Can someone explain Catholic beleifs about theosis or divinization?

[Vouthon]

Pretty much all the Church Fathers, most notably St. Athanasius, in the other.

Let’s add into that mix three later Doctors of the Church: St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bernard of Clairvaux and St. John of the Cross, all of whom used the language of deification/divinization.

St. Thomas Aquinas:

Commentary on Ephesians (3:20)
The human mind and will could never imagine, understand or ask that God become man, and that man become God and a sharer in the divine nature. But he has done this in us by his power, and it was accomplished in the Incarnation of his Son.

Commentary on John (15:9)
The Son did not love the disciples in either of these ways. For he did not love them to the point of their being gods by nature, nor to the point that they would be united to God so as to form one person with him. But he did love them up to a similar point: he loved them to the extent that they would be gods by their participation in grace–“I say, ‘You are gods’” (Ps 82:6).

Summa Theologiae (I-II, q. 112, a. 1)
Nothing can act beyond its species, since the cause must always be more powerful than its effect. Now the gift of grace surpasses every capability of created nature, since it is nothing short of a partaking of the divine nature, which exceeds every other nature. And thus it is impossible that any creature should cause grace. For it is as necessary that God alone should deify, bestowing a partaking of the divine nature by a participated likeness as it is impossible that anything save fire should enkindle.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux:

“…O chaste and holy love! O sweet and gracious affection! O pure and cleansed purpose, thoroughly washed and purged from any admixture of selfishness, and sweetened by contact with the divine will! To reach this state is to become deified. As a drop of water poured into wine loses itself, and takes the color and savor of wine; or as a bar of iron, heated red-hot, becomes like fire itself, forgetting its own nature; or as the air, radiant with sun-beams, seems not so much to be illuminated as to be light itself; so in the saints all human affections melt away by some unspeakable transmutation into the will of God. For how could God be all in all, if anything merely human remained in man? The substance will endure, but in another beauty, a higher power, a greater glory…”

• ***From, On Loving of God, Paul Halsall trans., Ch. 10 ***

St. John of the Cross:

"…A ray of sunlight is striking a window. If the window is in any way stained or misty, the sun’s ray will be unable to illumine it and transform it into its own light, totally, as it would if it were clean of all these things, and pure; but it will illumine it to a lesser degree, in proportion as it is less free from those mists and stains; and will do so to a greater degree, in proportion as it is cleaner from them, and this will not be because of the sun’s ray, but because of itself; so much so that, if it be wholly pure and clean, the ray of sunlight will transform it and illumine it in such wise that it will itself seem to be a ray and will give the same light as the ray. Although in reality the window has a nature distinct from that of the ray itself, however much it may resemble it, yet we may say that that window is a ray of the sun or is light by participation. And the soul is like this window, whereupon is ever beating (or, to express it better, wherein is ever dwelling) this Divine light of the Being of God according to nature, which we have described.

In thus allowing God to work in it, the soul (having rid itself of every mist and stain of the creatures, which consists in having its will perfectly united with that of God, for to love is to labor to detach and strip itself for God’s sake of all that is not God) is at once illumined and transformed in God, and God communicates to it His supernatural Being, in such wise that it appears to be God Himself, and has all that God Himself has. And this union comes to pass when God grants the soul this supernatural favour, that all the things of God and the soul are one in participant transformation; and the soul seems to be God rather than a soul, and is indeed God by participation; although it is true that its natural being, though thus transformed, is as distinct from the Being of God as it was before, even as the window has likewise a nature distinct from that of the ray, though the ray gives it brightness…"

• From St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book II, Chapter V, Sections 4-7

 

[Contarini]

In our fallen earthly state, we are a “little lower than the angels,” but Scripture says the same of Jesus himself. But, in heaven, we will be greater [Heb 2:5-8]

David, the Hebrew of that passage (in Psalm 8) uses “elohim”: “little lower than God/the gods.” Translating “elohim” as “angeloi,” as the Letter to the Hebrews does, means that Scripture does at least once refer to angels as “gods.” So you chose rather poorly in using this passage to support your argument

Edwin

 

[thistle]

Anyone human who has made it to Heaven is not divine and not a god. There was, is, and ever shall be only one God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). We will never be gods.

