“But if thou art desirous of also becoming a god, obey Him that has created thee, and resist not now, in order that, being found faithful in that which is small, you may be enabled to have entrusted to you also that which is great. For thou hast become god”
Bionic, you have included many things worthy of consideration in this post, including the above.
My $0.02: Because we fear that our faith may be confused with pantheism, or the ancient framework of a father-god giving birth to titans, or the step-up godhood of the LDS, we’ve unfocused our heritage as adopted sons of God. I often think of Timothy Alberino’s name for the sons of God, commonly referred to as angels: the elder race. Then, the nature of the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. Finally, of what Adam and Eve were and what they were intended to become. It is quite Biblical to speak of theosis and our eventual godhood, far less than that of the God Most High, but much more than what we typically dare to conceptualize.
If we do not fall away, our future is glorious, dwelling with Almighty God, those of the elder race who did not rebel, and the company of the redeemed!
"...Because we fear that our faith may be confused with pantheism..." etc.
Yes. It took me to read "On the Incarnation" a couple of times (for the complete context of his famous phrase), as well as getting a grasp on what is meant by the distinction of essence and energies, to understand this in a non-blasphemous way.
“But if thou art desirous of also becoming a god, obey Him that has created thee, and resist not now, in order that, being found faithful in that which is small, you may be enabled to have entrusted to you also that which is great. For thou hast become god”
Bionic, you have included many things worthy of consideration in this post, including the above.
My $0.02: Because we fear that our faith may be confused with pantheism, or the ancient framework of a father-god giving birth to titans, or the step-up godhood of the LDS, we’ve unfocused our heritage as adopted sons of God. I often think of Timothy Alberino’s name for the sons of God, commonly referred to as angels: the elder race. Then, the nature of the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. Finally, of what Adam and Eve were and what they were intended to become. It is quite Biblical to speak of theosis and our eventual godhood, far less than that of the God Most High, but much more than what we typically dare to conceptualize.
If we do not fall away, our future is glorious, dwelling with Almighty God, those of the elder race who did not rebel, and the company of the redeemed!
"...Because we fear that our faith may be confused with pantheism..." etc.
Yes. It took me to read "On the Incarnation" a couple of times (for the complete context of his famous phrase), as well as getting a grasp on what is meant by the distinction of essence and energies, to understand this in a non-blasphemous way.