39.

 Outline ten important points in understanding the doctrine of theosis.

            (1) The first fruits of visible bodily glorification have on occasion come to the saints even in this life. The textbook mentions some saints who have shone with the divine light in their earthly lives — St. Seraphim of Sarov, St. Arsenius the Great and Abba Pambo. St. Gregory Palamas states that “if in the age to come the body will share with the soul in unspeakable blessings, it is certain that it must share in them, so far as possible, even now” [The Tome of the Holy Mountain].

            (2) The glory of the saints in the earthly life, however, is most often one of an inward splendor, one of the soul alone. The full deification of the body will not be actualized until the Last Day, when the saints rise from the dead and become clothed in a spiritual body. Then the sanctity formerly hidden in their souls will be manifested bodily, and the saints' bodies will be outwardly transfigured by the divine light that the Apostles witnessed at Christ's Transfiguration.

            (3) Since theosis involves the sanctification and transfiguration of the body along with the soul, Orthodoxy reveres the relics of saints. This reverence does not spring from superstition or ignorance, but comes from a highly developed theology of the body. The relics of the saints contain the same divine grace that was present when the saints were alive, and these are used by God as a channel of divine power and as a means of healing, as was noted above. The same reverence is shown to the bones of the saints as is to the bodies of those who have remained free from corruption.

            (4) Theosis involves a cosmic redemption. In addition to man's body, all of the material creation is eventually going to be transfigured. As St. John the Theologian writes: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away”(Rev 21:1). Redeemed man will not be taken away from creation, for it is to be saved and glorified with him. (Here the textbook draws attention to a point made in a former lesson: icons are the first fruits of the redemption of matter). Scriptures mention that: “... the created universe waits with eager expectation for God's sons to be revealed... for the universe itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and will enter into the liberty and splendor of the children of God. We know that until now the whole created universe has been groaning in the pangs of childbirth” (Rom 8:19-22).

The belief in the redemption of the universe, just like the Orthodox doctrine of icons and the doctrine of the human body, stems from a correct understanding of the Incarnation: Christ took flesh (something material) and thus made possible the redemption and metamorphosis of all creation — not only the spiritual world, but the material world as well. Noteworthy in this regard is Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky's explanation that:

The end of the world will consist not in its total destruction and annihilation, but in a complete change and renewal of it. The Fifth Ecumenical Council, in refuting the various false teachings of the Origenists, solemnly condemned also their false teaching that the material world would not merely be transformed, but would be totally annihilated [Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, p. 345].

(5) Theosis is not a remote process reserved for a select few, but is rather the normal goal for each individual Christian without exception. This process must begin for all of them in this present life, even though they will only be fully deified on the Last Day. Granted, very few in this life attain a full mystical union with God, but every true Christian who tries to love God and keep His commandments (however weak his attempts and however often he fails) — such a person is already deified to some degree.

            (6) A person being deified does not lose consciousness of sin, for theosis involves a continued act of repentance. However advanced a saint is on the path of holiness, he still repeats, “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.” (Concerning this prayer, the Jesus Prayer, which is mentioned in one of the novels of J.D. Salinger, it has the mysterious property and power of expelling demons from a person. This property was discussed by the Lord Himself, Who said that those who believe in Him in His name will cast out demons — cf. Mk 16:17). The saints grew all the more conscious and sorrowful of their sins as they progressed in union with God. The textbook explains that “Orthodox mystical theology is a theology of glory and transfiguration, but it is also a theology of penitence.”

            (7) The method to follow in order to be deified does not involve anything extraordinary or esoteric. It involves attendance at church, the reception of the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments) on a regular basis, praying to God “in spirit and truth,” the reading of the Gospels, and the following of the commandments.

            (8) Deification is a social process rather than a solitary, selfish one. As noted, deification involves keeping the commandments, and these are summed up by Christ as the love of God and the love of neighbor. The two cannot be separated, for a man is able to love his neighbor only if he loves God above all else, and ... he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God Whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God should love his brother also (1 Jn 4:20-21).

            Likewise did St. Anthony of Egypt instruct: “From our neighbor is life and from our neighbor is death. If we win our neighbor we win God, but if we cause our neighbor to stumble we sin against Christ.”

            The textbook explains that man, who is made in the image and likeness of God, can only realize the divine likeness if he lives a common life such as that of the Holy Trinity. Man must dwell with his fellow men just as the three Persons of the Godhead dwell in one another. That is, man must not live for himself alone, but he must live in and for other people. This kind of co-suffering love is shown in the words of a Desert Father who said: “If it were possible for me to find a leper and to give him my body and to take his, I would gladly do it” [Apophthegmata].

            (9) Deification, even though it involves heights of mystical experience, is also practical, down-to-earth, and even prosaic. Not only does it involve hesychasts praying in silence and saints radiant with the divine light, but it also involves the commonplace tasks with which St. Herman of Alaska busied himself. Accounts of his life mention his carrying heavy timbers to build the mission at Spruce Island; his digging a trench to contain a wildfire that threatened the native Indians' habitat; his painstaking nursing of those who were stricken with a smallpox epidemic; his teaching the locals the arts of agriculture, carpentry an other useful crafts; and his hard labors in feeding and clothing orphans and buying books for his students. The mystical and practical experiences are not two separate ways, but are one and the same way. Orthodoxy rejects all forms of quietism and all forms of love that do not issue in action.

            (10) Deification involves life in the Church and the reception of the Holy Mysteries, for through them Christians partake of the uncreated grace of God. The Mysteries are the means established by God whereby people acquire the Holy Spirit and are transformed into the divine likeness. As the New-Martyr Tikhon, Patriarch of All Russia, wrote, it is through the Holy Mysteries that a Christian is cleansed of sin and becomes a beloved child of the Lord.