...is To Be Transformed, and to Transform

     

     The Orthodox Christian is called to
transformation. He or she is called to engage in
the process as theosis, or deification. In fact,
according to Orthodox theology, it is precisely
for this reason that Christ came among us. God
became a human being in Christ so that human
beings could become divine. This may sound
strange, but it is in this doctrine of theosis that
the beauty of the Christian proclamation is
revealed. To be sure, we human beings can
never become God. We are and always will be
human beings. But, Orthodoxy teaches us, the
human being was never meant to exist in
separation from God. It is only in contact with
the divine — only in being "energized" by
(which for us Orthodox is never a created
commodity but the very presence of the
Uncreated One) - can human nature be what it
is truly meant to be. When we speak of
deification, we are really speaking of
humanization. The Orthodox doctrine of theosis 
teaches that in order for one to become human,
he or she must be energized by the deifying
presence of God - what we normally call grace.
We are meant to be "partakers of the divine
nature" (2 Peter 1:4).

      Now this deifying presence of God is none other than the Holy Spirit, who, as we saw, dwells in the Church. It is for this reason that we
Orthodox Christians affirm the importance of
the Church. We are all meant to be "deified."
This deification is the work of the Holy Spirit.
And that Holy Spirit is found in the Church.
Our lifelong process of acquiring the Holy Spirit
can thus be achieved only within the Church.

     Nor is the process of theosis isolationistic. In
being deified, the Orthodox Christian is not
called upon to avoid others or to sever all ties
with the world. The Christian is not only to be 
transformed; he or she is called upon to make
the deifying presence of God operative in the
world around us -- to transform this world. To
be sure, this transformation will not be complete
until the Kingdom is fully revealed on the Last
Day, but we Orthodox Christians must work to
manifest the Kingdom which is already partially
actualized among us. Thus, social responsibility
must be taken extremely carefully by the
Orthodox Christian.