MarkMiller

I made a quick cute comment on the What role does religion play in your life? thread about LiesureChrist being a god.

Then said we could all be gods (something to that effect). Environmentman countered with (again not word for word) how we as Humans were basicaly given the chance of devine nature with the birth of Jesus as The Son of God but that we basicaly turned it down.....or refuse it to this day.

I wanted to know more about this theological theory of sorts and discovered a couple of things....

THEOSIS
Theosis ("deification," "divinization") is the process of a worshiper becoming free of hamártía ("missing the mark"), being united with God, beginning in this life and later consummated in bodily resurrection. For Orthodox Christians, Théōsis (see 2 Pet. 1:4) is salvation. Théōsis assumes that humans from the beginning are made to share in the Life or Nature of the all-holy Trinity. Therefore, an infant or an adult worshiper is saved from the state of unholiness (hamartía — which is not to be confused with hamártēma “sin”) for participation in the Life (zōé, not simply bíos) of the Trinity — which is everlasting.
This is not to be confused with the heretical (apothéōsis) - "Deification in God’s Essence", which is imparticipable.
Alternative spellings: Theiosis, Theopoiesis

From the Orthodox Wiki


APOTHEOSIS
Apotheosis (from Greek ἀποθεόω "to deify"), deification or divinization is the glorification of an individual to a divine level.

Prior to the Hellenistic period, imperial cults were known in Ancient Egypt (pharaohs) and Mesopotamia (since Naram-Sin). From the New Kingdom, all deceased pharaohs were deified as Osiris.

From at least the Geometric period of the ninth century, the long-deceased heroes linked with founding myths of Greek sites were accorded chthonic rites in their heroon, or "hero-temple".
In the Greek world, the first leader who accorded himself divine honours was Philip II of Macedon, who was a king, when the Greeks had set kingship aside, and who had extensive economic and military ties, though largely antagonistic, with Achaemenid Persia, where kings were divine. At his wedding to his sixth wife, Philip's enthroned image was carried in procession among the Olympian gods; "his example at Aigai became a custom, passing to the Macedonian kings who were later worshipped in Greek Asia, from them to Julius Caesar and so to the emperors of Rome".[1] Such Hellenistic state leaders might be raised to a status equal to the gods before death (e.g., Alexander the Great) or afterwards (e.g., members of the Ptolemaic dynasty). Heroic cult similar to apotheosis was also an honour given to a few revered artists of the distant past, notably Homer.

Theosis basicaly says that to be saved one must "Get it right", believe in life so that you may be joined with God in Heaven.

There are theologins that believe this is man becoming one with god and therefore becoming god. That as Jesus was the son of God all those that believe are as well.

Apotheosis is gloriying a man to an unnatural God like state. (contemporary definition...ancient definition is nearly the same but accorded to those whoattain a hero status)

Heretic

In Hinduism there's an equivalent concept where every soul has once held the spot of Indra over the world, but then afterwards decides to start the kharmic cycle all over as a new soul rises to Indra in the next world in the next universe dreamt into being by Vishnu.

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"In space no one can hear you scream. in D.C. it won't matter..." -Clinton Resurrection: The Alien Queen lives!

MarkMiller

Dan Brown's Novel "The Devinci Code" discusses this topic and how theosis is based on the pagan belief of apotheosis and that even the Son of God is directly copied from Egyption worship.

There is a lot of exagerrated facts, misinterpretations and many, many times Brown discusses forged documents and even uses the title of a book that was prooven to be a hoax (a BBC special has it's authors admiting to it...they were the ones who tried to sue over the idea of Dan Browns novel being theirs.) as being real in the plot. So many people will probably confuse things that are true with things that are outright lies....but he got that right....sort of.

Comicsartist

Holy Blood, Holy Grail.

Granted, the Priory was proven a hoax, but in Ethiopian legend (I think it is) Mary Magdalena came to their shores and had a little girl. That part was 'true'.

Any ways, the idea of Mary Magdalena as the Grail instead of Joseph's cup makes more sense, really. The cup didn't enter the scene until Mallory wrote about King Arthur.

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Heretic

But the fact many pagan concepts did find their way into Christianity is beyond refute.

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"In space no one can hear you scream. in D.C. it won't matter..." -Clinton Resurrection: The Alien Queen lives!

MarkMiller

Exactly!

Where is this legend of Mary ending up in France...of all places?

Heretic

At this point it doesn't matter. We now know she was buried in the same family tomb Jesus was buried in.

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"In space no one can hear you scream. in D.C. it won't matter..." -Clinton Resurrection: The Alien Queen lives!

Comicsartist

Well, they do talk about the Roseline Chapel in Holy Blood, but I can't remember where it came from off the top of my head.

I'll get back to you on this.

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MarkMiller

Absolutely....but if you read the novel and know a little about some of the things it mentions....you can clearly see Brown took huge leeps and falsyfied a few things to furhter the plot.

Example...he quotes the Gnostic Gospel of Mary Magdalene, yet he chooses to fill in blanks without mentioning that he made up parts of it for his novel.

MarkMiller

Do we?