theosis

[DavidFord]

"God has become man that man might become God"
https://tentmaker.org/forum/index.php?topic=15013.msg216333#msg216333

Sadhu Sundar Singh on theosis
https://tentmaker.org/forum/index.php?topic=15030.msg215532#msg215532

_Daily Vitamins for Spiritual Growth Vol. 1: Day By Day With Jesus Through the Church Year_  by Anthony M. Coniaris (1994), 377pp.  On 163:
Jesus came down from heaven as the Eternal Son of the Father, but when He went to the seat of honor and glory at God's right hand, He took with him our human nature. He returned to His Father as God-man. It was our nature, in everything except its sin, that sat down at the right hand of God. The Son of God descended to become one of us and ascended to enable us to ascend with Him. Through the ascension and enthronement of Christ, all human nature has been enthroned at the right hand of the Father. Since the manhood of Jesus was taken up to the heavenly places, our manhood will also be taken up. The Ascension is proof that man was made for heaven, not for the grave, for glory not for corruption. St. Paul does not hesitate to describe Christians as "enthroned above the heavens, in Christ Jesus."

[DavidFord]

If I look at a human, am I looking at:
Christ? ('what you did to the least of these, you did to me')
the Father? ('if you have seen me, you have seen the Father')
God? ('your scriptures say 'ye are gods,' and scripture cannot be broken')

[darryl]

hmmm.interesting

[DavidFord]

Do you agree with this?:

Ephesians 1 (NKJV)
https://www.biblehub.com/nkjv/ephesians/1.htm
....according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times
He might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth-- in Him.

===========================================
A Course in Miracles -- Workbook Lesson 67
https://acourseinmiraclesnow.com/a-course-in-miracles-workbook-lesson-67/
Love created me like itself.

.... 1. Today's idea is a complete and accurate statement of what you are. 2 This is why you are the light of the world. 3 This is why God appointed you as the world's savior. 4 This is why the Son of God looks to you for his salvation. 5 He is saved by what you are. 6 We will make every effort today to reach this truth about you, and to realize fully, if only for a moment, that it is the truth.

.... In the longer practice period, we will think about your reality and its wholly unchanged and unchangeable nature. 2 We will begin by repeating this truth about you, and then spend a few minutes adding some relevant thoughts, such as:

3 Holiness created me holy.
4 Kindness created me kind.
5 Helpfulness created me helpful.
6 Perfection created me perfect.

7 Any attribute which is in accord with God as He defines Himself is appropriate for use. 8 We are trying today to undo your definition of God and replace it with His Own. 9 We are also trying to emphasize that you are part of His definition of Himself.

.... 2 If love created you like itself, this Self must be in you. 3 And somewhere in your mind It is there for you to find.

....perhaps you will succeed in going... to the awareness of a blazing light in which you recognize yourself as love created you. 4 Be confident that you will do much today to bring that awareness nearer, whether you feel you have succeeded or not.

.... It will be particularly helpful today to practice the idea for the day as often as you can. 2 You need to hear the truth about yourself as frequently as possible, because your mind is so preoccupied with false self-images. 3 Four or five times an hour, and perhaps even more, it would be most beneficial to remind yourself that love created you like itself. 4 Hear the truth about yourself in this.

.... Try to realize in the shorter practice periods that this is not your tiny, solitary voice that tells you this. 2 This is the Voice for God, reminding you of your Father and of your Self. 3 This is the Voice of truth, replacing everything that the ego tells you about yourself with the simple truth about the Son of God. 4 You were created by love like itself.

[DavidFord]

"I hear some seeking spiritual understanding now claiming they are God.
My question is why aren't you recognizing you are a child of God - a soul He created with His own DNA, which is divine & sacred, but you are obviously not God, or you wouldn't be here as one of billions of others in a temporary 3D body in a development journey seeking understanding?
Thoughts?"

Was Jesus a child of God?
Was Jesus God?
Jesus said the scriptures say "ye are gods."  Was Jesus correct?  Is that scripture correct?
Jesus said he and the Father are one.  Jesus said whatever you did to the least of these, you did to Jesus.  Is 'the least of these':  Jesus?   the Father?

[DavidFord]

https://tentmaker.org/forum/index.php?topic=15013.msg216333#msg216333
Listen to Augustine: 
"God has become man
that man might become God."

To Cyprian: 
"What man is Christ wished to be,
that man in turn might be what Christ is."

To Irenaeus: 
"He became what we are,
in order that He might make us what He is."

