Theosis: Encyclopedia II - Theosis - Union with God in Catholic traditions east and west

Theosis - Union with God in Catholic traditions east and west

In western Catholic theology, theosis refers to a specific and rather advanced phase of contemplation of God. [1] The process of arriving to such a state, or moving toward it (as arrival there is not necessary for salvation), involves different types of prayer which are recognized as beneficial. Various stages of prayer life are recognized as being likely to occur should a person respond to faith by moving along the purgative, illuminative, and unitive ways. See ascetical theology.

Some western writers refer to theosis using the same implications given above (e.g., [2], [3]). It is common to find western writings that flatteringly suggest that eastern spirituality uniquely manifests theosis, and that by implication their own tradition never attained to the idea. This may be a case of rhetoric obscuring fact. Under different terminology the western spiritual traditions, which also reach to the origins of Christianity (in the East), share the objective of sharing in the life of God. Some Catholic writers consider it lamentable that the term theosis is not used more extensively in western theology. [4]

It is, therefore, misleading to attribute to Eastern Orthodoxy a special insight into the possibility of union with God: from a western point of view, the theological difference between east and west is rhetorical. Whether or not eastern liturgies are more conducive to theosis is another matter. In the west there has been much discussion of the merits of the Novus Ordo Missae, and some traditionalists claim that the Tridentine Mass is particularly conducive to the kind of prayer life that leads one along toward theosis. Virtually all spiritual books of any consequence published in the west manifest overt awareness of all the issues comprised in theosis (some books may focus on specific stages and treat unitive themes more briefly).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Union with God in Catholic traditions east and west", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki