What is this union. One explanation is given in this reading by Archimandrite George Capsanis, Abbot of the monastery of Osiou Gregoriou on Mount Athos, who wrote: "Those who wish to unite with Christ, and, through Jesus Christ, with God the Father, recognise that this union is realised in the body of Christ, which is the true Church, which consists of those whose Christianity is not doctrinal but experiential: it is a union with the deified human nature of Christ, and not with the Divine essence. This union with Christ is not superficial, nor is it simply moral. We are not followers of Christ in the way that one might follow a philosopher or a teacher. We are members of Christ's body - the Church. "The Church is Christ’s real body, and not a moral one as some mistaken theologians have written, when they have failed to enter into the spirit of the Holy Church. Christ takes us and, despite our unworthiness and our sinfulness as Christians, he grafts us onto His body; we are made members of Him; we actually become parts of Christ, and this not simply in a moral sense. As the Apostle Paul says, 'We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.' (Ephesians. 5:30) "As Christians of the Inner Tradition, we will either be living or dead members of Christ's body, depending on our spiritual disposition. Even as dead members, we still do not cease to be members of Christ's body. For example, someone who is baptised is a member of Christ's body. But if we do not confess, do not partake of Holy Communion, do not lead a spiritual life, we are dead members of Christ's body. When we repent, we will be instantly imbued with divine life, and will once again become living members of Christ's body. No baptism is necessary. Someone who is not baptised, on the other hand, is not a member of Christ's body, even if they live a moral life. To become members of Christ's body, we first need to be baptised in order to be grafted to Christ. "As members of Christ's body, the life of Christ life is offered to us and becomes our life. In this way we are enlivened, redeemed, and deified. If Christ did not make us members of His holy body, we could never approach union with God. "According to the Church Fathers, our salvation would not be possible without the Holy sacraments of the Church, which unite and make us one body, so that we share the same blood as Christ. What a great blessing to commune through the Holy sacraments! Christ becomes ours. The life of Christ life becomes our life, His blood becomes our blood. This is why St. John Chrysostom says that God has nothing more to give us than what he gives us during Holy Communion. Nor can any human ask of God anything that is greater than he receives from Christ during Holy Communion. "When we are baptised, chrismated, and have confessed our sins, we partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord, and so become gods by Grace. We are no longer strangers then, for we are intimately united with God. "Inside the Church in which we are united with God, we live this new reality which Christ brought to humanity: the new creation. This is the life of the Church, of Christ: a life which becomes ours as a gift from the Holy Spirit. "Everything in the Church leads to Charismatic Deification. The Holy Liturgy, the sacraments, divine worship, the Gospel sermon, fasting, all lead to Theosis. The place of Charismatic Deification is the true Church; for God is found there. "The Church is not a social, cultural, or historical establishment, which may be compared to other establishments in the world. The world may well have good institutions, organisations and establishments, along with many other delightful things; yet the Orthodox Church is unique, the only place where God communes with people, and where the individual human is deified. Only within the Church can a human being become a god, nowhere else. It is not possible in universities, or in social institutions, nor in anything else that the world has to offer, however good or beautiful it may be. All of these, no matter how good they may be, are not able to offer what the Church can offer. "That is why, regardless of the progress that worldly institutions and systems may achieve, they will never replace the Church." Comment by Robin Amis; Charismatic Deification - or Theosis - is the action within us of the Uncreated Energies of God - when the individual made in the ‘image of God’ is entirely transformed to a complete ‘likeness’ by the presence and action of the uncreated energies of God. When these act in us, we are complete as God intended us to be, and it is then that we act as the Lord Himself would act. When they become permanently present, we become permanently Godlike. According to the early Church, God is not only essence but also energy. We would not be able to have the union of communion with God if he was only essence, since His essence is awesome and unapproachable for human beings, as it was long ago written that: “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Exodus 33.20). The author of the book quoted above gave an example from his experience as a monk: "If we grasp a bare electric wire, we will die. If, on the other hand, we connect a lamp to the same wire, we will be illuminated. We see, we enjoy, and are assisted by electrical energy, although we are not able to grasp its essence. Dare we say that something similar occurs with the uncreated energies of God." hen he added: "If God consisted solely of his divine essence, to the exclusion of His energies, He would remain self-contained, closed within Himself and inaccessible to his creatures." He added: "St. Maximus the Confessor and St. Dionysius the Areopagite say that God is filled with a divine love, a divine eros for His creatures. Through this infinite and ecstatic love of His, He rises up out of Himself and seeks to unite with His creatures. This finds expression and is fulfilled through His energies. For this reason we unite with God through His uncreated energies, and not through His essence. This is the mystery of our Orthodox faith and life. "Western heretics cannot accept this. Being rationalists, they are not able to discern the difference between the essence of God and His energy. They say that God is only essence. For this precise reason, they cannot even contemplate the possibility of human Theosis. How can humans gain Theosis, if the energies of God are not uncreated, but merely created? How can something which has itself been created, and which is itself external to God, deify a created human? But if human beings cannot attain Theosis by God's grace, by His energies, what purpose does our life hold? Is it simply for moral improvement? Mere moral perfection is not enough for our humanity. It is not enough that we improve ourselves by performing moral deeds, and becoming better than before. Our ultimate aim is to unite with God. The universe was created for this purpose. This is our desire." |