========================================
A progressive healing nourished by Scripture

_The Gift of Miracles: Experiencing God's Extraordinary Power in Your Life_ (1991), 159pp., on 115-116
https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Miracles-Experiencing-Extraordinary-Power/dp/0892837284/
Transformed by a Renewed Mind
"In 1978 I was very ill and hospitalized for tests to determine the source of the problem.  The visual field in my eyes was poor; my motor coordination was deteriorating; I had lost the ability to write, add, subtract, and divide.  A brain scan indicated that at age 33 I had the brain of a 95-year-old woman. My skull was collapsing in upon itself, so that the surface was bumpy to touch.

"Medical science tells us that brain cells don't regenerate, yet mine did.  My miracle was progressive, however. As my relationship with Jesus began to develop, I learned to walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit. The Lord gave me three life-changing Scripture verses that I have studied and prayed over for years:

Yet to all who received him,
to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

For you have been born again,
not of perishable seed,
but of imperishable,
through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:23

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you,
he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Romans 8:11

"As I held on and pressed in, allowing the Holy Spirit to plant those words deeply in my soul, what he revealed to me was that when I was born of God, even my genetic structure was brought back to its original purity.  It didn't matter if it was physical or mental.  Because God was my source of life, those things that were destroyed would be brought back to wholeness in spirit, soul, and body.

"Over several years my condition gradually reversed to the present day when I experience the wholeness he promises in his Word" (Shelah Bliss, Walnut Creek, California).

[DavidFord]

"Aren't we special simply because we were raised in this particular cultural complex?
What are the chances we would just happen to be born in the right one?"

Acts 17 (NIV)
https://biblehub.com/niv/acts/17.htm
24 "The God who made the world and everything in it
is the Lord of heaven and earth
and does not live in temples built by human hands.
25 And he is not served by human hands,
as if he needed anything.
Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth;
and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.
27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him,
though he is not far from any one of us.

Bryan W. Melvin, _A Land Unknown: Hell's Dominion_ (2005), 212pp., on 150
http://amazon.com/Land-Hells-Dominion-B-W-Melvin/dp/159781380X/
Ponder this: granting latitudes of reason and intelligence to His beings of note proves the nature of God and who He is.
After all the decisions and meddling that those created make, these cannot stop the hand of God from steering life to His desired haven.
This is how _all-powerful_ constructs what is _perfectly just_: a new heaven and earth.

Let me say it this way: God saw and knew _you_ before _you_ were born.
He granted the latitude of reason and intelligence, entrusting this into your care in order for you to keep life, _live_, where _assigned_.
He fashioned your days, allotted the time, place, and era to live, according to what was foreseen to be found.

Thus, if found for good, then for good, and if not, then not, all based on foreknowing all things because God cannot help but be _God_, foreseeing the beginning to end all in one split second of time.
He is blameless and without fault.
Because something has been found does not mean it was placed.
God is the author of all things, but that does not mean He authored all effects.

[Ross]

 :iagree: exactly:
Classic, for me,  is that Paul states about a mystery that had hidden for ages: if people have not been told about something then to accuse them of being wrong is not very nice.
Paul also states that God has consigned all to unbelief,disobedience,  so that He can have mercy on all.
This, IMO, is necessary so that true equality of value and position is constant, as well as put in place, for a future full of hope and no one able to assume that they are better than others.
God knows what He is doing and man, a lesser being, tries to tell God what to do.
His love is immeasurable  and never fails.

[DavidFord]

Bradley Jersak, _Out of the Embers:  Faith After the Great Deconstruction_ (2022), 320pp., on 258
https://www.amazon.com/Out-Embers-Faith-After-Deconstruction/dp/1641238887/
To summarize, chapter 8 of Paul's letter to the Romans is our clearest description of the dance between God's promises and our participation in experiencing them.
In four movements:

1. I believe God has revealed the ultimate end (telos) in Scripture.
Authors in both Testaments and Christ himself forecast the resurrection of all people and the restoration of all things.
At the final deconstruction, we will at last be cleansed of our lies, bathed of our shame, healed of our wounds, freed from our addictions, and released from our egoism-- even our self-righteousness will be humbled.
Malachi compares this purifying judgment to launderer's soap or a refiner's fire (Mal 3:1-4) such that we'll enter the kingdom of heaven free of every last construct.
This is good news for everyone.
As St. Isaac of Syria said many centuries ago:

"In love did God bring the world into existence;
in love is God going to bring it to that wondrous transformed state,
and in love with the world be swallowed up in the great mystery of the One who has performed all these things;
in love will the whole course of the governance of creation be finally comprised.
Among all His actions there is none which is not entirely a matter of mercy, love, and compassion;
this constitutes the beginning and the end of His dealings with us.^395

2.  The path toward that end is a work in progress (or regress).
...

========================================
A Priest's Journey to the Gospel of Universal Salvation
https://www.worksofmacdonald.com/destined-for-joy-the-gospel-of-universal-salvation/2022/10/24/a-priests-journey-to-the-gospel-of-universal-salvation