Our nature is human and God’s nature is divine. Our nature cannot change. Being in heaven and having an intimate relationship with God and participating in his divinity does not make us divine/God.

 

[thistle]

Modern Catholic Dictionary:

THEOSIS. A theory of absorption of the human spirit into the Deity, as professed in some forms of Hinduism and Buddhism.

 

[Contarini]

Anyone human who has made it to Heaven is not divine and not a god. There was, is, and ever shall be only one God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). We will never be gods.

Our nature is human and God’s nature is divine. Our nature cannot change. Being in heaven and having an intimate relationship with God and participating in his divinity does not make us divine/God.

The traditional understanding of divinization in Christianity is that “we become by grace what He is by nature.” The traditional image is a lump of metal that has been heated to the point where it glows. It is still metal and not fire, but the fire infuses the metal.

We share in the divine nature by grace. We don’t become gods in our own right.

This is the constant teaching of the Greek Fathers, and as Vouthon has shown it’s present in the West as well.

The “Modern Catholic Dictionary” is hopelessly inadequate here.

Edwin

 

[Contarini]

OK, fine. Angels are immortal.

But they were created to serve us on earth, and are inferior to us (in heaven). I suppose that, once all of humanity is complete, the angels will make sure that the 24-hour pizza buffet in heaven is kept stocked, and the beer never runs out. Or something.

Where in the tradition do you find the claim that angels were created to serve humanity?

Also, bear in mind that traditionally “angels” had two meanings: the term could refer to all nine choirs of heavenly beings, or only to the lowest rank. The upper seven levels don’t deal directly with humanity, as I understand the traditional picture of the angelic hierarchies…

Angels, like all creatures, were created to glorify God.

Edwin

 

[Vouthon]

Modern Catholic Dictionary:

THEOSIS. A theory of absorption of the human spirit into the Deity, as professed in some forms of Hinduism and Buddhism.

I’m afraid that the “modern” Catholic dictionary doesn’t know what it is talking about. If you will notice, I have been backing up my arguments with primary sources, namely the Fathers and official magisterial documents. A modern dictionary composed by Fr. Hardon and put up on Catholic Culture, is second hand at best and in this instance woefully inaccurate.

In the 2011, document, “Theology Today: Perspectives, Principles, and Criteria”, which you can find on the Vatican website, the International Theological Commission states:

“…The Mystery of God revealed in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit is a mystery of ekstasis, love, communion and mutual indwelling among the three divine persons; a mystery of kenosis, the relinquishing of the form of God by Jesus in his incarnation, so as to take the form of a slave (cf. Phil 2:5-11); and a mystery of theosis, human beings are called to participate in the life of God and to share in ‘the divine nature’ (2 Pet 1:4) through Christ, in the Spirit…”

** (par 98)**

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_cti_doc_20111129_teologia-oggi_en.html

In his September 2012 Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Ecclesia in Medio Oriente, Pope Emeritis Benedict XVI wrote:

**Growth by individuals in the life of faith and spiritual renewal within the Catholic Church will lead to the fullness of the life of grace and *theosis (divinization). ***In this way, the Church’s witness will become all the more convincing.

-** (par 3)**

vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20120914_ecclesia-in-medio-oriente_en.html

So I’m guessing Thistle that the International Theological Commission and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI are also “wrong”?

Just a tip: If it comes to a choice between the Fathers, the Magisterium and accredited theologians vs Fr. Hardon’s dictionary or an apologist…I’d go with the former over the latter

 

[Andromedus]

Modern Catholic Dictionary:

THEOSIS. A theory of absorption of the human spirit into the Deity, as professed in some forms of Hinduism and Buddhism.

But the Modern Catholic Dictionary says this about apotheosis.

APOTHEOSIS. A human being elevated to the rank of deity, especially among the ancient Greeks and Romans. Also applied to the transition of a person upon death, from this life to one of sainthood in eternal glory. (Etym. Greek apotheosis, deification.)

