Concept

Theōsis

Deification: in Eastern Christianity, the human being’s participation in God.

Ancient Greek, Hesychasm: theōsis θέωσις
Latin: deificatio

Definition

Theōsis, “deification” or “divinization”, is the Eastern Christian teaching that the goal of human life is to become by grace what God is by nature. Its classic formula is attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria in the fourth century: God became human so that humans might become divine. Scripture speaks of becoming “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), and the Greek Fathers made this the heart of their understanding of salvation.

Deification is not the dissolution of the creature into God. Gregory Palamas in the fourteenth century gave it precise form by distinguishing God’s essence, which remains forever unknowable and unshared, from God’s energies, the uncreated activities in which God is truly present and in which the saints participate. One may be united with God’s energies, never with God’s essence.

Western theology has related ideas, such as the beatific vision and participation in the divine life, but has spoken of them in other terms. Comparative readers have set theōsis beside the Neoplatonic henōsis and the Indian ideas of liberation; the distinction of essence and energies is the main difference.

In the traditions

Hesychasm

Participation in God’s uncreated energies, by grace, through prayer and the sacramental life, without union with the divine essence.

Christian Mysticism

In the West, expressed as participation in the divine life and the beatific vision of God.

Questions

Is union with God identity or communion?Whether the highest union erases the difference between the soul and God, or perfects their relation.

Authors

Cite this entry

Chicago (bibliography): “Theōsis.” Concept. The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society. Last modified November 7, 2026. https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/concepts/theosis.
Chicago (note): “Theōsis,” concept, The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, last modified November 7, 2026, https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/concepts/theosis.
MLA: “Theōsis.” The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, 7 Nov. 2026, www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/concepts/theosis.
BibTeX: @misc{concepts-theosis, title = {{Theōsis}}, howpublished = {The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society}, note = {Concept. Last modified November 7, 2026}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/concepts/theosis} }

Related concepts

Related: The beatific vision
Henōsis
Divine energies
Soul