"It can be a somewhat startling theme for western Christian ears..."

Insight Scoop ^ | December 27, 2010 | Carl Olson

[NYer]

George Weigel, in his most recent column ("Christmas, Jews and Christians"), takes up a theme near and dear to my heart:

Eastern Christian theology has long stressed “theosis,” or divinization, as the goal of the Christian life. It can be a somewhat startling theme for western Christian ears, formed as we are by Augustine’s sense of the distance that original sin created between humanity and God.

Yet if, as theologians East and West have long insisted, Christianity is not about our search for God (as so much pop-spirituality these days insists), but about God coming into history in search of us and our learning to take the same path through history that God is taking, then “divinization” makes perfect sense: for how could we follow God through history unless we became more and more like God?

Read the entire piece. Two years ago I wrote an essay, "Theosis: The Reason for the Season", in which I stated:

Theosis, deification, and adoptive sonship have received much attention in recent decades from Catholic theologians and scholars. Ressourcement theologians such as Hans Urs von Balthasar, Yves Congar, Henri de Lubac, and Jean Daniélou addressed them in a variety of books and articles. Recent books such as Divine Light: The Theology of Denys the Areopagite, by Dr. William Riordan, and Deification And Grace by Daniel Keating are scholarly studies worthy of attention.

Pope John Paul II's Trinitarian encyclicals—Redemptor Hominis, Dives in Misericordia and Dominum et Vivificantem—often emphasized divine adoption:

For as Saint Paul teaches, "all who are led by the Spirit of God" are "children of God." The filiation of divine adoption is born in man on the basis of the mystery of the Incarnation, therefore through Christ the eternal Son. But the birth, or rebirth, happens when God the Father "sends the Spirit of his Son into our hearts." Then we receive a spirit of adopted sons by which we cry 'Abba, Father!'" Hence the divine filiation planted in the human soul through sanctifying grace is the work of the Holy Spirit. "It is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ." Sanctifying grace is the principle and source of man's new life: divine, supernatural life. (Dives in Misericordia, 52.2).

Coming full circle, the Catechism of the Catholic Church refers time and time again to the reality of theosis. "God created the world for the sake of communion with his divine life," it states, "a communion brought about by the 'convocation' of men in Christ, and this 'convocation' is the Church" (par 760). Through the sacraments we are made "children of God, partakers of the divine nature" (par 1692). The foundation of the moral life, the living out of the Christian calling, is found in the theological virtues: faith, hope and love, infused by the Holy Spirit. Those theological virtues "adapt man's faculties for participation in the divine nature" (par 1812). Our prayer to and adoration of the Father is rooted in divine adoption, for "he has caused us to be reborn to his life by adopting us as his children in his only Son" (par 2782).

Read my entire essay on Ignatius Insight. Also see:

• The Dignity of the Human Person: Pope John Paul II's Teaching on Divinization in the Trinitarian Encyclicals | Carl E. Olson
• The Liturgy Lived: The Divinization of Man | Jean Corbon, O.P.
• Jean Daniélou and the "Master-Key to Christian Theology" | Carl E. Olson
• Was The Joint Declaration Truly Justified? | An Interview with Dr. Christopher Malloy
• Why Catholicism Makes Protestantism Tick: Louis Bouyer on the Reformation | Mark Brumley
• Are Catholics Born Again? | Mark Brumley

[Cronos]

Post 52 by you I said that if JESUS didn’t say it, that I don’t care about it.

Then you change this to post 63 where you change to say It means that if GOD did NOT say it, that I don’t care about it.

Since GOD has said almost ALL of scripture how is that a “logical” error?

Note -- if your criteria is only what Jesus SAID, then you dismiss all of the OT and all of the NT except the specific words of Jesus in the Gospel. You would then dismiss the Epistles of Paul, of Peter, of James, of John, would dismiss Revelations, Acts, even the Gospel Narrative as that was not what Jesus "said".

If your criteria is all that God said, then ALL of scripture is GOD-breathed,hence ALL of scripture is worthy to read since all, including 2 Peter 1:1-4 comes from God

In post 22 Cothrige quoted 2 Peter 1:1-4 "For indeed his divine power has granted us all things pertaining to life and piety through the knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and power - through which he has granted us the very great and precious promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption of that lust which is in the world." and you said I don’t care what anybody but our Lord says.

Now, keeping in mind that Our Lord said 2 Peter, then how can you say you do not care for that verse?

[Cronos]

So what? You said your bible was the KJV not the Catholic. I pointed out that the KJV NT especially is derived from the Textus Receptus (translation by Catholic scholar Erasmus which also derives in part from the Latin Vulgate) and the Douay-Rheims

Your statement was incorrect as the KJV is derived from Catholic sources.

[Cronos]

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

 

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

Reading 1

Is 60:1-6

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.

Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you,
dromedaries from Midian and Ephah;
all from Sheba shall come
bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.

 

---

Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13

Responsorial Psalm

R. (cf. 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more. May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage,
all nations shall serve him.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

 

---

Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6

Reading 2

Brothers and sisters:
You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.
It was not made known to people in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

 

---

Mt 2:1-12

Gospel

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it has been written through the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel.”
Then Herod called the magi secretly
and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
“Go and search diligently for the child.
When you have found him, bring me word,
that I too may go and do him homage.”
After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they departed for their country by another way.

