John Meyendorff: Byzantine theologians seldom devote much explicit attention to speculation about the exact fate of souls after death. The fact that the Logos assumed human nature as such implied the universal validity of redemption, but not the apokatastasis, or universal salvation, a doctrine which in 553 was formally condemned as Origenistic. Freedom must remain an inalienable element of every man, and no one is to be forced into the kingdom of God against his own free choice; the apokatastasis had to be rejected precisely because it presupposes an ultimate limitation of human freedom"”the freedom to remain outside of God.
But by rejecting God, human freedom, in fact, destroys itself. Outside of God, man ceases to be authentically and fully human. He is enslaved to the devil through death. This idea, which is central to Maximian thought and which made him profess so strongly the existence of a human, created will in Christ, serves as the basis of the Byzantine understanding of the destiny of man: participation in God, or "œdeification" (theÅsis), as the goal of human existence.
En-hypostasized in the Logos, Christ´s humanity, in virtue of the "œcommunication of idioms," is penetrated with divine "œenergy." It is, therefore, a deified humanity, which, however does not in any way lose its human characteristics. Quite the contrary. These characteristics become even more real and authentic by contact with the divine model according to which they were created. In this deified humanity of Christ´s, man is called to participate, and to share in its deification. This is the meaning of sacramental life and the basis of Christian spirituality. The Christian is called not to an "œimitation" of Jesus"”a purely extrinsic and moral act"”but as Nicholas Cabasilas puts it, to "œlife in Christ" through baptism, chrismation, and the Eucharist. John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes, 2nd rev. ed. (New York: Fordham University Press, 1983), pp. 163-164.
John Meyendorff: On the level of anthropology one finds equally antinomic concepts in Byzantine Christian thought. Man, while certainly a creature and, as such, external to God, is defined, in his very nature, as being fully himself only when he is in communion with God. This communion is not a static contemplation of God´s "œessence" (as Origen thought), but an eternal progress into the inexhaustible riches of divine life. This is precisely the reason why the doctrine of theÅsis"”i.e., the progress through which, in Christ, man recovers his original relation to God and grows into God "œfrom glory to glory""”is the central theme of Byzantine theology and of the Eastern Christian experience itself. Here again static concepts like "œhuman nature" (i.e., that which is properly human) and "œdivine grace" (that which comes from God) can be used only antinomically: grace is seen as a part of nature itself.
Also, if one understands the ultimate destiny of man, and therefore also his "œsalvation," in terms of theÅsis, or "œdeification," rather than as justification from sin and guilt, the Church will necessarily be viewed primarily as a communion of free sons of God and only secondarily as an institution endowed with authority to govern and judge. John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes, 2nd rev. ed. (New York: Fordham University Press, 1983), pp. 225-226.
John Meyendorff: Also, if one understands the ultimate destiny of man, and therefore also his "œsalvation," in terms of theÅsis, or "œdeification," rather than as justification from sin and guilt, the Church will necessarily be viewed primarily as a communion of free sons of God and only secondarily as an institution endowed with authority to govern and judge. John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes, 2nd rev. ed. (New York: Fordham University Press, 1983), p. 226.
