Lutheran Theosis? Key Similarities and Differences between the Mystical Union and Eastern Orthodox Theosis

Abstract

In the Eastern Orthodox Church salvation is not a judicial decree. Rather salvation is a synergistic process known as theosis. Through this process of theosis, a believer is made to be more and more like God through the sanctified life. Theosis might sound strange to Western Christians, including Lutherans. However, there is a biblical teaching that uses similar terminology and many of the same scriptural verses as proof. This teaching is the mystical union. The mystical union is the special and intimate indwelling of the Triune God within believers through faith. Due to the similarities between the mystical union and theosis, one might wonder if these two teachings are referring to essentially the same thing.

This paper explores both the mystical union and theosis. The purpose of doing so is to determine whether the mystical union is simply another way of understanding theosis or if it is something different. This paper will compare and contrast these two teachings in order to show that the mystical union is not a Lutheran understanding of Eastern Orthodox theosis. Rather, the mystical union is a comforting reality for all believers who have been justified through faith alone.