Something still seems to be wrong though. I am quite sure theosis is the term used in Christianity, not apotheosis which mostly refers to Roman Emperors and others becoming gods according to ancient Greeks and Romans, like it says in the definition. Someone wrote the right thing but not at the right place in this dictionary perhaps?

 

[thistle]

Humans do NOT become divine. Humans do NOT become gods. To say otherwise is heresy.

 

[RyanBlack]

On the level of essence, no we do not become divine. But in the words of St. Maximus the Confessor, “We become by grace what God is by nature.” So, we do become divine by participation. This is perfectly in line with what several Church Fathers have taught. It is also in line with Holy Scripture, where it states that we become “partakers of the divine nature.” There is nothing heretical about the catholic/orthodox teaching of deification/divinization/theosis.

 

[MattofTexas]

I’m struggling to find the exact thread again (it was an old one), but the basic gist of it was that people were finding quotes from ECFs such as St. Athanasius about “becoming God” or “becoming gods” and were generally confused and specifically asking why Catholics raise cane about LDS doctrines about becoming gods if the early Church believed this…

For some prospective about the existence of divinization in Catholic teaching from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

460 The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature”: “For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.” “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God." "The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.”

1988 Through the power of the Holy Spirit we take part in Christ’s Passion by dying to sin, and in his Resurrection by being born to a new life; we are members of his Body which is the Church, branches grafted onto the vine which is himself:
God gave himself to us through his Spirit. By the participation of the Spirit, we become communicants in the divine nature. . . . For this reason, those in whom the Spirit dwells are divinized.

1999 The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it. It is the sanctifying or deifying grace received in Baptism. It is in us the source of the work of sanctification

Although neither Catholic nor EO, C.S. Lewis put it this way in Mere Christianity:

The command Be ye perfect is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we were “gods” and He is going to make good His words. If we let Him—for we can prevent Him, if we choose—He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said.

It seems to me that becoming a god, in a Catholic context, seems to mean perfecting reflecting the divine image in which we were created by sharing in the very life of the Most Blessed Trinity through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and in the beatific vision. Becoming God does not mean becoming some sort of independent deity but being filled with God and being transformed to His likeness. After all did Jesus not say: " ‘I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,’" (John 17:20-22 RSVCE) It is God’s will that we may be made partakers of His own life and nature, not to be absorbed into Him as in pantheism or become gods apart from Him, but as a potter making clay vessels, though we are clay, He longs to fill us with Himself, and in so doing we (though only dust) become Him because He is in us. I do not mean to suggest that we can ever be the equal of Christ who is God by nature, but that nevertheless we may partake of God Himself through Himself and in Himself…does this sound right?

 

[Vouthon]

It seems to me that becoming a god, in a Catholic context, seems to mean perfecting reflecting the divine image in which we were created by sharing in the very life of the Most Blessed Trinity through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and in the beatific vision. Becoming God does not mean becoming some sort of independent deity but being filled with God and being transformed to His likeness. After all did Jesus not say: " ‘I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,’" (John 17:20-22 RSVCE) It is God’s will that we may be made partakers of His own life and nature, not to be absorbed into Him as in pantheism or become gods apart from Him, but as a potter making clay vessels, though we are clay, He longs to fill us with Himself, and in so doing we (though only dust) become Him because He is in us. I do not mean to suggest that we can ever be the equal of Christ who is God by nature, but that nevertheless we may partake of God Himself through Himself and in Himself…does this sound right?

That sounds about right to me

 

[Contarini]

Humans do NOT become divine. Humans do NOT become gods. To say otherwise is heresy.

Are you calling Athanasius a heretic?

Wouldn’t it be wiser for you to calm down and try to understand what these Fathers were saying? A lot of us have already tried to explain this. You and certain other posters seem to be ignoring the explanations because the phrase “divinization” upsets you.

