"God, in your grace, transform the world": bible study on 2 Corinthians 3:18

Ecumenical Review, The, July, 2004 by Tamara Grdelidze

The first public discussion of the assembly theme in the World Council of Churches took place in November 2003. The difficulty of its translation into the other languages was advanced as a major issue. It seemed that apart from "God" all the words of the sentence were troublesome: the questions arising in this context ranged from "What exactly is the world?" to the ambiguity of the word "grace" in some languages, as well as nuances concerning "transformation" in some other languages. Theological and linguistic limitations with regard to the translation of the above mentioned terms certainly were clear. All of this was, I thought, good grounds for a hermeneutical exercise!

Now that we are given an opportunity to reflect on the theme from the perspectives our own traditions, our belonging to different cultural communities becomes more apparent.

One of the ways in which the Orthodox may interpret the assembly theme does not necessarily contradict, or may actually coincide with, the interpretations of other Christians. However, I find it problematic to share this interpretation without inviting you to regard the paths, the logic, which bring an Orthodox interpreter to this particular understanding.

A few signposts to be kept in mind are: God's creation ex nihilo; the Fall and its consequences brought into God's creation both disruption and disharmony; the fundamental development in the history of economy was the incarnation of the Son of God: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (John 3:16). Incarnation took place out of love towards humankind and the whole creation. It is against this love of God that we should reflect on our transformation and the transformation of the world.

The teaching in 2 Corinthians 3:18 illustrates the most powerful theme of Orthodox theology related to the transformation of a human being. Known as deification-theosis-divinization, it refers to the salvation of human beings. Terminology used by the Church Fathers in this respect sometimes may sound very far from where we are today; our vocabulary does not include the same strong theological language; our spirituality, however, or let us say the potential of our spiritual life is not as impoverished as the language we use to express it. We have developed a reasonable modesty in this regard: pressed between the phenomenology and the ego, we have been using language which is more familiar to our emotional abyss than to our spiritual aspirations.

Today theosis or deification/divinization is not commonly used language in any church tradition. For most people in parishes, deification will be associated with such concepts as absolute power, and therefore will raise a negative connotation when used with regard to the human person (although omnipotent is, indeed, one of the divine attributes).

Theosis in Orthodox tradition

In Orthodox theology deification starts with baptism and the believer's liberation from worldly passions. When the monastics write about spiritual life leading towards divinization, its base is self-discipline and love for one's neighbour. Deification, after all, is not as remote from modern Christian concerns as it may sound at first. The starting-point of divinization, self-discipline in modern terms, shall be described as moderation in terms of consumerism and in terms of focusing on one's self.

The Orthodox tradition teaches that a virtuous person steps into the flux of divinization every time she/he participates in the eucharistic celebration; in other words, one who strives to follow the virtues and participates in church life, its worship and diakonia with the whole heart makes spiritual progress. When the Orthodox tradition speculates on the nature of spiritual progress, it is qualified as a dynamic process: the image of advancing from glory to glory is a standard way to describe it.

I would like to link this discussion on 2 Corinthians 3:18 with the period of the liturgical year in which I am leading this Bible study, the post-paschal and pre-ascension period. During these forty days Orthodox Christians recite the paschal troparion at every prayer, thus reminding all of the good news Of Christ's resurrection:

Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs he has given life!

God's love for humankind expressed in the incarnation of the only begotten Son was completed in the act of Christ's death on the cross: it was through his resurrection that human beings found the way to the eternal life. "The Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, through his transcendent love, became what we are, that he might bring us to be even what he is himself." (1)

On the day of resurrection the whole world, both visible and invisible, rejoices: all creation celebrates the resurrection of Christ. "Today salvation has come into the world, for Christ is risen!" reads one of the troparia. The whole creation is affected by the resurrection.

In the period between Easter and the Ascension, Orthodox Christians greet each other with the splendid news: "Christ is risen!" To which a fellow Orthodox answers, "He is risen, indeed!" This is an expression of the joy of resurrection that changed the course of human life: Christ has overthrown death, "Christ is risen and not one of the dead remains in the grave" (from the Easter sermon by St John Chrysostom). The dramatic change bestowed upon human beings and all creation is remembered and celebrated and thus lived and experienced every year at Easter time.