Revelation 3

Theosis in the text

Bryce and I talked about theosis or divinization in the text of Revelation 3. Specifically examine Revelation 3.20-21:

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

We talked about how this was a common teaching in Early Christianity, the belief that Jesus became man so that he could make man like God.

There is enough evidence in the scriptures of New Testament to logically lead one to conclude that divinization is not only a possibility, but something the Savior wants each of us to receive as we come unto him, and this is exactly what those temporally closest to the apostles put forth.

Justin – Discourse To The Greeks

The Word exercises an influence which does not make poets: it does not equip philosophers nor skilled orators, but by its instruction it makes mortals immortal, mortals god.^[1]Ante Nicene Fathers 1.272.

Theophilius (A.D. 180)

Neither, then, immortal nor yet mortal did He make him, but, as we have said above, capable of both; so that if he should incline to the things of immortality, keeping the commandment of God, he should receive as reward from Him immortality, and should become God.^[2]Theophilus, ca. 180, To Autolycus 2:27, in Ante-Nicene Fathers 2.105.

Cyprian (A.D. 200-258)

What Christ is, we Christians shall be, if we imitate Christ.^[3]The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 5.469.

Irenaeus (A.D. 115-202)

God stood in the in the congregation of the gods, He judges among the gods.” He [here] refers to the Father and the Son, and those who have received the adoption; but these are the Church.^[4]The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1.419.

We have not been made gods from the beginning, but at first merely man, then at length gods.^[5]The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1.522.

Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 160-200)

It [the instruction and preparation] leads us to the endless and perfect end, teaching us beforehand the future life that we shall lead, according to God, and with gods; after we are freed from all punishment and penalty which we undergo…. After which redemption the reward and the honours are assigned to those who have become perfect; when they have got done with purification … they are called by the appellation of gods, being destined to sit on thrones with the other gods that have been first put in their places by the Saviour.^[6]The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 2.539

… knowing God, he will be made like God … and that man becomes God, since God so wills.^[7]The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 2.271.

Origen (A.D. 185-253)

And thus the first-born of all creation, who is the first to be with God, and to attract to Himself divinity, is a being of more exalted rank than the other gods beside Him, of whom God is the God…. The true God, then, is “The God,” and those who are formed after Him are gods, images, as it were, of Him the prototype.^[8]The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10:323.

… other beings beside the true God, who have become gods by having a share of God. They may fear that the glory of Him who surpasses all creation may be lowered to the level of those other beings [ie., exalted man] called gods.^[9]The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10.323.

I like how Bryce shared the following quote by C.S. Lewis:

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations — these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit — immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. … Next to the blessed sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.”^[10]C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory.

I find this quote interesting, as much of traditional Christianity has rejected this notion, something that C.S. Lewis saw, probably from his reading of the actual early leaders in Christianity in its first few centuries, before this teaching was lost in the Apostasy.

Joseph Smith taught much of this in the King Follett discourse, something that he taught just before he was killed in Nauvoo. You can access this sermon here. Essentially in this discourse Joseph Smith taught the saints that Heavenly Father was once like us and his intention is to make us like him. This is an incredible teaching, restored by Joseph Smith, once understood in ancient Christianity.