In the early Church, theosis<\/strong><\/b> meant something very simple and deeply biblical: salvation is partaking of the divine nature (by grace) <\/strong><\/b> \u2014 becoming God’s adopted children through union with Christ and regeneration of the Holy Spirit. As Scripture says, we become “partakers of the divine nature\u201d<\/em><\/i> (2 Peter 1:4).<\/p>\n The Fathers understood this to mean that:<\/p>\n This remains fully within the Creator\u2013creature distinction. We do not<\/strong><\/b> become God in essence \u2014but we partake of the divine nature (by grace)<\/strong><\/b>. This is Christianity at its core \u2014 not speculation or mysticism, but the natural result of union with Christ.<\/p>\n Importantly, when the Fathers spoke of theosis<\/em> (deification), they generally meant union and fellowship with God by means of the concrete means of grace:<\/p>\n The earliest Christian theologians taught that salvation involves theosis<\/em>\u2014becoming \u201cdeified\u201d by grace. Below are direct quotations from key Fathers prior to the Council of Chalcedon.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026the Word of God\u2026 became what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself\u2026 through the laver of regeneration unto God.\u201d\u00a0Against Heresies<\/em>, Book\u202f5 (Preface + V.11)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Irenaeus explains that the Son of God assumed our human nature so that humans could become like God, partaking of His Divine nature and immortality. In other passages, Irenaeus explicitly links this deifying restoration with baptismal new birth and adoption into the Church<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cFor He was made man that we might be made God; and He manifested Himself by a body that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father; and He endured the insolence of men that we might inherit immortality.\u201d\u00a0On the Incarnation<\/em>, \u00a754<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Athanasius insists that the Incarnation has a deifying<\/em> purpose: through union with Christ, we are raised into divine life\u2014by grace, not by nature.<\/p>\n \u201cLet us become like Christ, since Christ became like us.\u201d\u00a0Oration 1 (On Easter)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Gregory teaches that the Christian life means becoming like Christ through grace.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough the Spirit we are restored to paradise\u2026 we become children of God\u2026 and partakers of the divine nature.\u201d\u00a0On the Holy Spirit<\/em>, Ch. 23 (select lines)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n St. Basil teaches that the Holy Spirit makes us children of God and partakers of the divine nature.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201c\u2026by this communion with Deity mankind might at the same time be deified.\u201d The Great Catechism<\/em>, XXXVII<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Here \u201ccommunion\u201d means Eucharistic communion<\/strong> \u2014 participation in the Body and Blood of Christ \u2014 through which our mortal nature shares in divine life.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026and being men we are called gods, not as the true God\u2026 but as God, who bestowed this, willed.\u201d Fragment on Psalm 82 <\/em>\u201cThose united to Christ in a true manner\u2026 are partakers in His nature.\u201d Commentary on the Gospel of John<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Cyril is explicit: we are called \u201cgods\u201d by grace and adoption<\/strong>, never by nature. All these Fathers carefully maintain that we never become God by essence. Instead, we partake of the Divine nature through union with God through the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n The Coptic Orthodox Church\u2014heir to the Alexandrian tradition of Athanasius and Cyril\u2014continues this same doctrine of theosis today.<\/p>\n In the Coptic Liturgy of St. Cyril<\/strong>, the Church prays that through Communion the faithful truly share in Christ\u2019s life and glory.\u00a0The Liturgy of St. Gregory<\/strong> also expresses Eucharistic union with the divinity of Christ in sacramental language:<\/p>\n And You ascended to the heavens bodily, while You filled all with Your divinity.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n These prayers show that Holy Communion is understood as true participation in the divine life.