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Old 08-12-2014, 12:22 AM   #58
InChristAlone
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Default Re: God's Eternal Purpose

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio View Post
Lee loved Athanasius, because of his statement about "make man God."

Lee also had "helpers" who did much of his reading and research for him.

Here is an interesting story I just heard. After Lee died, LSM took groups of saints into his house during the trainings to see how the "MOTA" lived. During one such tour, a friend of mine happened to notice that some book(s) which were prominent in Lee's library were by an author noted to be heretical. The brother pointed this out to the LSM docent, who informed others, who quickly removed the book(s). He somewhat remembered that the book(s) was by Emanuel Swedenborg.
Thank you brother Ohio. To say the truth, when I just started attending the LRC, I also noticed some similarities, especially that of divinization. I thought, "They have this and we have this. They believe in this and we believe in the same". That time I was not interested in religion, so I didn't care about details.

BTW, there were quite a number of the early Church Fathers who wrote about theosis: Irenaeus (c. 130-200), Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215), Justin Martyr (c. 100-165), Theophilus of Antioch (c. 120-190), Hippolytus of Rome (c. 170-235), Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-395), Augustine of Hippo (c. 354-430), Maximus the Confessor, Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil of Caesarea, and of course, Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296-373).

Wikipedia shares their quotes on divinization:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divinization_(Christian)

For example, Irenaeus wrote:

"The Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself."

"'For we cast blame upon [God], because we have not been made gods from the beginning, but at first merely men, then at length gods; although God has adopted this course out of His pure benevolence, that no one may impute to Him invidiousness or grudgingness he declares, "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are sons of the Most High."

"For it was necessary, at first, that nature should be exhibited; then, after that, that what was mortal should be conquered and swallowed up by immortality, and the corruptible by incorruptibility, and that man should be made after the image and likeness of God."

I trust Irenaeus and other Church Fathers' doctrine on theosis because of three reasons:

1 They were among first Christians who kept the tradition and were closer to Christ, Apostles, and the inner knowledge of Christian faith. For example, Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp (AD 69– 155-160's) who was a disciple of the apostle John. So Irenaeus might know what was not included in the Gospels.

2 Theosis is not one man's idea. Lee could be wrong. A certain Church Father could be mistaken. But there were several Church Fathers from different localities who shared the same teaching. That's why it seems trustworthy for me. Probably, the Church Fathers got their knowledge from different apostles, but their views and teachings on theosis were similar.

3 It seems to be logical. Man, according to the Bible, is 'made in the image and likeness of God.' After Adam's fall, the image and likeness were corrupted. God sent His Son to redeem us, i.e. restore His image in each of us (which is theosis). So it's a logical step, God's plan and purpose of our life: the attainment of likeness of God, union with God or reconciliation with God.
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