Skip to content
Wellsprings
christian-soteriologyfeatured in 16 works

Theosis (Deification)

Made not merely forgiven but transformed, partakers of the divine nature

Theosis describes salvation as the transformation of the human person, by grace, into the likeness of God, becoming what 2 Peter calls a 'partaker of the divine nature.' Rooted in Irenaeus, Athanasius, and Maximus the Confessor, it does not mean becoming God in essence. Traditions differ in emphasis: it is central and explicit in Eastern Orthodoxy, while Catholics and some Protestants affirm related ideas in qualified and differently framed ways.

How it traveled

  1. 1 John
    Ephesus · 100
    explains
  2. Against Heresies: Book V
    Lyons · 202
    explains
  3. Against Heresies: Book IV
    Lyons · 202
    explains
  4. Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.)
    Alexandria · 373
    explains
  5. The Incarnation of the Word
    Alexandria · 373
    explains
  6. De Spiritu Sancto
    Caesarea (Cappadocia) · 379
    explains
  7. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen
    Nazianzus · 390
    explains
  8. The Great Catechism
    Nyssa · 395
    explains
  9. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  10. City of God
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  11. Expositions on the Book of Psalms
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  12. Treatise on the Incarnation (qq[1]-59)
    Paris · 1274
    explains
  13. Heaven
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains
  14. A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, in Three Parts
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains
  15. Dissertation on the End for Which God Created the World
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains
  16. Five Sermons. On Different Occasions
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains

Key passages(20)

Very high
Very high

The Great Catechism · Gregory of Nyssa

Very high

The Great Catechism · Gregory of Nyssa

Very high

Against Heresies: Book IV · Irenaeus of Lyons

Very high

Expositions on the Book of Psalms · Augustine of Hippo

Very high

1 John · John the Apostle

Very high

2 Corinthians · Paul the Apostle

Very high
Very high

Against Heresies: Book III · Irenaeus of Lyons

Very high

Against Heresies: Book V · Irenaeus of Lyons

Very high