The Glory of God
Becoming Human, Becoming Divine
There is no humanism anywhere, east or west, or across the ages, greater than Christian theology. I say that without fear of contradiction. Why? Because the goal of Christianity is not simply the political or economic liberation of human beings, not just the psychological amelioration of our condition—the ordinary goal of the Christian life is to become divinized.
There's a great statement you find in almost all the church fathers: Deus fit homo, ut homo fieret Deus. “God became human, that we humans might become God.”
It's a staggering claim that God became one of us so that we lowly humans might become divinized. How is that possible? Because God's not competitive with us. He's not a supreme being who exists in an antagonistic relationship with creation. In Jesus, divinity and humanity come together without mixing, mingling, or confusion in mutual harmony. That's the grounds of Christian humanism, and I would argue there's none that could be greater than that. There's no aspiration higher for humanity than divinization.
So much of modern philosophy is predicated upon that view of a competitive, overbearing God who is a threat to human freedom and human flourishing. I say: that's an idol, a false God. Rather, the proper understanding of God gives rise to the sweetest sort of humanism. My hero here is St. Irenaeus of Lyon, the great second-century church father. He said, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.” God glories in our being fully human.
Bishop Robert Barron is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester since 2022 and is the founder of Word on Fire.
This essay is adapted from Bishop Barron’s address “The Catholic Intellectual Tradition” at the Harvard Catholic Forum.
Art by Jean Fouquet.
KEEP READING
To Re-Enchant the World
What would the world be, once bereft Of wet and wildness? Let them be left, O let them be left, wildness and wet; Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet. —"Inversnaid," by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
Bright Spark
Trevor Southey (1940-2015) was a Latter-day Saint painter, sculptor, and writer. He was a young adult convert to the Church, and earnestly wanted to dedicate his artistic talent to God. His art was focused on the beauty and majesty of human bodies. In his obituary, Gretchen Dietrich, executive director of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts...
INVITATION TO WRITE
For a new series, we are seeking writing on the meaning of a covenant life. We want to explore why covenants matters in our theology and probe the specifics of the many covenants we make as church members. If you have interest in this topic (or others!), please submit pitches or drafts here or below.
 | A guest post by
|