Becoming partakers of the divine nature

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This interesting question was brought over from a thread on the Virgin Mary that was suddenly closed due to a misunderstanding.
The point was being made that Jesus became human, so that humans might become Divine.

2 Peter 1:4
4 …by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature."

Mary, having been taken up and away from the corruption of the world, exemplifies the fulfillment of this prophesy. She has become a partaker of the Divine Nature.

Originally Posted by apophasis
May I ask what do you think “becoming partakers of the divine nature” means to you?
 
First read the fruit of the spirit in Gal 5,

Second we are to become more like Christ,

Third we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

Fourth, if you read the rest of 2 Peter 1, it has to do with developing Christ Like Charcter,

Fifth, Rom 12 tells us to kill the flesh, sin nature daily and become like Christ,

So, I see “partaking of the divine nature” as being santification, being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, taking on Christ’s character.

Isaiah 43:10 rules out becoming a God.

👍
 
I hope you don’t mind a contribution from an interloper from the Eastern Christianity forum (and, worse, an Orthodox one to boot!)…

In addition to Daniel Marsh’s excellent observations, in the Eastern Church there is a concept known as “theosis” … namely that salvation does not merely consist in our being saved from a dangerous situation (sin and death) but is an on-going process - a literal living out of St Athanasius’ famous dictum, “God became man in order for man to become divine” [by grace not by nature.]

For a technical definition, here is what Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos [of the Greek Orthodox Church] has written:

"Theoria is the vision of the glory of God. Theoria is identified with the vision of the uncreated Light, the uncreated energy of God, with the union of man with God, with man’s theosis. Thus, theoria, vision and theosis are closely connected. Theoria has various degrees. There is illumination, vision of God, and constant vision (for hours, days, weeks, even months). Noetic prayer is the first stage of theoria. Theoretical man is one who is at this stage. In Patristic theology, the theoretical man is characterised as the shepherd of the sheep.

“Theosis-Divinisation is the participation in the Uncreated grace of God. Theosis is identified and connected with the theoria (vision) of the Uncreated Light. It is called theosis in grace because it is attained through the energy, of the divine grace. It is a co-operation of God with man, since God is He Who operates and man is he who co-operates.”
 
We will see Him as He is because we will be like Him.

To know fully one must be able to be like what is known.

The deepest kind of knowing is a union of likeness and this is what I think Jesus means when He talks about knowing the Father through Him, that knowing Him is knowing the Father and that only the Son knows the Father…etc.

It’s a process of divinization if what is being known is divine.

Participation in Christ’s redemptive suffering is a means to know Christ. The simplest way for us to do this is to receive the Sacraments, each is a death to birth experience if received worthily.

Mary of course participated in Christ’s redemptive suffering in the most intimate and unique way possible.
 
Originally Posted by apophasis
May I ask what do you think “becoming partakers of the divine nature” means to you?

Col 3:2-4
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

You will appreciate this, apophasis, given your understanding of salvation, that one must be cognizent that one has “died” to sin, and that one’s life is hidden with Christ, in God. This creates a change of focus, where one’s affections are turned heavenward, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. This focus on the divine is part of what creates a state of partaking in the divine nature.
 
I’m no expert on these things and not sure how we partake in the divine nature exactly. I hope these figures of speech add to the discussion though.
God is rock in (Deut 32:4) Jesus the rock in (1 Cor 10:4) and Peter shares their rock-ness in (Matt 16:18)
Jesus is the one with the keys (Rev 3:7) but he gives them to Peter in (Matt 16:19)
Jesus is the Good Shepard, but Peter is given shepard responsibilities in (John 21:15-17)
The metaphor I see is that Peter is the foundation, Christ is the builder, and believers are the bulding stones. The Apostles were to share in the authority of Christ and we are to share in both of their work.
 
