[InChristAlone]

Although the WL’s concept of deification is different from the Eastern Orthodox understanding of theosis, I still believe that the doctrine of 'deification' is biblical.

The doctrine, which refers to the transformation of believers into the likeness of God, was strong in the earliest Church Fathers (1-2nd Century CE), then it bloomed with 4-5th century Fathers, and at last it died in the western Latin speaking church – the Roman Catholic Church. However, the doctrine remained alive in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Probably, WL read some Eastern Church Fathers and used their writings for his own speculation.

The correct translation of the St. Athanasius’s statement would be this: "The Son of God became man, that we might become gods". The second “g” must be lowercase since man can neither become a God nor share God’s essence. As I said earlier, in Eastern Orthodox theology, the teaching of deification (Greek theosis) refers to the attainment of likeness of God/Christ or union with God. It is the process of a believer becoming holy, free of his corrupted nature and sins, being united with God, and later consummated in bodily resurrection.

Salvation for Eastern Orthodox theology is more than the forgiveness of sins or justification. It is also deification (theosis) - the transformation of the believer by the grace of God to become a partaker of the Divine Nature, conforming him/her into being Christ-like.

This doctrine is based on Old Testament (Psalm 82:6 "Ye are gods and children of the most high.") and New Testament (2 Peter 1:4 “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”).

“Participating/partaking in the divine nature” does not mean that we participate in God’s essence (ousia). Rather we are transformed into the likeness of Christ through participation in His grace, i.e., divine energies. The footnote commentary in the Orthodox Study Bible for 2 Peter 1:4 reads:

This [Theosis] does not mean we become divine by nature. If we participated in God’s essence, the distinction between God and man would be abolished. What this does mean is that we participate in God’s energy, described by a number of terms in scripture, such as glory, life, love, virtue, and power. We are to become like God by his grace and truly His adopted children, but never becoming God by nature.

Deification, according to the Orthodox teaching, is no more and no less than the adoptive sonship proclaimed by the Apostle Paul (Rom. 8:9-17; Gal. 4:5-7): our acceptance and recognition by the Father as His sons by grace, in and through our incorporation into His only-begotten Son by nature, Jesus Christ, in His body, the Church, by way of the Spirit of sonship (Rom. 8:15) – the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:9). This is a work of God effected in and by Jesus Christ through His incarnation and atoning work, received in baptism, continued through a life lived in conformity with Christ and his commandments, and consummated in the Eucharist – the prayer of sonship, wherein we are enabled to call upon God as “our Father,” thus becoming “gods” through worthy eucharistic communion. Finally, this deification and sonship will be revealed in fullness at the glorious future resurrection unto life, “the manifestation of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19).

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see him as He is (1 John 3:2).

Paul conceives of the resurrection as immortalization of both the body and the soul (1 Cor 15:42-49). In 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, Paul says "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

In John 10:34, Jesus defends himself against a charge of blasphemy by stating: "Have I not said that ye are gods?"

BTW, St. Athanasius (c.296 - 373) was not original. He only repeated the words of St Irenaeus (c. 130 - 202), bishop of Lyon, who said, 'if the Word has been made man, it is so that men may be made gods'. Another translation: "If the Word became a man, It was so men may become gods." (A resident of Smyrna, St Irenaeus had listened to the preaching of St. Polycarp who was a disciple of John the Evangelist, so we can assume that the teaching of deification was not St Irenaeus’ idea).