and the human retain their unique characteristics. In this sense, Orthodoxy believes that human life reaches its fulfillment only when it becomes divine.


Rev. Demetrios Vakarios
Aspects of the Treasures of Orthodoxy
For Visitors of Saint Demetrios' Church of Thessaloniki Greece
pp. 102-104
1985, Philoptochos of Saint Demetrios' Greek Orthodox Church
Thessaloniki, Greece