Theosis Archives - Page 5 of 7

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Monday of the Fifth Week of Pascha. The Mystery of Suffering.

05/07/2018

It is much easier to appreciate the glory of Jesus’ resurrection than his painful crucifixion. Yet, Mark’s Gospel, written around 65 to 70 AD, focuses on Jesus’ “suffering servanthood.” Christians believe that we are “saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus.” The key is to put both together. We need to deeply trust and allow both our own dyings and our own certain resurrections, just as much as Jesus did! This is the full pattern

The Twelfth Day of Christmas. The Theophany and Healing (Part II)

01/05/2018

By Fr. George Morelli [1] The promise of the King of the Gentiles and the desired of all The conversion of pagans is mentioned in the psalms. King David as the obvious prefigure of Christ has the Lord God say to him: “You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” (Ps 2: 7-8) And again

The Purpose and Method of Christian Life (Part IV). The Goal and Telos of Christian Life (Part IV)

07/13/2017

In this vein, the difference between the kingdom of God and God himself can begin to blur in the words of the Abba. For example, he notes that the reason Christians pursue their goal, purity of heart, is to attain the telos of a permanent connection not just to holy things, ideas or states associated with God, but to God himself. This, then, must be our primary undertaking-chis the never-altered destination and never-failing pursuit of

Divinization: A Lost Pearl

06/26/2017

The Greek word theosis, often used by the Eastern Fathers of the church, is probably best translated as “divinization.” [1] Although usually taught in the more mystical and Trinitarian Eastern Church, it was largely lost in the more practical, carrot-on-the-stick emphasis of the Western Church. Every time the Christian church divided or separated, each group lost one half of the Gospel message. That seems to have been true in the Great Schism of 1054, when

Lost Christian Language for Repairing the Person (Part II)

02/01/2017

By Scott Cairns The Mind in the Heart The more we read in the fathers and mothers across the early centuries of the Church, the more profoundly we come to recognize this formula, this admonition that we might find our prayer lives made fruitful by our descending with our “minds” into our “hearts.” This figure, then — of the lucid nous descended into the ready kardiá, of the mind pressed into the heart — articulates both the

Lost Christian Language for Repairing the Person (Part I)

01/31/2017

By Scott Cairns “He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.” —Psalm 22:3 Among a good many advantages our predecessors in the early Church could claim was a more nearly adequate vocabulary. For instance, they were in possession of a number of words that indicated a number of amazing truths. Nous, kardiá, népsis and théosis were among those words that helped to keep the young Body focused on the task at hand, the task of healing our shared

Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite the Bishop of Athens

10/03/2016

St Dionysius lived originally in the city of Athens. He was raised there and received a classical Greek education. He then went to Egypt, where he studied astronomy at the city of Heliopolis. It was in Heliopolis, along with his friend Apollophonos where he witnessed the solar eclipse that occurred at the moment of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ by Crucifixion. “Either the Creator of all the world now suffers, or this visible

Divinization

06/10/2016

If we could glimpse the panoramic view of the biblical revelation and the Big Picture that we’re a part of, we’d see how God is forever evolving human consciousness, making us ever more ready for God. The Jewish prophets and many Catholic and Sufi mystics used words like espousal, marriage, or bride and groom to describe this phenomenon. That’s what the prophet Isaiah (61:10, 62:5), many of the Psalms, the school of Paul (Ephesians 5:25-32),

Deification and Sonship According to St Athanasius of Alexandria: Part III

02/23/2016

By Father Matthew Baker Indwelling through the Spirit of Sonship Athanasius’ account of deification (theopoiesis) and adoptive sonship (huiothesia) is not limited only to the work of Christ, but also accords a central place to the Holy Spirit. It is not only because it is united to the Word that Christ’s humanity is a deified one, and thus the “root” of our deification, but also because it is a humanity anointed with the Holy Spirit. According to Athanasius, Christ “at

Deification and Sonship According to St Athanasius of Alexandria: Part II

02/16/2016

By Father Matthew Baker If in De Incarnatione the goal and purpose of the incarnation is identified with deification (theopoiesis), in his later works Athanasius more frequently links it specifically with adoptive sonship (huiothesia). Athanasius’ earliest exposition of this doctrine of adoptive sonship appears to be in his De Decretis(chapters 3 and 7), written sometime between 346 and 356 in defense of the Nicene definition. Unlike the oft-quoted exchange formula of De Incarnatione 54.3, Athanasius’ later formulations have an explicitly Trinitarian character:

Archive

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Monday of the Fifth Week of Pascha. The Mystery of Suffering.

The Twelfth Day of Christmas. The Theophany and Healing (Part II)

The Purpose and Method of Christian Life (Part IV). The Goal and Telos of Christian Life (Part IV)

Divinization: A Lost Pearl

Lost Christian Language for Repairing the Person (Part II)

Lost Christian Language for Repairing the Person (Part I)

Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite the Bishop of Athens

Divinization

Deification and Sonship According to St Athanasius of Alexandria: Part III

Deification and Sonship According to St Athanasius of Alexandria: Part II

Categories

Archives

View Our Live Stream Services

Keep In Touch

Stewardship Application

Daily Meditations

Worship Schedule

Light a Virtual Candle

Text-to-Give in 2 easy steps!

1) Text 202-899-7801 to include your donation amount

2) Follow the link to complete the one-time registration