#divinization

What Mystics Mean by the Word "Meditation" - Meditation vs. Meditation, by James Bean (SantMat)

There is always value in pondering the wisdom of various sages. “Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.” (Gospel of Thomas, saying one) In the case of Thomas, the goal of the pondering is discovering an existence beyond the body, beyond this world, and so one leaves behind -- transcends -- doctrine, information, theology and mind itself as one enters into the spiritual domain, becoming a gnostic, a mystic, a knower of that experience for one's self.

I always avoid using the word meditation in connection with contemplating the meaning of verses as evangelical Christianity uses that word to mean that, and at the same time is utterly opposed to the mystical definition of meditation, which is direct experience of the spiritual dimension. When I use the word meditation, it's about this:

"Give ear; withdraw your souls from all that appears but is not truly real; close these eyes if yours, close your ears, withdraw from actions that are outwardly seen; and you shall know the reality of Christ and the whole secret of your salvation." (Acts of Peter)

"Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)

Evagrius of Egypt wrote: “The offspring of pure prayer is swallowed up by the Spirit. From this point on, the mind is beyond prayer, and prayer has ceased from it now that it has found something even more excellent. No longer does the mind actually pray, but there is a gaze of wonder at the Inaccessible Things which do not belong to the world of mortal beings.”

“When I have gone to the Light, preach to all the world and say to them: ‘Do not cease seeking day or night and do not let yourselves relax until you find the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Light, which will purify you and make you into pure Light and lead you into the Kingdom of Light.’ (Pistis Sophia)

"I am inviting you into the exalted, perfect Light. Moreover as for this Light, when you enter it you will be glorified … you will become … the way you first were when you were Light." (Trimorphic Protennoia, Nag Hammadi Library)

“Thus as a result of recollecting all these things the impulses of the mind are extended from the sphere of material things towards those impulses which are without limit, that is to say, wonder at the New World, and the faculty of vision which belongs to contemplation [of God]. For when the vision of the mind is mingled with the Light…., all its impulses become infinite. For none of the Visionaries or ‘Gnostics’ is able to distinguish the identity of the mind as a result of the vision of that glorious Light that is seen ….. for all the innermost chambers of the heart are filled by that blessed Light….”. (Joseph the Visionary)

"The stage when the mind is silenced and swallowed up in the light of the vision of lofty and sublime contemplation; the mind is mingled with the divine visitation." (paper on, Joseph Hazzaya [the Visionary] and the Spiritual Itinerary)

“Blessed are those who have approached the divine Light, who have entered it and been absorbed by it, mingled in its brightness.” (Saint Symeon)

A parallel of the initiation saying in Thomas [saying 17] in the Mandaean scriptures: “Thou hast showed us that which the eye has not seen, and caused us to hear that which the human ear has not heard. Thou has freed us from death and united us with Life, released us from darkness, and united us with Light…. Thou hast shown us that which the eye has not seen, and caused us to hear that which the human ear has not heard.” (“Canonical Prayer Book of the Mandaeans”, E.S. Drower)

“We speak without tongue, we see without eyes, we hear without ears, we walk without feet, and we work without hands.” (Guru Nanak)

“With its roots in Jacob’s ladder and elaborated in biblical Jewish merkavah mysticism, the doctrine known later in Greek as theosis is found in the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite, and Symeon the New Theologian, as well as the Jewish Kabbalah as demonstrated by Joseph Karo, the Baal Shem Tov and his disciples. In other words, Pico intends his angelology in these two works to be understood by the learned classes throughout Europe as a prescription to achieve union with the divine.

By “divine union,” what is meant? The final snapshot of this arduous and paradoxical, or perhaps even inconceivable journey is different in various traditions. Different from the ecstatic, fiery, yet agonizing transformation of the prophet Enoch into the archangel Metatron, called “a lesser YHVH” in 3 Enoch,7 or the graphic, luminous transformation of the mystical abbot of St. Mammas Monastery in Constantinople, Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022), into the Body of Christ in the tenth century CE,8 Pico’s vision of theosis was more akin to sharing God’s “mind stream.” That is, instead of a merger of the corporeal human aspirant into the incorporeal infinitude of the godhead, theosis for Pico was a kind of gnosis and a point of view that was simultaneously individuated and collectively unified. This can be seen in his description of ultimate divine union as possible while the philosopher is incarnate, more akin to a supremely exalted state of consciousness. While achieving a state like this necessitated neglect of bodily cares and desires according to Pico, he also asserted that this prescriptive formula for divinization actually purified the body as a dwelling place for the divine presence.”