[cothrige]

You are confused. You have rejected a book of the Bible, not a Catholic teaching, because it was written by Peter and not Jesus. Silly. You insist that you are a Protestant, but I can't be so sure. No Protestant I know rejects 2 Peter for such a silly reason. You are on your own there.

Let's recap this for you.

YOU: from post #18

There is no “divinity” possible in that finite being, in us.

The mere concept is absurd neo-pagan pride.

THE BIBLE: from post #22

"For indeed his divine power has granted us all things pertaining to life and piety through the knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and power - through which he has granted us the very great and precious promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption of that lust which is in the world."

YOU: from post #31, which is posted in response to #22 above.

I don’t care what anybody but our Lord says.

ANYBODY.

You can cite being a Protestant all you want, but 2 Peter is Protestant scripture too, and Peter here refutes your novel ideas about sanctification. Period. See you at the gate.

[cothrige]

Not so Cronos...we don't have personal relationships by following a code of behavior...

What about St. James in his epistle?

And if anyone thinks himself to be religious, not restraining his tongue but deceiving his own heart, that man's religion is vain. Religion pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to give aid to orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself unspotted from this world.

James 26-27

It certainly seems that God intends for us to "be religious" and to "follow a code of behaviour." Just my take on it anyway.

[warm n fuzzy]

Read my lips you arrogant azz.

The BIBLE is CHRISTIAN. No one sect owns it.

The entire Old Testament was based on JEWISH writings does that make your so called “RC” OT JEWISH fool?

JESUS and ALL of the apostles were JEWS does that mean that Christians are JEWS?

Are you too stupid or filled with undeserved pride that you don’t get that?

The KJV is NOT “RC” fool.

Based on does not mean IS.

Your RC arrogance is BORING and unfounded.

[warm n fuzzy]

LMAO!

I’ve been over this already, a couple of times.

You RCs believe whatever you want to.

And btw you supercilious RC, you say “the” bible when you quote YOUR bible.

It may come as a shock to you that there are several versions of the Bible that CHRISTIANS use.

My point is that you RCs naturally enough look at all of this from a RC point of view. But that is NOT the only valid or correct CHRISTIAN point of view.

I suppose that I could get angry that you have the arrogance to question my stated faith? But really YOUR RC opinion means nothing in any way to me.

NEWS FLASH!

The REFORMATION is OVER, and the RC LOST.

Which means MANKIND WON.

[cothrige]

And btw you supercilious RC, you say “the” bible when you quote YOUR bible.

It may come as a shock to you that there are several versions of the Bible that CHRISTIANS use.

So, your position is that only so-called "RC" bibles include 2 Peter? Really? I don't think so.

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1.4 (KJV)

Oops, there's the KJV with 2 Peter, and it even translates it with the same words, i.e. "partakers of the divine nature." Is the King James Version is an "RC" bible?

[Cronos]

RM -- poster breaking forum rules by making it personal with Are you a mental defective or on drugs?

[eyedigress]

The DU is running rampant. Just knock them out as they come.

[Cronos]

Do you then wish to retract your hyperbole and say that what is in the Bible in 2 Peter 1:1-4

"For indeed his divine power has granted us all things pertaining to life and piety through the knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and power - through which he has granted us the very great and precious promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption of that lust which is in the world."

is correct?

[Cronos]

Do note that we Christians here believe in the Bible, including 2 Peter

"For indeed his divine power has granted us all things pertaining to life and piety through the knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and power - through which he has granted us the very great and precious promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption of that lust which is in the world."

if you wish to dismiss 2 Peter because Post 52 by you I said that if JESUS didn’t say it, that I don’t care about it.
then you forget that ALL of scripture is GOD-breathed, including 2 Peter.

If you disagree that ALL of scripture is God-breathed, then that's a different matter.

[Cronos]

when you quote YOUR bible

So you think that 2 Peter is only in CAtholic Bibles?

[Cronos]

let's see -- when Cothrige quoted 2 Peter, you dismissed it saying that "I don't care what anybody but our Lord says", which you amended to "anything that God says" and now you've amended it to "when you quote YOUR bible".

This is strange, here is from D-R

"For indeed his divine power has granted us all things pertaining to life and piety through the knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and power - through which he has granted us the very great and precious promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption of that lust which is in the world."

Here is the King James (KJV)

3According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

4Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

And the NIV

3 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. 4 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.

Now all of them say the same and note -- all contain 2 Peter which we believe is scripture.

[Cronos]

Note also — it’s not “Mankind” who won, neither God, if it means that folks start dismissing scripture, OT and NT because they are not direct quotes from Jesus.

[Cronos]

It’s just that I’m convinced that a good debate requires us to call out a poster when they get over-heated and give them time to breathe. I need it at times and am glad that it gives me an opportunity to collect my thoughts. Plus, it ensures that we can actually DISCUSS and not just have flame-wars which serve no purpose.

[Religion Moderator]

Do not use potty language - or references to potty language - on the Religion Forum.

And discuss the issues all you want, but do not make it personal.