Quote:
Originally Posted by A little brother
From what you are saying, this "truth" of man becoming god was known long long ago (Athanasius) and also currently believed by many (Mommons, Orthodox, and a whole lot of Christians).
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Brothers, I am sorry for interrupting your conversation. I would like to clarify a few things. You know, sometimes we can use the same word but have a different understanding of it.
For example, as far as I know, Mormons teach that deification is when a man becomes God, not only obtaining the divine essence and nature but also getting his own planet where he becomes a sole Creator.
As for WL, I hope Evangelical and Drake will correct me, I know WL read the Church Fathers. But I don't remember if he distinguished between the essence of God and the uncreated energies of God. At least, I have never heard about the latter in the LRC.
Once I talked about deification with my wife who is an active member of the LRC. I can't claim that her opinion 100% represents the teaching of WL. But what I learnt is that for her, deification happens when Christ as the life-giving spirit enters those who call on His name and study the Holy Bible, "eating and drinking Christ". In other words, this is the process when human spirit mingles with divine spirit. This process of the life-giving spirit's entring into our human spirit became possible after the resurrection of Christ.
There are a couple of things that my wife was not able to explain:
1 If Christ became life-giving spirit after His resurrection, then Who had He been before that? Isn't God spirit? Hasn't He always given life, being the source of it? What is the difference in Christ's spirit before and after His resurrection?
2 What is the essence of Christ as the life-giving spirit? Is it divine? If so, how divine essence can interact with human nature, body and soul? How can human nature mingle with divine essence and "stay alive", without turning into the divine essence?
Well, my questions do not mean that WL didn't have the answers. So, please forgive my ignorance.
However, it seems to me that the Eastern Orthodox have a different understanding of deification. Let me try to explain it in my next post. (I will use my "copy and paste approach" with help of articles of archimandrite George, abbott of a monastery on Mount Athos, Greece).