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Can a human being become God?

Can a Human Being Become God?

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The current answer

Theosis without blasphemy: the essence, the energies, and the window full of light

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In Eastern Christianity a human being can become divine by grace, and this theosis is the meaning of salvation itself, not fringe mysticism.

Imported citation, not independently checked: 2 Peter 1:4; V. Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (1944/1957), bedrock

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Christianity's boldest deification formula comes from Athanasius, Nicaea's fiercest defender: God became human so that humans might become divine.

Imported citation, not independently checked: Athanasius, On the Incarnation 54 (traditional paraphrase)

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Gregory Palamas taught that God's essence stays forever beyond every creature, while God's energies, which are fully God, are genuinely shared.

Imported citation, not independently checked: Gregory Palamas; councils at Constantinople (1341-1351), bedrock

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In Orthodox theosis, union with God is by grace and never by nature, so the deified saint remains a creature forever.

Imported citation, not independently checked: Councils at Constantinople (1341-1351), bedrock

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Western theology has historically been wary of the essence and energies distinction, fearing that it compromises God's simplicity.

Imported citation, not independently checked: Western theology on divine simplicity

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Theosis shows that talk of humans sharing the divine life is native to Christianity, not foreign contraband smuggled in from the East or the mystics.

Imported citation, not independently checked: 2 Peter 1:4; Athanasius, On the Incarnation 54; councils at Constantinople (1341-1351)

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