Do We Become gods? A Protestant Appeal for Deification

Do We Become gods? A Protestant Appeal for Deification:

Christianity has existed for a long time. In that time, different groups of those professing this faith have come up with terms to express similar, if not the same, ideas. In so doing, it confuses the Christian faith to other Christians and non-Christians alike. The goal of this examination is to give a brief overview of two terms within Christianity that are different but are similar in concept, namely sanctification and Theosis. Finally, a biblical argument for using deification language by Protestants is presented. 

Within Protestantism, discourse about salvation uses categorical distinctions. This results in terms like regeneration, sanctification, justification, glorification, and more. These terms are stages that the lord is bringing humans into as time moves forward in the faith. Sanctification will be the focus of this section. Enns (2014) states, in summary, that the Greek word for sanctification means “to set apart” and is the word from which we get other English words like saint, holiness, and so on. Sanctification is a crucial word with three aspects (Enns 2014; Farsted 1992). Positional sanctification seems to be another word for justification, where the Christian has been made just before the Lord and is in a position of holiness and security (1 Cor 1:1-2, NIV). Experiential sanctification is what typically comes to mind when discussion on sanctification happens, the lifelong journey of being made more holy or Christlike (1 Thess 5:23, 1 Pet 1:16). Finally, ultimate sanctification (glorification) is the last stage where God makes us sinless (Eph 5:26-27). Some Christians understand the sanctification process to be helped by the sacraments or ordinances of the church. Some (though few) believe that one can be made entirely holy in this life through his grace in sanctification. As one can see, the language of Christlikeness and holiness is in view here. All of this, done by grace, is thought to be “…an attitude of God toward people, on the basis of which he grants salvation as a gift to those who do not deserve it” (Fairbairn, 1998, para. 6). Grace is the Lord's undeserved favor in our lives. 

An Eastern Christian would agree with much of what was said, but there are some differences. Firstly, they are heavily sacramental. One priest notes, “Yet no one can achieve theosis unless they practice humility, ascetic doing, prayer, and the sacraments of the Church” (Malov, 2022, para. 12). Participation in the church's life helps us to participate in the life of God, which is the process of theosis. Due to the language that the church has used throughout the centuries, everyone who discusses this in-depth understands that what is meant by deification is not becoming the one true God. No one endorses polytheism. Instead, we take on attributes that belong fundamentally to the divine, like eternality and perfection (1 Cor 15:42-58). In the Protestant language, we may say we take on the communicable attributes of God, which are things like perfection, eternality, and character attributes. Relevant to note is, 

“Orthodox theology insists on the uncreated character of grace and defines it as natural processions, as the energy characteristic of the common nature of the three divine persons. By these energies, man surpasses the limits of the creature and becomes a ‘partaker of the divine nature.’” (Ouspensky, as cited in Fairbairn, 1998, para. 4). 

Orthodox Christians will stress that this is the dominant way the early church talked about salvation (Jacobs, 2009; Medved, 2019). They also see theosis as three stages: purification, illumination, and theosis (Damick, n.d.). Original creation and our life with God in paradise are crucial as well. Deification is about imaging God, humanity's mission before the fall distorted that image, and Christ came to fix it (Gen 1:26-30, Col 3:9-10). 

This section will quickly recount the disagreement between the Protestant and Orthodox churches on this issue. One difference is how grace is understood. Protestants typically understand it to be God's favor toward us, while the orthodox understand it to be that, but also an energy of God. That debate is a different conversation. To summarize it, 

“Eastern Orthodoxy maintains that God is unknowable in his essence (that is, unknowable as he is in himself) and distinguishes between this essence and his energies (which correspond roughly to what we might call God’s actions or his operative presence in the world).” (Fairbairn, 1998, para. 5).

The Protestant church disagrees, arguing that the Lord's essence is identical to his attributes (Ortlund, 2021). Another disagreement is the categorical distinctions that Protestants make that Orthodoxy does not. While sanctification is regarded as moral change, and glorification (or ultimate sanctification) is the change from corruptibility to incorruptibility, Orthodoxy does not make all these distinctions. Theosis is the whole process leading to a finalization in taking on divine attributes. There are other disagreements, but I want to stress that similar ideas are being stressed, just not exactly. Both sides are also drawing from scriptural terms. With that said, what is the biblical basis for deification? 

