Theosis. According to the Eastern Church, the goal of salvation isn’t the forgiveness of our sins, but of being deified, of sharing God’s energies and likeness, though not his essence.
What about Mary, the mother of Jesus? In Roman Catholicism, as the Mother of Christ, she is exalted, often prayed to, and regarded by various groups as the best avenue to reach Jesus. She has also sometimes been seen as a co-redemptrix.
In Eastern Orthodoxy, the situation is even more dangerous: Mary is the Theotokos, the mother of God, literally the God-bearer. The title was given her at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. In theory the goal was to protect the doctrine of the Trinity and that Jesus was not just human, but also God. Although the term was finely nuanced by the council, the danger is self-evident. How easy would it be to take the next, although unwarranted, step? Since Mary is the mother of God, would she not also be god? Also, does not the term open up all sorts of dangerous possibilities regarding the very nature of God? Granted, the Eastern Church views Mary as unique. Yet as we saw in the previous post, divinization is the goal for all believers, all of us will become god-like.
Where does the idea of theosis come from? One doesn’t find it in Scripture, but in Neoplatonism and Stoic philosophy. For them, ritual acts were key in reaching God, although God was viewed as impersonal, sometimes referred to as “the One.” As we saw, for some Stoics, “god” related to nature itself. One could also ultimately lose one’s individual identity. The church took the core terms and concepts, such as theosis, biblically modified them, and then used them. Although heavily influenced by Greek philosophy and Hellenistic thought, the church did not import these ideas on a strict like for like basis.
What we end up with is another example of syncretism between Greek philosophy and Christianity. That one’s ascetic works are key to the process illustrates that syncretism. The centrality of theosis in Greek Orthodox thought has carried down to the present day.
At its core, is the concept of theosis, of deification, biblical? No, although one can find a few verses, if misinterpreted, that seem to support it. Is it easy to misconstrue? Yes. Does it sound way too close to Satan’s lie that we would be like God? Yes. Does it contradict Ephesians 2:8–9, that salvation is a gift from God, not related to our works? Yes. Is the concept, even the official “nuanced version” best rejected? Yes.
Unfortunately, as we will uncover in the next post, problems within the Eastern church ran even deeper.
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