چکیده:
The general goal and destination of spiritual life in orthodox Christianity is expressed through the concept of theosis (or deification). Throughout Philokalia which is a large and respected collection in the mystical orthodox Christianity, it is proclaimed that human beings are creatures which are decided to become God. That is to say, what they are called to is not merely obedience towards God in the form of a morality-oriented lifestyle. But, rather, in addition to leading a moral life, they should immediately and in reliance upon their inner self and essence share the being and majesty of God who is a hypostatic union. From the perspective of Philokalia’s authors and commentators, theosis is the prime message of the book and a theme which unifies and standardizes the huge text which is comprised from different texts. This article tries to explore theosis from different perspectives, and finally to reach a clear conclusion on the way it is possible in the view of the saints of Philokalia.
خلاصه ماشینی:
However, it seems that the term "theosis" (deification) better conveys the intended meaning of the English translation of the Philokalia text; a meaning that refers to attaining divine likeness to God (though at the level of faculties and not essence) shows in the best possible way.
In other words, with the coming of the incarnate Logos and the life based on His servitude, through which what Adam had broken was repaired and the path of theosis was opened for man, all creatures are influenced and reach the station of unity with God. This means that the theosis of man will be equivalent to the transformation of the form of the entire world or the theosis of all creation, and the new creation, which according to Orthodox belief came into being through the Father and the Holy Spirit in Christ, will encompass everything that is in the world (Bingaman, 2012: 190).
This Western Christian teaching later found the opportunity to grow and continue in the Eastern Orthodox tradition; in this way, in the belief of the Fathers of the Philokalia, the theosis of man includes his body as well, and "the body also becomes God just as the soul becomes God" (Maximus the confessor from: Ware, 1986: 171).
Kallistos Ware, to explain how man is united with God in theosis, outlines three types of unity in general; after determining that the unity of the saints with God, by reference to Orthodox theology, is neither of the first type, which is the unity between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in essence (Ibid.
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