Consider that through Baptism we become adopted children of God and receive Sanctifying Grace. Through prayer and sacraments sanctifying grace is increased in us. It is through this grace that we with our human nature have that nature raised up to a supernatural level where we are able to become partakers in the divine nature. We do not attain a divine nature, but retain our human nature in this process. That is why the loss of sanctifying grace through mortal sin is so terrible.
 
I found this post on another thread:
apophasis said:
Acts 4:12. There is only one “NAME” given to us. Mary’s words were true that from that time on all generations would call her “blessed.” But nowhere does she state that all, or any, who call on her “name” will be blessed. Once you elevate her to “name” status within the faith, you’ve transformed her into deity.Matt. 12:21 “And in His name the Gentiles will hope.”
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It seems to me that, when we are all intended to be “filled with all the fullness of God”.

"… that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God."Eph 3:16-19

However, in my mind, this does not “transform” humans into deities, but allows us to be partakers of the divine nature. When Protestants deny this has happened with Mary, it seems to me that it is a denial of Christ’s plan for all of us. If not, what does it mean to be “partakers of the Divine Nature”?
 
guanophore said:
I found this post on another thread:

It seems to me that, when we are all intended to be “filled with all the fullness of God”.

"… that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God."Eph 3:16-19

However, in my mind, this does not “transform” humans into deities, but allows us to be partakers of the divine nature. When Protestants deny this has happened with Mary, it seems to me that it is a denial of Christ’s plan for all of us. If not, what does it mean to be “partakers of the Divine Nature”?
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Yes, there is certainly a diminution of understanding of this within much of Protestantism.

St. John of the Cross writes of this transformation in his works; this passage in stanza 39 of The Spiritual Canticle is particularly illustrative of the soul’s transformation/participation in the divine nature:
  1. In the transformation that the soul possesses in this life, the same spiration passes from God to the soul and from the soul to God with notable frequency and blissful love, although not in the open and manifest degree proper to the next life. Such I believe was St. Paul’s meaning when he said: Since you are children of God, God sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, calling to the Father [Gal. 4:6]. This is true of the Blessed in the next life and of the perfect in this life according to the ways described.
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One should not think it impossible that the soul be capable of so sublime an activity as this breathing in God through participation as God breathes in her. For, granted that God favors her by union with the Most Blessed Trinity, in which she becomes deiform and God through participation, how could it be incredible that she also understand, know, and love - or better that this be done in her - in the Trinity, together with it, as does the Trinity itself! Yet God accomplishes this in the soul through communication and participation. This is transformation in the three Persons in power and wisdom and love, and thus the soul is like God through this transformation. He created her in his image and likeness that she might attain such resemblance.
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To see the necessity of this transformation I think it’s most helpful to consider that God the Father’s love is simple, singular: He loves the Son. The Father loves all that has been created because it is an image (in varying degrees) of the One through Whom and in Whom all things are created: the Son. The Father loves all humanity as part of creation, humanity being the crown of creation. Those who more fully image the Son (by supernatural grace, the grace of baptism transforming the beloved creature into a child of God, an image of the Son) are thus the most beloved because they participate in the one Love of the Father of the Son - the Blessed Mother being the highest example of this “received” Love. Since those in the state of grace are so in varying degrees, the love of God for the soul is concomitant to the image of the Son the Father sees in the given soul. But, again, for many Protestants there is no recognition of even the possibility that one could be more graced/transformed than another.
 
Ephesians 4:13
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
 
Daniel_Marsh said:
Ephesians 4:13
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
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This being the case, why do apophasis, and other reformed persons get so offended when the Apostolic faiths declare that Mary has already arrived at this point? If we are all going to arrive at it anyhow, why is it so offensive that she got there first?
 
guanophore said:
This being the case, why do apophasis, and other reformed persons get so offended when the Apostolic faiths declare that Mary has already arrived at this point? If we are all going to arrive at it anyhow, why is it so offensive that she got there first?
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I think you answered that when you said:
But, again, for many Protestants there is no recognition of even the possibility that one could be more graced/transformed than another.

which describes a symptom of relativism.
 
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