passionate glee; is he a disciple of the New Age movement infiltrating the church? Maybe he is a pantheistic practitioner of Eastern Mysticism eager to introduce Eastern philosophy? The truth is, he is none of the above; the words are not those of a Yogi or New Age mystic but of the early church father and staunch defender of Trinitarian orthodoxy, Athanasius.[1]

Though these words may be out of place in many Protestant churches, they have long found a receptive audience in the sanctuaries of the Orthodox Church. Following in the footsteps of the Eastern Fathers, they still teach the doctrine of deification, so shockingly captured in Athanasius’ famous quote. Though the doctrine of deification, or theōsis, did not originate with Athanasius, he is unique among the early FathersSharing in the divine life and being united with Christ is both deification and the means by which deification happens.[13] Though the restoration of the image is the head under which the rest of the themes are found, the most prominent theme is the perfection of humans;[14] in deification, they become incorruptible, morally pure, and immortal. In the fall we entered into a corruptible state; we are mortal and immoral.[15] Through our union with Christ, Christian deification involves being clothed in incorruption—being freed from sin—and the inheritance of immortality—receiving everlasting life with God.[16]

For Athanasius, this process of deification—being restored to the image of God and so knowing Him, having communion with Him, and being perfected in Him—is something that happens progressively in this life and culminates in the