The Divine Energies and the Dynamics of Deification in the Doctrine of St. Basil the Great
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31802/%20GB.2025.59.4.005Keywords:
St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory Palamas, Aristotle, Palamite controversy, Palamism, knowledge of God, vision of God, deification, mystical experienceAbstract
This article examines St. Basil the Great’s doctrine of the Divine energies and the dynamic model of deification grounded in it. It is demonstrated that St. Basil explains deification through the distinction between the non‑participable Divine essence and the participable Divine energies. The Divine essence is «other» (ἄλλο) in relation to the Divine energies, just as the energies themselves «difference» (διαφορά) from one another, being, in relation to each other, «the other and the other» (τὸ ἄλλο καὶ ἄλλο). In this connection, he indicates that the term «Spirit» has two meanings and refers either (1) to the non‑participable Hypostasis of the Holy Spirit when speaking of the Spirit’s existence «with» (σύν) the Father and the Son, or (2) to the participable grace of the Holy Spirit’s Hypostasis when referring to the Spirit’s indwelling «in» (ἐν) human beings (or angels). St. Basil describes the active manifestation of grace in the human person in terms of potentiality (δύναμις) and actuality (ἐνέργεια), which makes it possible to perceive deification both as a gift ontologically inherent to every human being and as a process of personal response to the Divine call. It is further noted that St. Basil employs Aristotle’s teaching on the two modes of being — «being in potentiality» (τὸ ὄν δυνάμει) and «being in actuality» (τὸ ὄν ἐνεργείᾳ) — in order to articulate the dynamics of deification. Moreover, he proceeds from the principle that the «Spirit» is simultaneously both the «faculty» and the «object» of the knowledge of God. Thus, the article reveals the intrinsic connection between St. Basil’s doctrine of God and his anthropology, a connection that determines the profound internal dynamics of the human person’s «becoming god» (τὸ θεὸν γενέσθαι).
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