Deification (Theosis, Exaltation)--Mormons Believe They Can Become God!: LDS Beliefs on Eternal Progression and Deification

LDS Beliefs on Eternal Progression and Deification

John Scottus Eriugena (mid-ninth century Irishman) taught that “by taking on human nature, Christ not only lifted it up ‘to a parity with the angelic nature…but also exalted it above all angels and heavenly powers’…. The soul ‘passes beyond every created heaven and every created paradise, that is, every human and angelic nature’…. Rising above equality with angels, he ‘enters into God who deifies him.’” (Donald F. Duclow, “Isaiah meets the Seraph: Breaking Ranks in Dionysius and Eriugena,” in Eriugena: East and West, edited by Bernard McGinn and Willemien Otten University of Notre Dame 1994): 233-52, at pages 245, 247; citations in Duclow. Note the similarity to the revelation to Joseph Smith quoted on the first page of this paper, regarding going beyond the angels. In the same volume see also the paper by John Meyendorff, “Remarks on Eastern Patristic Thought in John Scottus Eriugena,” 51-68. Rudolf Schmitz-Perrin lists as sources for Eriugena’s writings Origen, Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius the Areopagite, Maximus the Confessor, Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, Hilary of Poitiers, Isidore of Seville and Gregory the Great, in Schmitz-Perrin, “’Theosis hoc est deificatio’ Depassement et paradoxe de l’apophase chez Jean Scot Erigene,” Revue des sciences religieuses 72 (1998): 420-445, at page 420-1. He also quotes several relevant passages from Eriugena at 433, 439-440, 444-445.)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly referred to as the Mormons, herein called the Latter-day Saints, or LDS) teaches that mortals may in fact become deified—‘exalted’ is the LDS term of choice—and become like their Father in Heaven. They take literally the command of Jesus Christ to “become perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5.48. See below for references to this verse in the Christian tradition, early and continuous. Cf. Luke 6.36: ‘be ye therefore merciful as your Father in Heaven is merciful;’ Gen. 17.1: ‘Walk before me, and be thou perfect;’ Deut 18.13: “thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God;’Leviticus 11.44 and 19.2: “be holy for I am holy;’ this last is quoted in IPeter 1.15-6; James 1.4: ‘let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire;’ cf. Hebrews 6.1.)

Joseph Smith, the founding Prophet of the Church, taught that “although the earthly tabernacle is laid down and dissolved, they shall rise again to dwell in everlasting burnings in immortal glory, not to sorrow, suffer, or die any more; but they shall be heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. What is it? To inherit the same power, the same glory and the same exaltation, until you arrive at the station of a God, and ascend the throne of eternal power.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, edited by Joseph Fielding Smith (Deseret Book Company 1964), 347. I Timothy 6.16 tells us that God dwells in “unapproachable light;” Isaiah 33.14-5 states that those “who shall dwell with everlasting burnings” will be those who “walk righteously, and speak uprightly; who despise the gain of oppressions, who do not take bribes,” in short, those who are worthy to live with God. Paul taught (Romans 8.17) that the righteous would become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, who(Heb 1.2) was heir to all things. The Savior himself taught that those who believed in Him would do the same works as He had, or even greater works (John 14.12). Revelation 3.21 teaches that those who overcome will sit on the throne with Jesus, who sits on His Fathers throne. In short, the redeemed will indeed inherit the same power, glory and exaltation as the Savior.

LDS revelation teaches that some, after the resurrection, will “pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things…. Then shall they be gods, because they have no end…. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.” (Doctrine and Covenants (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1981): 132.19-20 (hereafter cited as D&C,followed by section and verse). It should be emphasized that “all” are called, even though some will respond negatively, rejecting the salvation offered them.)

The Latter-day Saints also teach that the redeemed live in a heaven constituted of varying degrees of glory; further, they believe that there is progression possible for those who inhabit those kingdoms of glory. Needless to say, many outside the LDS Church have been offended by these doctrines. And because a few LDS writers have cited early church Fathers, primarily Irenaeus (second century) and Athanasius (fourth century), when writing about the concept of deification, these critics have sought to demonstrate that what the Latter-day Saints teach is nothing at all like what the early Church taught.