Can People Be Saved After the Resurrection & the Rapture?

By Bible Researcher Eli Kittim 🎓

The pretribulational view teaches that there will be many who will be saved during the great tribulation, AFTER the Resurrection & the Rapture take place (cf. 1 Thess. 4.16-17). Is this possible, or does it contradict scripture? Just like the parable of the 10 virgins suggests, when the doors of salvation are finally slammed shut, no one else could be saved. It’s all over. No one can go in or out. The rapture is that end point. Once the church leaves, it’s game over! And even if the tribulation saints could be saved, where would they go? How would they be *rescued* by God, given that the rapture was that final ticket out of here?

Let’s not forget that there are certain contemporaneous events that have to occur during the resurrection and the rapture, just prior to the departure of the church. For instance, scripture affirms that Christ will radically transform God’s elect so that they will resemble his glorious appearance (Phil. 3.21). What is more, 1 Cor. 15.52-53 reveals that the elect will attain a glorious immortality, during the resurrection/rapture process, so that they will never ever die again! That’s when Christ will finally grant God’s elect his “exceeding great and precious promises” so that they can become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1.4), what Eastern Orthodox theology calls "theosis." But these divinely transformative events can only occur *once for all* during the resurrection & the rapture. So the question arises, if these momentous events take place once for all, and the elect eventually partake of the divine nature and are raptured out of here, how then can these glorious transformations reoccur over and over again in the absence of Christ, the Spirit, and the Church?

This demonstrates the fallacy of pretribulationism because it falsely maintains that people will continue to be saved even after the resurrection and the rapture. Really? And even if they could be saved, where would they go? The church has already left. How would they be rescued after the church has permanently left? Once again, it shows that pretribulationism is based on fallacious reasoning!

And how could the tribulation saints escape God’s wrath? If they die, how would they be resurrected again, given that the one and only resurrection of the dead already happened? Remember that there’s only one general resurrection of the dead in which both the saved and the damned will be raised together (Daniel 12.2). So, if the rapture already took place and the tribulation saints can no longer be resurrected, how could they escape God’s judgments? How would God rescue them? They would simply be forced to stay here on earth in the midst of unbridled terror? Would God allow his precious elect to remain here on earth during the zombie apocalypse, while his wrath was being poured out in judgment, and while all the rest of the elect were enjoying heavenly bliss?

So, if the tribulation saints could neither be resurrected nor raptured, what would be God’s rescue plan for them? In other words, *after* the resurrection & the rapture had taken place, what could the tribulation saints do here on earth? Would their task be to ride out the storm of God’s wrath during the day of the Lord? It’s reminiscent of Jean-Paul Sartre’s play, “No Exit.” It demonstrates the faulty reasoning and unscriptural position of the pretrib rapture view!

Conclusion

Mt. 24.29-31 says that the “gathering” of the Son of Man’s elect (i.e. ‘the rapture’) occurs AFTER the Great Tribulation (Gk. *μετὰ* τὴν θλῖψιν τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐκείνων). The clincher, the passage that settles the matter conclusively is Rev. 20.4-6. This passage tells us that those who were killed during the Great Tribulation took part in the first resurrection. However, given that the rapture is contemporaneous with the first resurrection (1 Thess. 4.16-17), and since those who took part in the first resurrection came out of the Great Tribulation, it means that the rapture must also take place *AFTER* the great tribulation. Hence, if this is the first resurrection that takes place AFTER the great tribulation, then there can’t possibly be an earlier one, as the pretrib doctrine assumes. Any way you look at it, the pretrib position doesn’t make any scriptural sense at all.

The reason people will continue to be saved during the great ordeal is because the *rapture* will take place at the *end* of the tribulation period, so that all God's elect will leave together as one church. Once the resurrection & the rapture take place (posttrib), it’s game over. No one else can be saved, or be resurrected, or go to heaven! Once again, these robust and cogent arguments prove that the pretrib position is completely bogus and misinformed.