This section will give a defense of deification based on the scriptures. Deification is: “... the transformation of believers into the likeness of God" (Finlan & Kharlamov, 2006, p. 6). This definition does not encompass everything, but it is a good start for this examination. It is written, 

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (1 Peter 1:3-4, NIV). 

What does it mean to “participate in the divine nature”? To get some background on this, Davids (2006) shows, in summary, that there is a historical precedent for this phrase Peter uses. It refers to some attribute the divine has, which some material thing participates in (people or planets). In this passage, what makes us Godlike? It is written, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love” (2 Pet 1:5-6). Specifically for Peter here, it is a reflection of the moral character of God that makes us godlike. The effect of this participation is escaping sin or moral decay (Davids, 2006; Harmon, 2021). To further make this biblical argument, it is explicitly written,

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph 4:22-24). Paul makes essentially the same claim that Peter does, being that God has made us to be like him about virtue, causing us to be able to escape sinful desire, which is a desire that has crossed a boundary essentially (Davids, 2006). 

While we only looked at 2 Peter because it is so famous in the discourse regarding theosis, obtaining divinization is taught elsewhere. For example, Paul tells us we will gain incorruptibility and be immortal and imperishable (1 Cor 15:42-58). Paul also uses the story in the Hebrew Bible of Moses’ face shining to talk about the divine glory we are reflecting and progressively transforming into (Ex 34:29-35, 2 Cor 3:7-18). The hope is that this small argument will cause Protestants to think about using this language. Indeed, more than an incremental increase in holiness is meant by all of this, and it does seem to be a process completed in the end, not so easily divisible. 

Given all of the data, deification is an appropriate term to describe the process of the Christian life as seen in these verses. Christians need not be afraid to say that we will be godlike or “gods” because, properly understood, this is simply the biblical teaching. Christians should better understand what God, by his grace, is doing for us should enchant and encourage our way of life. Every day, the people of God should consider, “How can I be like God in my daily life?” This should encourage Christian individuals and the church to live more like God, who is virtuous every day. The church, Protestant and Orthodox, marvels with John Calvin, saying, “Let us then mark, that the end of the gospel is, to render us eventually conformable to God, and, if we may so speak, to deify us” (Calvin, 2009, p. 371). 

References:

Calvin, J. (2009). 2 Peter. In John Owen (Ed.), Calvin's Commentaries: Vol. 22. Hebrews-Jude (pp. 31-488). Zondervan. 

Damick, S. A. Salvation. (n.d.). Holy Apostles Orthodox Church. Retrieved April 2, 2024, from https://holyapostles.org/salvation 

Davids, P.H.(2006). The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude. Eerdmans. 

Enns, P. (2014). The Moody Handbook of Theology: Vol. 25th anniversary edition. Moody Publishers. Fairbairn, D. (1998). Salvation as theosis: The teaching of Eastern Orthodoxy. The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved April 2, 2024, from 

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/salvation-as-theosis-the-teaching-of-eastern-or thodoxy/

Farsted, L. A.. (1992). We Believe In: Sanctification Part 1: Introduction. Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, 05:2, 3-10. 

Finlan, S., & Kharlamov, V. (2006). Theosis: Deification in Christian theology. Pickwick Publications. Harmon, M.S. (2021). Notes on 2 Peter 1. In The NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible. Zondervan. Jacobs, J. D. (2009) "An Eastern Orthodox Conception of Theosis and Human Nature," Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers: 26(5), 615-627. DOI: 

10.5840/faithphil200926560 

Lucas, D. & Green, C. (2021). The Message of 2 Peter & Jude: Vol. Revised edition. IVP Academic. Malov, J. (2022, Sept 18). Theosis, Our Growth in the Likeness of God. Retrieved April 2, 2024, from https://catalog.obitel-minsk.com/blog/2022/09/theosis-our-growth-in-the-likeness-of-god Medved, G. (2019). Theosis (Deification) as a Biblical and Historical Doctrine. Kairos: Evangelical Journal of Theology, 13(1), 7-38. https://doi.org/10.32862/k.13.1.1 

New International Version. (2011). Zondervan.

Ortlund, G. (2021, Jun 26). My defense of divine simplicity. from 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlpdpAnVwgI

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