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Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch (ca. 35 or 50-between 98 and 117)

In the early second century, Ignatius of Antioch wrote:

“For it is not my desire to act towards you as a man-pleaser, but as pleasing God, even as also you please Him. For neither shall I ever have such [another] opportunity of attaining to God...It is good to set from the world unto God, that I may rise again to Him...Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God.” (Ignatius. Letter to the Romans, Chapters 2,4)

“He is the door of the Father, by which enter in Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets, and the apostles, and the Church. All these have for their object the attaining to the unity of God.” (Ignatius. Letter to the Romans, Chapter 9)

Polycarp of Smyrna (ca. 69-ca. 155)

Polycarp of Smyrna, who knew Ignatius, wrote:

“But He who raised Him up from the dead will raise up us also, if we do His will, and walk in His commandments, and love what He loved, keeping ourselves from all unrighteousness, covetousness, love of money, evil speaking, falsewitness; "not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing," or blow for blow, or cursing for cursing, but being mindful of what the Lord...may He bestow on you a lot and portion among His saints, and on us with you, and on all that are under heaven, who shall believe in our Lord and God Jesus Christ, and in His Father, who raised Him from the dead.” (Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians. Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1 as edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Sections 2,12).

Polycarp is teaching that what happened to Jesus will also happen to true Christians.

Clement I of Rome (C. 92)

Clement of Rome, also known as Pope Clement I, or Clemens Romanus, was the fourth Pope and Bishop of Rome and is considered the first Apostolic Father of the early Christian church. Clement's letter to the Corinthian church (1 Clement) was widely read and is one of the oldest Christian documents still in existence outside the New Testament.

Few details are known about Clement's life. While sources vary, it is likely Clement became Pope and Bishop of Rome in the year 88, although it may have been as late as 92. It is somewhat certain that he died in the year 99. The Holy See's Annuario Pontificio (2003) cites a reign from 92 to 99. According to tradition, Clement was imprisoned under the Emperor Trajan and led a miraculous ministry among fellow prisoners. He was then executed by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea.

Clement writes, “But they who with confidence endured [these things] are now heirs of glory and honour, and have been exalted and made illustrious by God in their memorial forever and ever. Amen.” (Clement, First Epistle of Clement, Ante-Nicene Fathers 1:17.)
“Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, of His boundless love, became what we are that He might make us what He Himself is...” (Henry Bettenson, The Early Christian Fathers: A Selection from the Writings of the Fathers from St. Clement of Rome to St. Athanasius (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 106.)

Justin Martyr (100-165 AD)

Justin Martyr, also known as Justin the Martyr, Justin of Caesarea or Justin the Philosopher was an early Christian apologist and saint. His works represent the earliest surviving Christian apologies of notable size. Most of what is known about the life of Justin Martyr comes from his own writings. According to church tradition Justin suffered martyrdom at Rome under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius when Rusticus was prefect of the city (between 162 and 168).

Justin Martyr wrote that the Father teaches us, “by the word to do the same things as Himself.” (Apology 2.9, in Ante-Nicene Fathers 1.366-7.)

“The two classic biblical texts quoted in support of deification are Psalm 82:6 ('I said, you are gods and all of you sons of the Most High') and 2 Peter 1:4 ('precious and very great promises have been granted to us, that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature'. The first of these texts (also quoted in John 10:34) was never a cause of controversy. There already existed a Jewish exegesis which applied the words, 'you are gods', originally to Adam and Eve, and then to those who kept the Torah, when Justin Martyr -the first Christian Father to quote them- used them as a gloss on the Johannine 'children of God'(1 Jn 3:1).” (Dialogue, 124. Cf. Sifre Deut. 306; Midrash Rabbah on Lev. 11:1 and 3.)

Justin the Martyr said in 150 A.D. that he wishes “to prove to you that the Holy Ghost reproaches men because they were made like God, free from suffering and death, provided that they kept His commandments, and were deemed deserving of the name of His sons... in the beginning men were made like God, free from suffering and death, and that they are thus deemed worthy of becoming gods and of having power to become sons of the Highest” (Dialogue with Trypho, 124.)

Also,[By Psalm 82] it is demonstrated that all “men are deemed worthy of becoming “gods,” and even “of having power to become sons of the Highest.” (Dialogue with Trypho, 124.)

Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (ca. AD 115-202)

Irenaeus was a Bishop of Lyons, formerly Lugdunum in Gaul, France. He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology. He was a disciple of Polycarp of Smyrna, who was said to be a disciple of John the Evangelist. Saint Irenaeus, who may justly be called the first Biblical theologian among the ancient Christians, was not considered heretic or unorthodox in traditional Christian circles. He also shared a belief in theosis or deification. Irenaeus considers the doctrine clearly Biblical, just as the LDS do:

"If the Word was made man, it is that men might become gods" (Against Heresies, Bk. V. Pref. col. 1035).

St. Irenaeus explained, "the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself."

