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"Simply be aware of the oneness of things." - Lao Tzu

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Wisdom tells me I am nothing, love tells me I am everything. Between the two, my life flows.

―Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

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"There is a divine reality beneath and beyond the world of appearances. This reality is accessible to human beings through direct spiritual insight. And all religions, when stripped of their cultural and institutional layers, ultimately point toward this same truth." —Aldous Huxley

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“The one God is not ‘he who is the Trinity’… The one God is the Father, who has eternally with him his Son and his Spirit.” —Fr. Thomas Hopko

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To honor Christ is to honor the revealed union of divine and human.

To follow Christ is to return to God—not geographically, but existentially.

The Church is not a border wall around God—it is a school of transformation, a furnace for purification, a community of reawakening.

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Theosis: Humanity’s Journey into Divine Union

Theme: Not that Jesus alone is divine, but that Jesus reveals the path by which all humanity may become fully united with God.

1. Genesis: The Divine Image as Our Origin

> “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness...”

— Genesis 1:26

Starting Point: Humans are created with an inherent connection to God.

Implication: To be human is to mirror or participate in God’s nature (life, wisdom, love).

2. Psalm 82 and Jesus' Reference

> “I said, ‘You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you.’”

— Psalm 82:6

> “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’...”

— John 10:34–35

Jesus draws from a Jewish mystical tradition that sees divine potential in human beings.

He doesn’t deny his divinity—instead, he extends the category to others who reflect God.

3. Jesus as the Image of God and New Adam

> “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation...”

— Colossians 1:15

> “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.”

— 1 Corinthians 15:49

Jesus is the template, not the exception.

In him, we see the destiny of humanity—to bear divine likeness fully.

4. John 17: Unity as Participation

> “That they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us...”

— John 17:21

Unity is not just moral; it’s ontological—a shared life, like branches in the Vine (John 15).

Jesus prays that his divine relationship becomes our reality.

5. 2 Peter 1:4 — Theosis Named Explicitly

> “He has given us... precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature...”

This is perhaps the clearest biblical expression of theosis.

Salvation = participation, not mere transaction.

6. Early Church Fathers: Theosis Articulated

> St. Athanasius (c. 296–373):

“God became man so that man might become god.”

> St. Gregory of Nyssa:

“The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God.”

> St. Irenaeus (2nd century):

“The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and the life of man is the vision of God.”

These weren’t fringe ideas—they were core theology in the East.

Jesus reveals and initiates what is possible for all.

7. Mystical and Modern Echoes

Meister Eckhart (13th century) – Christian mystic:

> “The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.”

Gregory Palamas (14th century) – Hesychast theologian:

> “Through grace, we become by participation what God is by nature.”

Richard Rohr – Contemporary Franciscan:

> “Jesus didn't come to change God's mind about us—he came to change our minds about God, and about ourselves.”

[Genesis]

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Humans made in God's image

[Jesus of Nazareth]

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Perfect image of God — fully human, fully united with divine will

[John 17 / 2 Peter 1]

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Invitation to join that unity — to "partake in the divine nature"

[Church Fathers]

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Theosis becomes central Christian doctrine in the East

[Mystics & Modern Voices]

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Rediscovery of the divine spark within all humanity

Summary:

Jesus is the model, the revelation, and the means by which we awaken to our true identity as bearers of divine life. He accomplished perfect theosis and then opened the path for us to follow—not by becoming less human, but by becoming more fully human, fully alive, fully united with God.

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I’m not sure who or what Jesus really was. I don’t know if he physically rose from the dead, or if he’s the second person of the Trinity. But what I keep coming back to is this: he flipped the world on its head. In a time and culture that prized strength, status, and honor, he elevated humility, mercy, and love for the weak. He didn’t just teach sacrificial love—he lived it. Voluntarily. For others. Even for enemies.

What’s striking is how rare that is, even across cultures. In the ancient Roman world, pity was weakness. In Confucian thought, virtue came through order and hierarchy—not through identifying with the lowly. Hinduism and Buddhism value compassion, but their paths focus on detachment, not self-sacrifice. Many indigenous cultures prize balance and community, but Jesus made love for the outsider—especially the rejected and unworthy—the center of his vision. Even within Judaism, while compassion and justice are foundational, Jesus went further by extending divine love to enemies and turning shame into honor.

That kind of love—radical, self-giving, and upside-down—seems truly unique in human history. Whether or not I can make sense of all the theology, I can’t shake the sense that Jesus redefined what power means. And maybe even what it means to be human.

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“The wise see with equal vision a learned Brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and an outcast.” — Bhagavad Gita 5:18

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“The quieter you become the more you can hear.”

— Ram Dass

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Express yourself completely, then keep quiet.

Be like the forces of nature: when it blows, there is only wind; when it rains, there is only rain; when the clouds pass, the sun shines through.

-Lao Tzu

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"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." – Frederick Buechner

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"For humility is the gateway to faith. Without it, we rely simply on our own efforts, without recognizing our dependence on God. Without it, we rely simply on our own reason, without opening ourselves up to the possibility of the miraculous. Without it, we cannot fully enter into the world that God has in store for us." —Fr. James Martin

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"For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light." (Eph 5:8)

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"In the radiance of His light the world is not commonplace. The very floor we stand on is a miracle of atoms whizzing about in space. The darkness of sin is clarified, and its burden shouldered. Death is robbed of its finality, trampled down by Christ's death. In a world where everything that seems to be present is immediately past, everything in Christ is able to participate in the eternal present of God." —Fr. Alexander Schmemann

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Most of us walk around with an assumption that creation is complete and yet in need of redemption. I believe creation is actively being created. It is not yet complete. And redemption is part of the creative process. It’s the fine tuning and finishing touches of the divine Artist.

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"We are what they grow beyond.” -Yoda

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"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." —1 John 3:2