Although it is often observed that St. Cyril does not use the word ‘theosis’ very often, the concept of our divinisation is central to his thought; indeed, set in the Alexandrian tradition, and soaked in the writings of St. Athanasius the Apostolic, it would have been amazing had that not been the case. St. Cyril expands our understanding of the famous Athansian saying that: ‘He was made man so that we might be made god.’ St. Athanasius, De Incarnatione 54.]
As relevant now, as then, was St. Cyril’s statement that someone who claimed to believe in God as a Christian must believe in God the Father, the Son who became Incarnate, and the Holy Spirit. [Farag, 78 for full references.] The Holy Spirit is fully part of the Godhead, since ‘all things are by the Father, through the Son in the Spirit’; this characteristically Cyrilline formula is one he refers to again and again.
If we look at St. John 17.23: ‘I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one’, we see his conception of the ‘economy’ that has taken place for our salvation. The Word leaves His equality with God the Father, emptying Himself, as in Philippians 2, and taking upon Himself an earthly temple from the Virgin’s womb, He became one with us also, but He was still what He had always been: Christ is one and the Son is one. Even though the flesh is not of the nature of the Father and does not enjoy union with Him, it is still one with the Word and is thus in union with God. In no other way can man have union with God except through the Incarnate Word. The union with the Spirit, which was a union without confusion with God the Word and in an inexpressible way, sanctified the flesh; only this way can St. Athanasius’ saying be properly understood. Only through The Word’s own flesh can we come into contact with the Trinity; only through Eucharist, through the flesh of Christ, can we participate in His divinity. [Koen, p. 20.]
For St. Cyril, John 1.14 is especially relevant here: ‘he says not that the Word came into flesh, but that It was made Flesh, that you might not suppose that He came into it as in the case of the prophets or any other of the Saints by participation, but did Himself become actual Flesh, that is man’. [In Jo. 1:14.]
This anti-docetic emphasis points us to the crux of his future disagreement with Nestorius, for it develops St. Athanasius’ soteriology; only through the Incarnate Word is God is able to lead humanity to deification. Both Saints are following the Pauline theme, developed in Philippians, of divine kenosis. Through the union of the divine and the human, He allows the sanctification and deification of humanity; through that we are united with the Father. Long before Nestorius preached, St, Cyril was teaching the truth expressed in St. Gregory of Nazianzus’ phrase: ‘what is not assumed cannot be healed.’ There are, as he shows us in his commentary on John 6:22, two stages in our sonship: the first, through the Incarnation, which is a sonship in general; the second comes in our personal participation in the divine nature through the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist.
For St. Cyril the renewal of mankind is not simply a return of man to his original state; like St. Irenaeus before him, he maintained that Christ ‘did not simply return man to his original state, but offers him gifts from God which were not in the possession of Adam.’ R.L. Wilken, Judaism and the Christian Mind (NY, 1971)] Adam did not partake of the divine nature; only in Christ did man receive divine sonship. Through the ‘second Adam’ mankind gains far than it had lost in the Fall: ‘we became diseased through the disobedience of the first Adam and his curse, but we have become rich through the obedience of the second and his blessings.’ [Koen, p. 41, citing In Jo. 1:14.] Mankind cannot grasp this blessing by its own efforts; only through the mediation of the Spirit, in the sacraments, can we become sons of God. It is in St. Cyril that concept of divinisation as taught by the earlier Fathers reaches full maturity.[Keating, Theology of St. Cyril, p. 149.[Keating, Theology of St. Cyril, p. 149.] ‘God the Father therefore gives life to all things through the Son in the Holy Spirit’, [St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, part 1 (Oriental Orthodox Library, 2006),In Luc. 22:17-22 p. 569] .and the Son, by putting on our nature, refashions it to his own life. And he himself is also in us, for we have all become partakers of him, and have him in ourselves through the Spirit. For this reason, we have become ‘partakers of the divine nature’ (2 Peter 1:4), and are reckoned as sons, and so too have in ourselves the Father himself through the Son. [In Jo. 14.20]
Salvation is the work of the Trinity, not of one part of it.
