Change You Can Count On

QUOTE

Deification is something that involves the body. Since the human person is a unity of body and soul, and since the incarnate Christ has saved and redeemed the whole person, it follows that our body is deified at the same time as our soul. (The Orthodox Church, Ware, 1963)

COMMENTARY

The west has long ceased to speak of salvation in holistic manner. The prevailing opinion on this side of the Bosphorus is that we have offended a God of perfect character and perfect order by our willful imperfections, hence, God is offended with us and we stand in need of reconciliation with Him (does this sound familiar?).

While there are plenty of verses in scripture one can gather to support this view, the charge of the east asserts that this western view is a truncated and selective understanding of salvation. The east charges the west with focusing on justification, which is in their view only one aspect of the story of redemption. The problem that this creates for the west is that the whole emphasis of salvation is found on how man is to be reconciled with God legally. Thus, it’s all about getting into the kingdom, and getting a ticket that will efficaciously open the doors of heaven. It is due to this reason that most western Christians build their theology around the doctrine of justification.

This edifice built upon justification results in a very strange set of consequences; 1^st, it makes the relationship between God & man primarily legal, & 2^nd, it makes what happens after justification relatively inconsequential. Surely, the west views supports obeying the law of Christ, however, it does not see Christ-likeness as salvation itself.

In order to overcome these consequences the west needs to rediscover the doctrines of the Trinity and the incarnation, and then to make the connection between those truths and our salvation. Notice the quote above does not fall into this trap. Met. Ware writes, "since the incarnate Christ has saved and redeemed the whole person, it follows that our body is deified at the same time as our soul."

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Cor 6: 19-20