Bill Murray again helps us understand theosis. Importantly, he gets the key attribute of gods in the ancient world: immortality. And it is this attribute that early Christians latched onto when discussing deification from the key text of Psalm 82:6-7: ‘I said you are gods and sons of the most High, but you will die like men…’. Humans die but gods are immortal. So when patristic writers like Irenaeus interpreted this passage, he read it through the lens of 1 Corinthians 15 and the like where humans become immortal through Christ and the Spirit and thus become gods.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Sunday, 18 December 2011 at 7:04 pm
Thought you’d like that. Any chance you’ve come up with other great pop culture references to theosis?
Sunday, 18 December 2011 at 9:27 pm
The only major one I’ve come across is in Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol. Apotheosis (via the Masons) is the main theme in the book. Unfortunately, pop culture is not my forte–all lines to movies and the like automatically fly out of my head once I’m not watching the show anymore.