Theosis

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Theosis ("deification, deification"; Greek : Θεωσις; also: theiosis, theopoiesis, theōsis ) denotes in the Orthodox Churches , the Ancient Oriental Churches and the Eastern Catholic Churches the salvation from unholiness for participation in the life of God. Theosis is at the center of Orthodox spirituality .

According to this conception, the holy life of God, which the believer in Jesus receives through the Holy Spirit , is expressed as follows: It begins with the exertions of this life, grows through the experiences of the believer through knowledge of God and finds its fulfillment in the resurrection of the believer when the power of sin and death are completely overcome by God's life and lose their power over the believer forever.

This view is historically fundamental to Christian understanding both in the West and in the East, as it was developed directly from the teachings of the apostles and early Christianity regarding the life of faith.

Quotes

  • John Chrysostom : "By participating in God, man becomes by grace what Christ is by nature."
  • Johannes Tauler : "Therefore you expect that man would be God".

See also

Theosis must not be confused with the apotheosis, which belongs more to the state-civil area .

literature

  • Reinhard Flogaus: Theosis in Palamas and Luther. A contribution to the ecumenical conversation. Göttingen 1997, Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, ISBN 3-525-56286-1 .
  • Claus Bachmann: The cross with the sole effectiveness of God. The theology of the Nuremberg reformer and Protestant arch heretic Andreas Osiander in the horizon of the theosis discussion. In: Kerygma and Dogma Vol. 49 (2003), pp. 247-275.
  • Kyriakos Savvidis: The doctrine of the deification of man by Maximos the Confessor and its reception by Gregor Palamas. St. Ottilien 1997, EOS-Verlag, ISBN 3-88096-139-5 .
  • Christoph Schönborn : Deification. In: Christian Schütz (Ed.): Practical Lexicon of Spirituality. Herder, Freiburg i.Br. u. a. 1992, ISBN 3-451-22614-6 , Sp. 1353-1356.
  • Theosis - the deification of man. Lectures from the Seminar for Orthodox Liturgy and Spirituality Frankfurt 1988 and 1978. Munich 1989, Monastery of Saint Job von Pochayev .
  • Dieter Zeller: God incarnation - deification of people. Göttingen 1988, Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, ISBN 3-525-53906-1 .

Single receipts

  1. ↑ Cf. on this fundamentally Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos: Orthodox Spirituality. A brief introduction .
  2. ↑ Quoted from Christoph Schönborn : Deification. In: Christian Schütz (Ed.): Practical Lexicon of Spirituality. Herder, Freiburg i.Br. u. a. 1992, ISBN 3-451-22614-6 , Sp. 1353 (1355) (without proof)
  3. ↑ Quoted from Stefan Zekorn: Serenity and contemplation. On the basis and shape of spiritual life in Johannes Tauler. Echter, Würzburg 1993. (Studies on systematic and spiritual theology; Vol. 10). ISBN 3-429-01516-2 , p. 35 fn. 14

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