Theosis and monism

[Aci]

I attended Tim Staples’s talk on Eastern Mysticism at ICC where he focused on Centering Prayer and how it is not consistent with catholic beliefs.

Catholic view on Eastern Mysticism

Wanting to learn more on this, I read his article on Catholic Answers website about this, where he contrasted a bit the concepts of monism and theosis.

Is Centering Prayer Catholic?

Clearly the former is inconsistent with Catholic teaching. Am I correct in understanding that the latter is such, as well? The Eastern Orthodix church is all for it, but I’m confused when I read the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 460, which seems to give a nod to theosis.

> 460 The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature”:78 "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."79 "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God."80 "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."81

 

[Vico]

…
Wanting to learn more on this, I read his article on Catholic Answers website about this, where he contrasted a bit the concepts of monism and theosis.
…
Clearly the former is inconsistent with Catholic teaching. Am I correct in understanding that the latter is such, as well? The Eastern Orthodix church is all for it, but I’m confused when I read the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 460, which seems to give a nod to theosis.
…

One does not become god by a change of nature, rather the Christian becomes a partaker of the divine nature while retaining human nature. Theosis is deification.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

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.

Also see: Fr. Hardon Archives - Part Two - A: Grace Considered Intensively

Father John Hardon wrote for the effects of sanctifying grace:

St. Thomas singles out especially four. 1. Destruction of sin, such that “the forgiveness of sin would be incomprehensible without the infusion of grace,” 2. Deification , such that the creature is made deiform and shares in a sonship of adoption . 3. Inhabitation, a special presence of God to which sanctifying grace gives rise. 4. Merit, of which sanctifying grace is the essential foundation. To sanctifying grace the Council of Trent ascribes the supernatural justice and friendship with God and the interior renovation and sanctification of the just soul. Pope Pius XI called it the “ permanent principle of supernatural life."

Monism is contrary to Catholic dogmas of faith.

Catholic Encylopedia

Monism is a philosophical term which, in its various meanings, is opposed to Dualism or Pluralism. Wherever pluralistic philosophy distinguishes a multiplicity of things, Monism denies that the manifoldness is real, and holds that the apparently many are phases, or phenomena, of a one. Wherever dualistic philosophy distinguishes between body and soul, matter and spirit, object and subject, matter and force, the system which denies such a distinction, reduces one term of the antithesis to the other, or merges both in a higher unity, is called Monism.

Turner, W. (1911). Monism. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10483a.htm

 

[Shakuhachi]

We get into so much confusion when we try to clearly define anything related to God. Sure we like definitions and black and white answers to everything. But when talking about God and even the deep nature of the human being it just isn’t simple. is God immanent or transcendent? Is God in heaven or in our midst? is Jesus the only Son of God or are we all children of God? Is God in us or are we in God?

Let’s no be so eager to trash anyone else, especially Fr Keating.

 

[Aci]

Who’s trashing Fr. Keating? I don’t think we’re doing that. But it is quite obvious that the monistic view he espoused verges on heresy.

 

[Shakuhachi]

I don’t think he espoused Monism.