<\/p>\n As per scripture, the early Fathers also spoke of believers sharing in Christ\u2019s glory<\/em> \u2014 especially in the resurrection and eternal life \u2014 but they did so within the same framework already described: sharing in divine life by grace.<\/strong><\/p>\n Examples include:<\/p>\n Glorification therefore belongs naturally within the patristic vision of salvation as restored union with God and the renewal of the divine image. This is part of the Christian hope \u2014 but always as redeemed and grace\u2011filled creatures.<\/p>\n Some people claim that Pope Shenouda III rejected theosis and even called it heresy. This is based on a misunderstanding of what he was condemning.\u00a0Pope Shenouda rejected false or exaggerated definitions<\/strong> of theosis \u2014 especially any teaching that suggests:<\/p>\n This kind of language has<\/em> appeared in some modern theological circles, and Pope Shenouda strongly opposed it \u2014 rightly.\u00a0But Pope Shenouda did not<\/strong> reject the Patristic teaching described earlier. In fact, he repeatedly affirmed:<\/p>\n This is theosis in the early Church sense<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Church does not<\/strong> affirm any doctrine which claims that humans become uncreated<\/em> or share in God\u2019s essence. This type of language is especially associated with later Palamite theology.\u00a0For example, Gregory Palamas writes:<\/p>\n \u201cThe saints\u2026 become uncreated by grace.\u201d\u00a0Triads, III.1.32<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Coptic Orthodox Church rejects such formulations because:<\/p>\n So while the Coptic Church fully affirms that we are partakers of the Divine nature (by grace)<\/strong>, it rejects any suggestion that we become uncreated, divine by essence, or anything that undermines God\u2019s absolute uniqueness.\u00a0This preserves exactly the balance held by the early Fathers.<\/p>\n The early Fathers taught that God became man so that man might become god<\/strong> \u2014 meaning we become partakers of Divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) because we become:<\/p>\n The Coptic Orthodox Church teaches precisely this. Far from denying theosis, it lives it sacramentally<\/strong>:<\/p>\n So theosis is not an exotic philosophy. It is Christianity 101<\/strong> \u2014 restored communion with God through Christ in the Holy Spirit, and the restoration of the divine image in the believer, for salvation and subsequent glorification.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Brief, Patristic Definition of Theosis In the early Church, theosis meant something very simple and deeply biblical: salvation is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,223],"tags":[238,227,232,234,159,212,48,226,225,230,231,235,233,236,239,237,228,229,240,224],"class_list":["post-3526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patristics","category-theosis","tag-alexandrian-theology","tag-athanasius-of-alexandria","tag-baptism-and-salvation","tag-christian-mysticism-orthodox","tag-church-history","tag-coptic-orthodox-church","tag-cyril-of-alexandria","tag-deification-in-christianity","tag-early-church-fathers","tag-eastern-christianity","tag-eucharist-and-theosis","tag-gregory-of-nyssa","tag-holy-spirit-in-christianity","tag-irenaeus-of-lyons","tag-orthodox-christian-faith","tag-orthodox-doctrine","tag-orthodox-theology","tag-patristic-theology","tag-pope-shenouda-iii","tag-theosis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3526"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3545,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3526\/revisions\/3545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nPatristic Witness to Theosis (Before 451 AD)<\/h2>\n
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St. Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century)<\/h3>\n
St. Athanasius of Alexandria (296\u2013373)<\/h3>\n
St. Gregory of Nazianzus (330\u2013390)<\/h3>\n
St. Basil the Great (330\u2013379)<\/h3>\n
St. Gregory of Nyssa (335\u2013395)<\/h3>\n
St. Cyril of Alexandria (376\u2013444)<\/h3>\n
\nTheosis in the Coptic Orthodox Church \u2014 Perfect Continuity with the Fathers<\/h2>\n
Liturgical Witness<\/h3>\n
Glorification and Theosis in the Early Church Fathers<\/h2>\n
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\nResponding to the Claim that Pope Shenouda III Called Theosis \u201cHeresy\u201d<\/h2>\n
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\nWhat the Coptic Orthodox Church Does Not<\/strong> Mean by “Theosis”<\/h2>\n
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Summary<\/h2>\n
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