St Isaac the Syrian and his understanding of universal salvation
and of 'the mystery of Gehenna (Hell)'
PDF
https://www.clarion-journal.com/files/brock-on-st-isaac.pdf

[marie glen]

 

Amen! To all of the above! ..But I especially loved -

:iagree: exactly:
Classic, for me,  is that Paul states about a mystery that had hidden for ages: if people have not been told about something then to accuse them of being wrong is not very nice.
Paul also states that God has consigned all to unbelief,disobedience,  so that He can have mercy on all.
This, IMO, is necessary so that true equality of value and position is constant, as well as put in place, for a future full of hope and no one able to assume that they are better than others.
God knows what He is doing and man, a lesser being, tries to tell God what to do.
His love is immeasurable  and never fails.

[DavidFord]

There's a chapter on theosis having many Church Father quotations in:
Keith Giles, _Sola Deus:  What If God Is All of Us?_ (2023), 149pp., on 71-82.

[marie glen]

??The meek (greek word: praus: meek, gentle, humble, mild, describes a quality of character that is marked by humility and a gentle spirit. In the New Testament, "praus" is used to depict an attitude of submission to God's will, a willingness to endure injury with patience and without resentment, and a gentle approach towards others. It is not to be confused with weakness; rather, it is strength under control) will inherit the Earth? Mt.5:5.
   I always remember it was the first gone rogue one who said ?I will ascend. I will be like God.? Creator as opposed to created and child of God. Jesus being the only, straight out from God, one. (So close both Father and Son administer God?s Spirit/Presence.. same as will saturate, thus ?seal? all humanity and creation.)
:2c: :gsmile:

[DavidFord]

"I do not believe in the deification of a man in the way it seems to be described there"
Do you agree with this?:
2 Corinthians 3:18
"And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord?s glory,
are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

https://x.com/i/grok/share/iBBnmNoDxq0b77pXZWDTZu3QS
Theosis, or deification, refers to the Christian doctrine (particularly emphasized in Eastern Orthodox theology) of humans participating in or becoming like God's divine nature through grace, without losing their humanity.
While the term itself isn't explicitly in the Bible, several verses are commonly cited as supporting this transformative union with God.
Below is a selection of key passages, drawn from scriptural interpretations across theological sources. I've included the verse reference, a quote from the New International Version (NIV) for clarity, and a brief explanation of its relevance. 

| Verse Reference | Text (NIV) | Relevance to Theosis | |-----------------|------------|----------------------| |

Genesis 1:26-27 | "Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness...' So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." | Establishes humanity's original creation in God's image, implying a potential for restoration and growth toward divine likeness through salvation. | |

Psalm 82:6 | "I said, 'You are "gods"; you are all sons of the Most High.'" | Affirms humans as "gods" (elohim) in a participatory sense, highlighting elevated status as children of God. | |

Matthew 5:48 | "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." | Commands believers to emulate God's perfection, suggesting a call to divine transformation and holiness. | |

John 10:34-36 | "Jesus answered them, 'Is it not written in your Law, "I have said you are 'gods'"? If he called them "gods," to whom the word of God came?and Scripture cannot be set aside?what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world?'" |
Jesus quotes Psalm 82 to defend his divinity, implying believers can share in a godlike status through union with him. | |

Romans 8:29 | "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters." | Describes predestination to be shaped into Christ's image, pointing to progressive deification as siblings in the divine family. | |

Romans 12:1-2 | "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God?s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God?this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." | Calls for transformation and renewal, aligning with theosis as a sacrificial participation in God's holiness. | |

2 Corinthians 3:18 | "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord?s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." | Depicts ongoing transformation into God's glory, a core expression of becoming divine through the Spirit. | |

2 Corinthians 4:6 | "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God?s glory displayed in the face of Christ." | Suggests divine light and glory indwelling believers, supporting internal deification through Christ's revelation. | |

Ephesians 4:13 | "...until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." | Aims at maturity in Christ's fullness, implying growth toward divine completeness. | |

2 Peter 1:3-4 | "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." | Explicitly states participation in the divine nature via God's promises and power, a foundational verse for theosis. | |

1 John 3:2 | "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." | Promises ultimate likeness to Christ, emphasizing eschatological deification through vision and union. | 

These verses collectively illustrate themes of imaging God, transformation, and sharing in divine attributes. Interpretations vary by denomination?Eastern Orthodox see them as direct support for theosis, while some Protestant views emphasize sanctification without full deification.
For deeper study, consult theological commentaries or original Greek [better: Aramaic] texts.