Sharing divinity

Joel Garver reflects on a conference on theosis (deification). Among the pieces I picked up:

- image and likeness are apparently differentiated in Orthodox theology, which was something I've previously attempted to ask about

- theosis appears in some form in Calvin

- participation of the human in the divine is implicated strongly by theosis, but the latter redefines both 'human' and 'divine' away from ancient philosophical categories

-> in particular, our philosophical reading of metaphysical categories into God-ness may be firmly challenged by theosis, to the point that my suggested reading of (for instance) the 2nd & 3rd commandments becomes much more natural and obvious. This challenge is implicit in the saying, "To err is human, to forgive divine"

- theosis is present in Paul in the movement from psychical ("of the soul") existence to pneumatic ("of the spirit") existence, among other things

- theosis may be exactly the thing I have been groping for in thinking about our
(a) imaging of God,
(b) belonging to His family, and
(c) belonging to the man who became divine

-> in particular, theosis may help me understand how Christ's divinity, figured so often in terms of his imaging God, is a complement rather than a competitor to the pre-existent Second-Person-of-the-Trinity. There may in fact be the most beautiful of harmonies orchestrated in the person of Christ and described in the scriptural story. (I have struggled with this harmony for some time).