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For further details, see my short essay:

Three Questions On the Rapture: Is it Pre-Trib or Post-Trib? Is it Secret or Not? And is it Imminent?

https://eli-kittim.tumblr.com/post/628794727776632832/three-questions-on-the-rapture-is-it-pre-trib-or

And in everything that I saw, I could perceive nothing except the presence of the power of God, and in a manner totally indescribable. And my soul in an excess of wonder cried out: “This world is pregnant with God!”

Wherefore I understood how small is the whole of creation – that is, what is on this side and what is beyond the sea, the abyss, the sea itself, and everything else – but the power of God fills it all to overflowing.

Indeed the primary virtue of all, which is the love of God and neighbor, originates in the light of humility. For the soul, perceiving its own nothingness and even united to this nothingness, is set ablaze with love for God, and in this burning love is transformed into God.

And thus transformed by love, is there any creature who would not return this love with all its strength? Truly, the soul thus transformed loves, with the love of God, every creature as is fitting, because in every creature it perceives, understands, and recognizes God’s presence.”

The talk below is an extract from the St Jude Novena which I preached in San Francisco in November 2019. I offer it on 29 April 2020, the feast of St Catherine of Siena whose words form the basis for this reflection. The audio recording of the talk below is online here. 

A few years ago in London, Prince William married Catherine Middleton in an Anglican church service that was broadcast around the world. The then Anglican Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, acknowledged that the day, 29th of April, was the feast of the Dominican Saint Catherine of Siena, and he began his sermon with her words: “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” Unfortunately, having begun so well, he then interpreted this beautiful phrase in a rather insipid manner. He said, we’re called to help each other (especially through marriage) to become our “deepest and truest selves.” In other words, God desires us to actualise ourselves, express our inner selves, and be true to ourselves – whatever that means! But St Catherine, that great mystic who had dialogues with God the Father, could not have meant something so banal, could she?

So, let me suggest a more Catholic reading of St Catherine’s words, and therefore a much more awe-inspiring understanding of the truth. Who does God mean you to be? He desires you for himself! He wants you to be his Beloved, his Spouse, his intimate Friend! God desires to be bound to you in a love that is closer than the love of husband and wife! St Catherine of Siena thus cries out: “O eternal Father! O fiery abyss of charity! O eternal beauty! O eternal wisdom! O eternal goodness! O eternal mercy! O hope and refuge of sinners!… O mad Lover! Are you indeed in need of your creature? It seems to me you are for your behave as though you could not live without her… Why then are you so mad? Because you have fallen in love with what you have made! You are pleased and delighted over her within yourself, as if you were drunk for her salvation. She runs away from you and you go looking for her. She strays and you draw closer to her. You clothed yourself in our humanity and nearer than that you could not have come.”

Hence, in the Song of Songs, long understood to be the wedding song of God and the human soul; the love song of Christ and his Bride the Church, God the Lover plays hide-and-seek with the Beloved soul, and then, he sings to her, that is to say, to you and to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away… My beloved is mine and I am his”! Arise from sin, arise from weariness, arise from the dalliances of this world, and come away. Rise up to the new life of grace! Come away and be one with God. Come away and be filled with love. Hence the Lord says: “I have come to set the earth on fire”. For he comes to fill us with his Holy Spirit who is the personal Love of the Father and the Son, and who descends like fire from heaven, burning away all impurities and sin, and intensifying the love of God within us until God lives in us, and we in God. This is the awesome truth of who God means you to be, and it is fire!

This, I hope you’ll agree, is so much more exciting than self-realisation or becoming our deepest and truest selves. No, we are to become much more than ourselves. We are to become like God! We’re to be divinised by grace, set on fire by the Holy Spirit, and bearers of the image of Christ in the world. Thus St Elizabeth of the Trinity said: “O consuming Fire! Spirit of love! Descend within me and reproduce in me, as it were, an incarnation of the Word; that I may be to him another humanity wherein he renews his mystery.” God comes and renews the mystery of his being Emmanuel, God-with-us within us. God is with us here and now, in the present moment, and so he never abandons us but rather, he calls us to abandon ourselves into his love and care and providence. “Arise my love, and come away.”

