Session I: In this lecture we will look at theosis (sharing in Divine Nature) and the `formula of exchange’ which states that the Son of God became man so that we could become gods. In the words of St Irenaeus `For it was for this end that the Word of God was made man, and he who was the Son of God became the Son of man, that man, having been taken into the Word, and receiving adoption, might become the son of God.’ (Adv. Haer. 3. 19. 1). We will explore how Scripture and Tradition implies that theosis leads to our everlasting happiness, infinitely beyond the happiness one can achieve from finite, created goods.
Session II: Theosis is related to other important concepts which will be explored in the second session: sanctifying and actual grace, justification, predestination, and sin. We will see that the greatest gift God can bestow on us is sanctifying grace `a Divine quality inherent in the soul, and, as it were, a brilliant light that effaces all those stains which obscure the lustre of the soul, and invests it with increased brightness and beauty' (Council of Trent). This grace, which is received through baptism, can only be destroyed by grave sin. In theosis through grace is the realization of the supernatural, divine life that we, as children of God, should embrace.