Man as a God in Ruins: Theosis in the Christian Tradition

People are always trying to make themselves better.

In the last century this desire to improve ourselves has become even more evident as science has allowed us to change more and more about ourselves. Something that captures our imagination for what we might be able to do is the use of exoskeletons, like that of Iron Man. In fact, there is a whole transhumanist and posthumanist movement that trades on the desire for eschatological advances like these.

However, what if the changes we endeavored to make were not merely external (as the exoskeleton), but more internal or essential to our identity?

The recent movie Lucy (2014) centered the story around a character whose brain functioning was radically increased through a chance drug overdose. The exponential shift in her performance was incredible to think about. She was ultimately able to navigate the matter-energy barrier, almost becoming a god by her ability to manipulate her environment. Unfortunately, she looked more like the gods of Homer than the God of the Bible with her selfish and capricious use of violence to achieve her goals.

Theosis: Real Union with Triune God

This desire to transcend human limitations and to become gods is not foreign to the Christian tradition. Christian theologians have long discussed “theosis” (literally, “becoming a god”) as a final stage of salvation, when human beings have real union with God. The idea is virtually unknown among Protestants; but the goal of salvation described in terms of “theosis” or “deification” is at the heart of Eastern Orthodox theology, as inherited by Byzantine and Greek patristic theologians. We might say that theosis is to the Orthodox as justification is to the Protestant.

Of course, Christian forms of theosis (in distinction to non-Christian “apotheosis”) begin and end with the Trinity—with the foundational doctrine that God eternally exists as three persons in one nature. Describing salvation as theosis always means that humans are set in distinction to the one who is truly God. Therefore, Christian deification is always metaphorical—believers don’t literally become God (as a member of the Trinity). With this in mind, why even use the language becoming gods if it sounds so heretical? If believers don’t become God, what do they become?

Becoming Fully Human by Drawing Closer to God

The key idea behind theosis is that humans flourish and fulfill their created potential best when they draw ever closer to God. As we draw closer we are transformed by this relationship—as we reflect the image and likeness of God, as God intended. Thus, we look so much like God that we might (metaphorically) be called gods.

While this may seem heretical, the idea arose from early Christian readings of the Bible. Our earliest evidence of believers being called gods actually goes back to the lips of Jesus in John 10:34 when he quotes from Psalm 82:6, which reads: “I said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.’” The church has followed Jesus in this interpretive stream, although they have spent more time exploring this passage in view of wider biblical contexts than focusing on Jesus’ use of it in the Gospel of John. With this, two primary exegetical themes come out of their readings of Psalm 82: (1) gods are immortals and (2) sons of God are gods.

1. Gods are Immortals

Note the connection in Psalm 82:7: “I said you are gods…but you die like mere men.” The experience of death is directly antithetical to the status of being gods. This reading fits directly with the ancient (i.e., Greek and Latin) mindset that gods were the immortals. In wider biblical theology, we see that God created humans to experience immortality, but sin brought death. Accordingly, the hope for immortality and resurrection (e.g., Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 15) became central for understanding what theosis entails.

2. Sons of God are Gods

As with the first affirmation, the patristic interpreters were close readers of Psalm 82 and John 10 and noted the connection between being gods and sons of God, for the text reads: “I said you are gods, you are all sons of the Most High.” To be a son of God, then, means being a god, in some sense. These interpreters knew that God did not have numerous children by nature (this status is reserved for his only-begotten Son). Reading this passage within the biblical narrative, they affirmed that these gods were children in a different way—by adoption and by grace. As adopted sons of God, they did not naturally have the characteristics of divinity (i.e., immortality), but rather, God adopted them to become sons similar to Christ the Son. Again, they are reading this text alongside other NT texts that affirm just the same thing, such as Romans 8, Galatians 4, and 1 John 3. In fact, Paul directly correlates becoming an adopted son of God with immortality in Romans 8. To be an adopted heir of God is to be a co-heir with Christ and conformed to his image.

The Role of Grace in Divinization

In distinction to the Son who is God by nature (together with the Father and the Spirit), believers are adopted and become gods by grace. Believers are active participants in the process of salvation, but they only receive salvation through grace. Because they are gods by grace, as opposed to nature, they cannot create salvation themselves. The life they experience is not their own; they are sharing the life of God.