I would agree that salvation is all God’s work. I also understand that as he justified, He sanctifies and He will one day glorify. I need to contemplate the extent to which we partake of the divine nature. I do not believe we become God. Do you?
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No, I don’t, I am with the Greeks who have a concept called ‘theosis’ which essentially says that after the last judgment we are a God wants us to be and therefore in his image – as he meant from the beginning.
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Why not invite Jesus to sup with you. Then you will know what hes all about. You can stop wondering and actually know whats going on.
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I find it odd that those of you who claim to be directly inspired don’t seem to agree with each other. I simply go with what the Bible says, you should try it. Jesus founded a church which would prevail even against the gates of hell. It’s still there, I’m part of it – you can be too.
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I take this church you speak of is the Catholic Church. You might go with what the bible says, but does your religion preach what the bible says?
Im not inspired, or at least I don’t consider my self inspired. I underwent a transformation, like it or not. But I liked it even though I got and still get persecution. Im not some namby pamby. I love persecution. I live for it. Even befor I was born again…heaven help anyone who messed with me.
Say, this religion you belong to….I hear its not gods true religion. These guys in black dresses and square black hats just a few days ago said they are gods true religion and that Roman Catholicism can go to hell. So, who am I to believe?
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Jesus founded his church on Peter – it’s in Scripture, and there’s the clue.
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Now that I can buy into.
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What I can buy into is the comment Chalcedon made about Theosis. I will stay far away from the contention about whose church is better.
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Very wise – God alone knows the limits of his church, and if we are wise and humble, we shall leave it to him 🙂
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A resounding amen echoes from Lillie-Put on that note.
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If our salvation were ‘all’ the work of God, then we will all go to heaven and none will be lost; for God does not fail in His work. However, to say that salvation is the work of the Holy Trinity does not preclude that God does not ‘share’ this work by utilizing our love, our will, our faith, our obedience in cooperating with His grace. So yes, by grace, it is all done by God, but it is not without our own cooperation with His grace. Otherwise, why be religious at all: God will sanctify you because He does not fail to accomplish All that He puts His hand to; unless, of course, you believe that some are predestined to have grace withheld from them – damned from the moment of their birth. That is the dignity and the worth of the human given to each person as a gift from God; to use our freewill to cooperate with God’s plan for us. When we fail, we have not God to blame but our own failings.
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I rend to be more Armenian in my perspective on the subject of God’s Sovereignty and man’s free will, which mean I lean towards the side that says we have a part to play and a decision to make which God knows about but does not interfere with. And thank you for expanding on my thoughts regarding God’s work of salvation. Yes it is God’s work and yes we must cooperate with it.
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I recently found out that I, we, don’t really know who the God is. Jesus is the person of God, but still we don’t know what he really is.
All this flowery talk about sweet smell and a bunch of flowers and still quiet voices is just hot air. God is a consuming fire….not a bunch of roses. The lake of fire is a hot real place. Religious people tell me they are going to live thru the tribulation. At least they mouth the word Tribulation….if they believe In it is another matter.
Do you want to feel Gods soft rosey sweet smelling voice? Open wide. Hail and locust and fire and boils and blood for water is what you are going to get from God.
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As you say, you don’t really know who God is. You see part of it and mistake it for the whole. For my part, I am not so quick to dismiss those in the past who have known Jesus. You should try it sometime.
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I don’t know any of those in the past who know Jesus. I believe the gospels. Other than that, I guess I believe Cory Ten Boom, but I don’t care about men. I leave that to the unsaved.
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Oh, by the way….since you remind me of my mother, im going to treat you like my mother. Love and respect, plus and occasional beating over the head with the bible. When I would beat my mother over the head with the bible, she would call me a religious fanatic.
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I’m easy with that 😄
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