As Catholics do we believe we become gods?

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Calling them “gods” would be problematic to those unfamiliar with the theology behind it. I can imagine someone screenshoting your post and circulating it as an example of Catholic “saint worship”. But oh well. I guess some people will always choose to not understand the Church.

Other posters are right; calling the saints “people who partake in grace” is softer sounding to non-Catholics.
 
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Right, but it depends on your audience. The topic of this particular thread is “do Catholics become gods”… I posted the relevant Catechism section.
 
Exactly. I feel that the use of the phrase can be so misconstrued that it shouldn’t be used when teaching ‘baby’ Catholics, as it were. I don’t know why it struck me as so wrong when I heard it, but I think it is because of the way it was used. I feel that in deepening someone’s spirituality, like the ‘Next Level Academy’ is claiming to do, you should avoid using the phrase ‘become gods.’ it can be easily misunderstood and lead people to believe in it wrongly. Our Catholic Faith is under attack in a major way right now, and introducing something like this is more confusing than helpful for the average believer … especially in an introductory video …
 
I vaguely recall hearing a homily in the past year mentioning it also. Just one though. I seem to recall it may have related to some reading from Paul where he said something similar.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Didn’t Martin Luther have some wrong headed understanding of men “becoming gods” as well?

If so, that would probably explain why the Latin Church avoids those passages.

As LittleLady said, we speak in terms of “sharing in Christ’s divinity” or "partaking in " it, and maybe that we should “become like God”, but clergy and catechists do not use the “become gods” language though it’s in Scripture and the catechism.
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The Word-Faith movement believes that we become gods. They also believe that God is contractually obligated to do anything we ask of him with faith.

Dated a girl in that sect once. Wonderful person and beautiful, but I couldn’t make peace with that stuff.
 
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? - John 10:34

In the west, we speak of divinization, in the east they call it theosis. We remain humans, our natures the same, but God will glorify us, fill us with his grace, and we’ll conform ourselves to Christ. It’s this vision or participation in the divine life, which God shares with us, which is what we’re referring to.

We do not believe we progress and become what God is. That is considered heresy.
 
Dhunt said:
Hello,
This is my first post here, but I had a question and didn’t really know who to ask about it. I have a fairly decent background in my faith, but I was recently confronted with someone saying that as Catholics we become ‘gods’. This statement, in itself, seems to be all kinds of wrong. It was clarified that we are adopted children of God and that we can’t be “G” God but “g” gods.

The statement was made in a video from Next Level Catholic Academy … it is kind of the rally speech to get you to sign up … any comments on the statement or the ‘Academy’?
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The Catholic religion is monotheistic. We believe in One God. That is the creed we profess.
Yes that statement someone said to you is then, very incorrect.
 
I’ve always understood “gods” as those who ascend in awareness by following Jesus. However, I am uncomfortable with the use of the word “god” as a word to describe ourselves. It sounds like someone with a psychological complex involving megalomania or extreme pride. I think the ancients before Christ, who became aware, described themselves as gods to control and enslave their followers or to instill some kind of submission. The leaders or kings may have called themselves gods because they knew their subjects were ignorant so they took advantage of this.
Regardless of what it means we are created and God is Creator. It might be better to think of ourselves as children of God.
 
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The fathers of the church taught that ‘God became man that man might become god.’ Many saints said something like that including irenaeus, athanasius, Augustine, Cyril, and many others. By grace we become sons of God. We can’t become God as God is, but we can participate in some of his attributes through grace.
 
Dhunt said:
This statement, in itself, seems to be all kinds of wrong.
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Assuming that they were probably talking about Catholics and not Mormons, there’s a chance that they may have been misconstruing an old Catholic quote:
For the Son of God became man so that we might become God
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This was originally stated by St. Athanasius, but you can also read it in CCC 460.

The important thing to note is the phrasing. He didn’t say we each become a god. He said we come the God, as in, the same God Who created us. This comes through our union with Christ, which is so strong that we effectively become one with Him (Eph. 5:30-32) and, as such, one with God.

St. Athanasius’ phrasing is perhaps the most…extreme…example of this idea, but it is also perhaps the most profound understanding of this idea.
 
God is God by nature. We share in that by God’s grace. They are not the same thing.
 
Yes they do. Athanasius said ‘God became man so that men might become god.’ Irenaeus said the same thing. There is a mirroring of the incarnation.
 
I was speaking of modern, Latin rite clergy and catechists. The Tim Staples link I posted discusses the whole business with Athanasius et al.
 
As beings created by the Trinity, are we the Divine essence or are we a unique human essence created apart from the Divine essence?
How does essence figure into the god human?
Is there any theology on essence between God and human?
 
Our nature remains human, not divine. Christ is God by nature. Our Lady and the saints are “gods” by grace only… participating in divinity without being divine themselves.
 
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