Difference In Eastern And Western Sanctity

[N/A Gone]

[quote]reached a level of sanctity from theosis(East) or redemptive suffering(West)[/quote]

This is from another thread, and the context does not matter. The question is. Does the west (roman, etc) affirm redemptive suffering as their mode of sanctification exclusively? And the east model theosis as the exclusive model of sanctification?

If so, how does one do this in light of Augustines model of theosis through the eucharist? Is it possible to be a catholic and affirm theosis as your model of sanctification?

[Mateo el Feo]

Link from wiki:
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosis#Catholic_views_of_theosis"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosis#Catho...iews_of_theosis[/url]

My layman's view (for whatever it's worth): I don't believe that either redemptive suffering and theosis are mutually exclusive. It happens that the Eastern Christianity has contributed more to deepen our understanding of theosis (e.g. St. Athanasius). Uniting the two (i.e. redemptive suffering and theosis), I would cite Our Lord's call that we follow His example and pick up our own crosses. We are uniting ourselves to God through suffering.

Maybe this is more an issue of emphasis. Different spiritual traditions focus on different aspects of spirituality; but all lead toward the same goal: unity with God in heaven.

[N/A Gone]

Reza...Todd..guys wanna help me here?

[Apotheoun]

The process of [i]theosis[/i] of its very nature involves redemptive suffering (cf. Romans 8:14-23), but suffering is not the end goal in itself. Thus, within the Byzantine doctrinal, spiritual, and liturgical tradition, the point of all divine activity ([i]energeia[/i]) is the resurrection to new life, i.e., the transfiguration of humanity in Christ, which ultimately transcends suffering just as the resurrection transcends the cross.

That said, the cross of course is necessary to salvation, just as the incarnation, resurrection, and ascension are necessary for salvation, but -- as I indicated above -- the cross is not itself the final objective; instead, the sacrificial death of Christ serves as a focal point through which the incarnate Logos passed in order to triumph over death, for as the Byzantine liturgy proclaims, "Christ is risen from the dead, by death He conquered death, and to those in the graves He granted life." In other words, the process of [i]theosis[/i], which iconically mirrors the self-emptying ([i]kenosis[/i]) of Christ in the incarnation, never ends merely in redemptive suffering, but must transcend the limitations of human nature through a real participation in the life-giving energies of the Holy Spirit, Who draws man up into the uncreated life and glory of the tri-hypostatic God by making him a partaker of the divine nature (cf. 2nd Peter 1:4).

[RezaMikhaeil]

I don't spend much time talking about this or even pondering the differences between eastern western that much, so I'm to assume that they're similar, I'm going to have to do some research to get more indepth then others have, from the Eastern perspective [or even the western for that matter].

Reza