“While man gradually advances and mounts towards perfection; that is, he approaches the eternal. The eternal is perfect; and this is God. Man has first to come into being, then to progress, and by progressing come to manhood, and having reached manhood to increase, and thus increasing to persevere, and persevering to be glorified, and thus see his Lord.” (Henry Bettenson, The Early Christian Fathers: A Selection from the Writings of the Fathers from St. Clement of Rome to St. Athanasius (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 94.)
“For the Lord is the good man of the house, who rules the entire house of His Father; and who delivers a law suited both for slaves and those who are as yet undisciplined; and gives fitting precepts to those that are free, and have been justified by faith, as well as throws His own inheritance open to those that are sons.” (Irenaeus, "Against Heresies," (book 4, chapter 9) Ante-Nicene Fathers 1:472.)
“...but man receives advancement and increase towards God. For as God is always the same, so also man, when found in God, shall always go on towards God.” (Irenaeus, "Against Heresies," (book 4, chapter 11) Ante-Nicene Fathers 1:474)
“...and to whomsoever He shall say, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you for eternity,’ (Mat. 25:34) these do receive the kingdom forever, and make constant advance in it...” (Irenaeus, "Against Heresies," (book 4, chapter 28.3) Ante-Nicene Fathers 1:501)
Like the LDS, Irenaeus did not believe that this belief in any way displaced God, Christ, or the Holy Ghost:
“there is none other called God by the Scriptures except the Father of all, and the Son, and those who possess the adoption....Since, therefore, this is sure and steadfast, that no other God or Lord was announced by the Spirit, except Him who, as God, rules over all, together with His Word, and those who receive the Spirit of adoption.” (Irenaeus, "Against Heresies," Ante-Nicene Fathers 1)

“Do we cast blame on him [God] because we were not made gods from the beginning, but were at first created merely as men, and then later as gods? Although God has adopted this course out of his pure benevolence, that no one may charge him with discrimination or stinginess, he declares, "I have said, ye are gods; and all of you are sons of the Most High." “... For it was necessary at first that nature be exhibited, then after that what was mortal would be conquered and swallowed up in immortality." (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 4.38. Cp. 4.11 (2)

"But man receives progression and increase towards God. For God is always the same, so also man, when found in God, shall always progress toward God." (very LDS)

“We were not made gods at our beginning, but first we were made men, then, in the end, gods.” (Henry Bettenson, The Early Christian Fathers: A Selection from the Writings of the Fathers from St. Clement of Rome to St. Athanasius (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 94.)
“How then will any be a god, if he has not first been made a man? How can any be perfect when he has only lately been made man? How immortal, if he has not in his mortal nature obeyed his maker? For one's duty is first to observe the discipline of man and thereafter to share in the glory of God” (Irenaeus, "Against Heresies," Ante-Nicene Fathers 1:419, chapter 6.)
“Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, of his boundless love, became what we are that he might make us what he himself is.” (Henry Bettenson, The Early Christian Fathers: A Selection from the Writings of the Fathers from St. Clement of Rome to St. Athanasius (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 95–96.)
“But of what gods [does he speak]?[Of those] to whom He says, "I have said, Ye are gods, and all sons of the Most High." To those, no doubt, who have received the grace of the "adoption, by which we cry, Abba Father."” (Henry Bettenson, The Early Christian Fathers: A Selection from the Writings of the Fathers from St. Clement of Rome to St. Athanasius (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 106. Citing Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 4.38 cp. 4.11.)

“For he who holds, without pride and boasting, the true glory (opinion) regarding created things and the Creator, who is the Almighty God of all, and who has granted existence to all; [such an one,] continuing in His love and subjection, and giving of thanks, shall also receive from Him the greater glory of promotion, looking forward to the time when he shall become like Him who died for him, for He, too, "was made in the likeness of sinful flesh," to condemn sin, and to cast it, as now a condemned thing, away beyond the flesh, but that He might call man forth into His own likeness, assigning him as [His own] imitator to God, and imposing on him His Father's law, in order that he may see God, and granting him power to receive the Father; [being] the Word of God who dwelt in man, and became the Son of man, that He might accustom man to receive God, and God to dwell in man, according to the good pleasure of the Father.” (Irenaeus, "Against Heresies," Ante-Nicene Fathers 1:450, chapter 6.)
Said one Protestant theologian of Irenaeus:
“Participation in God was carried so far by Irenaeus as to amount to deification. 'We were not made gods in the beginning,' he says, 'but at first men, then at length gods.' This is not to be understood as mere rhetorical exaggeration on Irenaeus' part. He meant the statement to be taken literally.” (Arthur C. McGiffert, A History of Christian Thought, Vol. 1—Early and Eastern: From Jesus to John of Damascus (New York: Scribner's Sons, 1932), 141.)

Clement of Alexandria (C.150-215)

Clement of Alexandria, was a Christian theologian and the head of the noted Catechetical School of Alexandria. Clement is best remembered as the teacher of Origen. Clement is counted as one of the early Church Fathers. He also taught the doctrine of deification:

“Yea, I say, the Word of God became a man so that you might learn from a man how to become a god.” (Protrepticus (Exhortation to the Greeks), 1.)

