Church History in Plain Language

by Bruce L. Shelley

Salvation, therefore, consists of the perfection or completion of the full image. Christ, the incarnate God, came to earth to restore the icon of God in man. The major themes of Orthodoxy, then, are rebirth, re-creation, and the transfiguration of man. The church is not a formalized institution, it is the mystical body of Christ constantly renewed by the life of the Holy Spirit flowing through it. And it is within this community of love that man is made ready to join the preexisting fellowship among Father, Son, and Spirit. Orthodox believers call the process Theosis or deification. The language of “becoming gods” troubles Western believers. But Orthodox teachers do not claim that believers become Father, Son, or Spirit, but use the language to picture the transformation of believers to become fit companions for an eternal communion with and in the triune God. A champion Greek theologian, Athanasius, pictured Jesus fully sharing in the corrupted world of humans so that we could fully share in the incorruptible fellowship of God; he becomes man so that men can become gods. Western theologians also taught other concepts that would picture an unavoidable and necessary transformation prior to our sharing eternity with God;