Edwin

 

[fhansen]

I’m struggling to find the exact thread again (it was an old one), but the basic gist of it was that people were finding quotes from ECFs such as St. Athanasius about “becoming God” or “becoming gods” and were generally confused and specifically asking why Catholics raise cane about LDS doctrines about becoming gods if the early Church believed this…

For some prospective about the existence of divinization in Catholic teaching from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Although neither Catholic nor EO, C.S. Lewis put it this way in Mere Christianity:

It seems to me that becoming a god, in a Catholic context, seems to mean perfecting reflecting the divine image in which we were created by sharing in the very life of the Most Blessed Trinity through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and in the beatific vision. Becoming God does not mean becoming some sort of independent deity but being filled with God and being transformed to His likeness. After all did Jesus not say: " ‘I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,’" (John 17:20-22 RSVCE) It is God’s will that we may be made partakers of His own life and nature, not to be absorbed into Him as in pantheism or become gods apart from Him, but as a potter making clay vessels, though we are clay, He longs to fill us with Himself, and in so doing we (though only dust) become Him because He is in us. I do not mean to suggest that we can ever be the equal of Christ who is God by nature, but that nevertheless we may partake of God Himself through Himself and in Himself…does this sound right?

The Mormon approach to this is, “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may be”, bringing God down to man’s level rather than elevating man to His. In Catholicism, God wants the very best for man-and the ultimate happiness is realized by participating directly in His nature in whatever capacity-and by whatever means-He accomplishes that. We have to keep in mind, as best we can, 1 Cor 2:9: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” God created us in His image-to be expressions of Himself in a more direct manner than the rest of His creation which also reflects His image-even if we’re very poor reflections in this present life.

 

[Darryl_B]

So is the issue just that our English language is lacking the descriptive words that we are forced to use the same words such as divinity and deity applicable to God himself, but then also to the state that the Saints will become because we have no words to describe that state.

I keep seeing the word “like”. We shall be like him. We shall be divine-like. It is saying we will be divinish. We will be godish.

 

[thistle]

On the level of essence, no we do not become divine. But in the words of St. Maximus the Confessor, “We become by grace what God is by nature.” So, we do become divine by participation. This is perfectly in line with what several Church Fathers have taught. It is also in line with Holy Scripture, where it states that we become “partakers of the divine nature.” There is nothing heretical about the catholic/orthodox teaching of deification/divinization/theosis.

Partakers in the divine nature does NOT change our human nature into divine nature. We do not become divine. Only God is divine. We do NOT become God or gods.

 

[RyanBlack]

Partakers in the divine nature does NOT change our human nature into divine nature. We do not become divine. Only God is divine. We do NOT become God or gods.

As I said before, on the level of essence, no we do not become divine. There always remains a distinction between God and creatures. However, we do become divinized on the level of participation. This is the teaching of numerous Church Fathers.

 

[Contarini]

So is the issue just that our English language is lacking the descriptive words that we are forced to use the same words such as divinity and deity applicable to God himself, but then also to the state that the Saints will become because we have no words to describe that state.

I don’t think it’s about the English language lacking words exactly. The word “theosis” also comes from the word “theos,” which is used to refer to God. The point is precisely that we are made one with God–but by grace.

We will never be divine in our own right, independently of the grace of God. We will never be “little gods” (I actually dislike Lewis’s “statue” metaphor, though I get why he used it and don’t think he meant anything heretical by it). We will be infused with the life of God, as iron is infused with fire.

Edwin

 

[Barry_Gabriel]

I came across some discussion of this on an old thread, but I left thoroughly confused and thought I’d ask myself, what exactly is the Catholic doctrine of Divinization? Is it the same as the Eastern Orthodox(/Catholic?) doctrine of Theosis, and by the way in either case can you explain that? What is the Biblical AND patristic basis for these doctrines and their interpretation? Additionally how does the Catholic/Orthodox doctrine differ from the LDS (Mormon) doctrine of exultation, or the belief that men may become gods?

Thanks, and God bless!
Matt

Short answer: No, we do not become gods (the oldest lie in the world). Long answer: There is no biblical nor patristic basis for this. No, we do not become gods.

 

[RyanBlack]

Short answer: No, we do not become gods (the oldest lie in the world). Long answer: There is no biblical nor patristic basis for this. No, we do not become gods.

There most certainly is both a biblical and patristic basis for the Catholic teaching of divinization/deification/theosis.