Theosis

Thefinalepic

Thefinalepic

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Being baptized as a child in the Catholic church, I had never heard of Theosis. But as I delve deeper into Orthodoxy, it spoke to me that we be active participants in our walk alongside Christ, so much so that I am now an Orthodox Inquirer.

To repent for our sins, and to aim to sin no more, to strive to become like Christ Himself.

I am also learning that I must receive the sacraments on this path in order to even be on the path. Thus I have started attending church, and am working towards conversion.

The question I have is thus: does one ever reach this Understanding, or is the perpetual journey of a life lived within the Church? It it possible to approach this without becoming a monk?

This thread is to discuss Theosis, and the walk with Our Lord, Jesus Christ.
 
Sometimes the point of the journey is not to arrive. Theosis isn’t a moment in time you achieve. It’s more like a way of life that needs to be crafted. Totally different than “getting saved” in the evangelical mindset.
 
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Thefinalepic said:
Being baptized as a child in the Catholic church, I had never heard of Theosis. But as I delve deeper into Orthodoxy, it spoke to me that we be active participants in our walk alongside Christ, so much so that I am now an Orthodox Inquirer.

To repent for our sins, and to aim to sin no more, to strive to become like Christ Himself.

I am also learning that I must receive the sacraments on this path in order to even be on the path. Thus I have started attending church, and am working towards conversion.

The question I have is thus: does one ever reach this Understanding, or is the perpetual journey of a life lived within the Church? It it possible to approach this without becoming a monk?

This thread is to discuss Theosis, and the walk with Our Lord, Jesus Christ.
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Im still a catechuman myself for about a year now, hoping to get baptized next year sometime if my priest says so, so in some of the Orthodox books Iv been reading written by Saints it sounds like a perso goes through this deep time period of repentance and shessing tears for your sins, can take years, then you eventually move past this and sounds like you go into this communion with God and some of the stories I read they describe some Saints whos faces and bodies we shining or glowing at times almost like Moses face and the transfiguration example, the accounts I read were of monks and hermits though I dont know enough about it to answer you but it is a very interesting topic, in the book Im reading now about the monks on mount Athos the one guy said God sometimes doesnt give these experience or divine gifts to married people with Children because if God touches their heart in this way they might just land up neglecting their families and responsibilities and want go be alone with God and withdraw from society, something along those lines
 
It is clear from the lives of Saints that Theosis is accompanied by great humility. In other words if you feel like you have achieved it in any measure you're probably far from the mark.

Many great Saints considered themselves the worst of sinners, but again this is not something we can emulate by deciding "okay so to be Holy you have to make a point of declaring what a sinner you are..." There is always the temptation of spiritual pride: "hey everyone look at how humble I am!"

I've heard it said that grace is attained when we get out of the way and let God dwell within us. In other words Theosis is not something we achieve, its something we incessantly get in the way of. So we have to try to humble ourselves and get out of the way enough, to let Christ in.
 
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