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Eastern Christianity: Theosis

01/05/2021

The Orthodox teaching of divinization, or theosis, according to Pope John Paul II, is perhaps the greatest gift of the Eastern Church to the West, but one that has largely been ignored or even denied. [1] The Eastern fathers of the Church believed that we could experience real and transformative union with God. This is in fact the supreme goal of human life and the very meaning of salvation—not only later, but now, too. Theosis refers to the shared deification

Dormition or Assumption?

08/13/2020

In our Orthodox tradition we are usually very careful to distinguish between the “Dormition” of the Mother of God and her “Assumption” into heaven. The former, we feel, is properly Orthodox, while the latter strikes us as a purely Western designation, derived from a Roman Catholic “misunderstanding” of the meaning of this feast, celebrated universally on August 15. It is true that some very genuine yet misguided interpretations of Mary’s death and exaltation can be

Contemplative Consciousness: Divinization

06/30/2020

By God’s divine power, God has given us all the things we need for life and for true devotion that allow us to know God, who has called us by God’s own glory and goodness. In this gift, God has given us a guarantee of something very great and wonderful. Through this gift, you are sharers in the divine nature itself. —2 Peter 1:3-4 Spirituality is primarily about human transformation in this life, not just salvation

Image and Likeness: In the Beginning and the End

06/16/2020

God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness.” —Genesis 1:26 Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. —Revelation 22:17 Centuries of Christian theology confirm that the “image” described in Genesis refers to our eternal essence in God which cannot be increased or decreased. It is the soul’s objective union with God. You (and every other created thing) begin with

Noetic Memory. Noetic Faculty

02/20/2020

The heart, in the Orthodox tradition, does not only have a natural operation, as a mere pump that circulates blood. In Orthodox patristic tradition the heart is the center of our self-awareness. Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (+1809) calls the heart a natural and supernatural center, wherein resides “noetic” memory. Tapping into this noetic memory is manifested as the “incessant prayer” of the Holy Spirit inside the heart. Humankind’s mishandling of the memory of

Venerable Maximus the Confessor

01/21/2020

Saint Maximus the Confessor was born in Constantinople around 580 and raised in a pious Christian family. He received an excellent education, studying philosophy, grammar, and rhetoric. He was well-read in the authors of antiquity and he also mastered philosophy and theology. When Saint Maximus entered into government service, he became first secretary and chief counselor to the emperor Heraclius (611-641), who was impressed by his knowledge and virtuous life. Saint Maximus soon realized that

The Cruciform Human

10/18/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, May 23, 2015 In my March lecture in San Francisco, I made an assertion that is worth isolating for an article. That assertion is that we are created in the image of the Crucified Christ, and that this is essential in understanding what it means to be human. I have been asked where I got such an idea. The most simple answer is: the Scriptures. Arguably, the first reference to the Crucified Christ

Dormition or Assumption?

08/09/2019

In our Orthodox tradition we are usually very careful to distinguish between the “Dormition” of the Mother of God and her “Assumption” into heaven. The former, we feel, is properly Orthodox, while the latter strikes us as a purely Western designation, derived from a Roman Catholic “misunderstanding” of the meaning of this feast, celebrated universally on August 15. It is true that some very genuine yet misguided interpretations of Mary’s death and exaltation can be

The Fourth Monday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! Salvation as At-One-Ment: Divinization

05/20/2019

…. we [have] explored the metaphor of a wedding to describe what God is doing—preparing and drawing us toward deeper intimacy, belonging, and union. The Eastern Fathers of the Church were not afraid of this belief, and called it the process of “divinization” (theosis). In fact, they saw it as the whole point of the Incarnation and the very meaning of salvation. The much more practical and rational church in the West seldom used the

The Third Tuesday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Philokalia’s Approach to Salvation

05/14/2019

The spiritual teaching of the Fathers of the Holy Mountain is grounded in the Eastern Church’s theological anthropology. The human being is a fundamental unity of body and soul and should be understood as an “embodied soul” or an “ensouled body.” The Eastern spiritual tradition takes our psychosomatic nature quite seriously, so that worship and prayer draw on our body and all its senses. Even the inward act of repentance is expressed outwardly with bows,

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