What does the term theosis mean?
Theosis (Greek: θέωσις), or deification (deification may also refer to apotheosis, lit. “making divine”), is a transformative process whose aim is likeness to or union with God, as taught by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Byzantine Catholic Churches.
What is meant by self emptying?
adjective. 1(Of a quality, action, etc.) that frees a person from personal or selfish concerns; characterized by selflessness (now rare). 2(Of a machine, device, etc.) that empties itself automatically.
What does the Bible say about Theosis?
It is only the mercy of God that has the capacity to endow theosis unto the existing… In theosis, man (the image of God) becomes likened to God, he rejoices in all the plenitude that does not belong to him by nature, because the grace of the Spirit triumphs within him, and because God acts in him.”
What are the three stages of Orthodox spirituality?
The Christian Orthodox fathers maintain that not only is salvation a process, but when broken down, may be divided into three distinct stages: purification, illumination, and union.
What is kenosis literature?
Kenosis in literary aesthetics Kenosis is the affect (feeling) experienced by the reader of lyric or poetry forms. It is the experience of the emptying of the ego-personality of the reader into the immediate sensory manipulation of poetics.
What does the Greek word kenosis mean in Greek?
In Christian theology, kenosis (Greek: κένωσις, kénōsis, lit. [the act of emptying]) is the ‘self-emptying’ of Jesus’ own will and becoming entirely receptive to God’s divine will. The word ἐκένωσεν (ekénōsen) is used in Philippians 2:7, ” [ Jesus] made himself nothing…” [Phil. 2:7] (NIV) or “… [he] emptied himself…”
What does the Bible say about the kenosis?
The kenosis was a self-renunciation, not an emptying Himself of deity nor an exchange of deity for humanity. Philippians 2:7 tells us that Jesus “emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” Jesus did not cease to be God during His earthly ministry.
How is kenosis a paradox and a mystery?
Kenosis therefore is a paradox and a mystery since “emptying oneself” in fact fills the person with divine grace and results in union with God. Kenosis in Orthodox theology is the transcending or detaching of oneself from the world or the passions, it is a component of dispassionation.
How is kenosis possible in the Russian Orthodox Church?
Kenosis is only possible through humility and presupposes that one seeks union with God. The Poustinia tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church is one major expression of this search. Kenosis is not only a Christological issue in Orthodox theology, it has moreover to do with Pneumatology, namely to do with the Holy Spirit.