But as St Augustine famously put it: “You have made us and drawn us to yourself, [O God] and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” The distractedness of akedia, therefore; the unquiet and agitation of our present times: are these not symptoms of the restless human heart that seeks God but does not know where to find him and rest in him, rest in his providence? St Augustine realises after his conversion that “you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you… You were with me, but I was not with you.” For we can be confused and distracted and attracted by the many different voices and good things of the world. There are so many things we want to do, so many things we want to accomplish, so many things that demand our attention and our energies.

However, in striving for the future, and worrying about the past, we might miss the grace of the present moment. And it is here, in the now, and in the interior life of our selves that God is with is, present through grace and with his providential will to teach us and to save us. St Teresa of Avila thus characterises the Christian life of prayer as an inward movement towards the centre of the soul, as if into the “interior castle”, and she reminds us that Jesus said: ““I pray not for them only, but for all those who shall believe in me.” He likewise said, “I am in them.” How true, O my God! are these words, [says St Teresa] and how well does the soul in this prayer understand them! And we should all understand them, were it not through our own fault, since the words of Jesus Christ, our King and Lord, cannot fail. But as we do not prepare ourselves properly, and do not remove everything from us which might obstruct this light, hence we do not behold ourselves in this glass [or internal mirror] in which we look, and wherein our image is engraven”. In other words, if we will still ourselves, and focus on the words of the Lord, and pray to him who is with us and within us, we shall see him and hear him speaking to us, making his will known to us, and giving us the grace to do his will, and so to trust in his providence.

Hence the Lord says to his friend: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion.” Mary has chosen to sit at the feet of the Lord, to rest and recline beside him, and to listen to his teaching. She has chosen to be a disciple of Christ. So too must we. The Lord says to you, “My friend, my beloved, arise and come away.”  

This interior prayer, as I have said, is the remedy of akedia, for the weariness, spiritual carelessness, and despondency of our age. Some people speak of mindfulness, but it is not enough to be aware of ourselves and our surroundings. No, God wants to give us so much more than just self-realisation! He wants us to be mindful of his love; he wants to love us and be loved by us; he wants to marry you! Therefore, let us adopt the position of Mary, and sit at the Lord’s feet, listening to him. Very often we fill up our prayer time with our requests, our petitions, and our words. It is good to ask God for things, of course, and this is what novenas are for. But remember that the first novena was a time of quiet waiting with Our Lady, waiting to be set on fire by the Holy Spirit. So we must also use this time to listen and adore and just be with God, trusting in his providence. St Faustina put it beautifully: “When I see that the burden is beyond my strength, I do not consider or analyze it or probe into it, but I run like a child to the Heart of Jesus and say only one word to Him: “You can do all things.” And then I keep silent, because I know that Jesus Himself will intervene in the matter, and as for me, instead of tormenting myself, I use that time to love Him.”

Prayer time is time to love God, and to be loved by God. Prayer is the crucible of love in which we are made to be who God means us to be. Through prayer we are inflamed by God’s love so that we in turn, bearing Christ within us, can set the world on fire, as St Catherine said. Therefore, St Augustine, having encountered the God of Love through prayer exclaims: “You called, shouted, broke through my deafness; you flared, blazed, banished my blindness; you lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for you; I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst; you touched me, and I burned for your peace.”

The Lord wishes to do this for you too: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!”

It makes me sad and angry that many church leaders coerce their followers into worshipping God through fear-mongering and threats. Such worship is not the love, mutually and freely given, that God shows us through Their covenant with Israel and through Their Incarnation. 

If you could believe, truly believe, that God has liberated you -- that you are free from hell for the Kin(g)dom -- how would your life be transformed? What would motivate your faith in fear’s place? (Reunion with God? Participation in God’s vision of a world made just? ...)

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[image description: a purple square with pink borders and white text. At the top of the square is an off-white banner reading “Advent, Day 11″; another off-white banner at the bottom of the square cites the quote shared in the squares as coming from Sister Macrina Wiederkehr, A Tree Full of Angels. The bulk of the features the following quote:

“Our invitation to become one with God is too deep for ordinary words. How do we talk about a call to be like God? The early Christians were much more concerned about being divinized than about keeping laws. Sadly, somewhere along our historical journey we got preoccupied with law and doing things that would keep us out of hell. We lost sight of our original union with God and the continuing call to be like God. In fact, we became so busy keeping out of hell that we forgot we were on the way to heaven. We started loving God for the gifts we would receive or the punishment we would avoid. But is that truly love?”