“But if thou dost not believe the prophets,... the Lord Himself shall speak to thee, "who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but humbled Himself" ... yea, I say, the Word of God became man, that thou mayest learn from man how man may become God. Is it not then monstrous, my friends, that while God is ceaselessly exhorting us to virtue, we should spurn His kindness and reject salvation?” (Protrepticus (Exhortation to the Greeks), 1.8.4)

Clement says regarding those who become deified that “’they will be enthroned along with the other gods, who are set first in order under the Savior.’” Note that the “other gods” are clearly subordinate to the Savior, but yet are still entitled to be designated “gods.”(George W. Butterworth, “The Deification of Man in Clement of Alexandria,” Journal of Theological Studies 17 (1916): 157-69, at page 161, quoting Stromateis 3.41.23-5.)

Clement said, “from faith we rise to God through gnosis. From gnosis we see God face to face, and we are deified: "Being baptized, we are illuminated; illuminated, we become sons (i.e., children or heirs); being made ...(heirs), we are made perfect; being made perfect, we are made immortal, as the Scripture says 'Ye are gods...'" (Stromateis, ch. 6).
“It [the knowledge of the Gospel] leads us to the endless and perfect end, teaching us beforehand the future life that we shall lead, according to God, and with gods; after we are freed from all punishment and penalty which we undergo, in consequence of our sins, for salutary discipline. After which redemption the reward and the honors are assigned to those who have become perfect; when they have got done with perfection, and ceased from all service, though it be holy service, and among saints. They become pure in heart, and near to the Lord, there awaits their restoration to everlasting contemplation; and they are called by the appellation of gods, being destined to sit on thrones with the other gods that have been first put in their places by the Savior.” (Stromata 7:10)
“Those who have been perfected are given their reward and their honors. They have done with their purification, they have done with the rest of their service, though it be a holy service, with the holy; now they become pure in heart, and because of their close intimacy with the Lord there awaits them a restoration to eternal contemplation; and they have received the title of "gods" since they are destined to be enthroned with the other "gods" who are ranked next below the savior.” (Henry Bettenson, The Early Christian Fathers: A Selection from the Writings of the Fathers from St. Clement of Rome to St. Athanasius (London: Oxford University Press, 1956), 243–244. Stromata 7:10 (55–56).)

“And:...if one knows himself, he will know God, and knowing God will become like God...His is beauty, true beauty, for it is God, and that man becomes god, since God wills it. So Heraclitus was right when he said, "Men are gods, and gods are men." (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, 3.1 see also Clement, Stromateis, 23.)

Concerning Bible tampering, Clement of Alexandria also cites from a passage, which he called "scripture," but of which can't now be found in modern Bibles. The scripture talked about how the deified saints would inherit God's power and glory.

One finds in Clement's work citations of all the books of the New Testament with the exception of: Philemon, James, II Peter, II John, and III John.

On the other hand he considered these writings, not in the present New Testament, of value: Gospel of the Egyptians, Gospel of the Hebrews, Traditions of Matthias, Preaching of Peter, I Clement, Epistle of Barnabas, Didache, Shepherd of Hermas, Apocalypse of Peter.

Hippolytus (AD 170-236)

Hippolytus of Rome, in the early third century, wrote:

"Now in all these acts He offered up, as the first-fruits, His own manhood, in order that thou, when thou art in tribulation, mayest not be disheartened, but, confessing thyself to be a man (of like nature with the Redeemer,) mayest dwell in expectation of also receiving what the Father has granted unto this Son...The Deity (by condescension) does not diminish anything of the dignity of His divine perfection having made you even God unto his glory." (Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 10:29-30, in Ante-Nicene Fathers 5:152.)

“And you shall receive the kingdom of heaven, you who, while you sojourned in this life, knew the Celestial King. And you shall be a companion of the Deity, and a co-heir with Christ, no longer enslaved by lusts or passions, and never again wasted by disease. For you have become God...”

“And God called man His likeness from the beginning, and has evinced in a figure His love towards you. And provided you obey His solemn injunctions, and becomest a faithful follower of Him who is good, you shall resemble Him, inasmuch as you shall have honour conferred upon you by Him. For the Deity, (by condescension,) does not diminish anything of the divinity of His divine perfection; having made you even God unto His glory!” (Hippolytus. Refutation of All Heresies (Book X, Chapter 30) Copyright © 2007 by Kevin Knight).

“The Father of immortality sent the immortal Son and Word into the world, who came to man in order to wash him with water and the Spirit; and He, begetting us again to incorruption of soul and body, breathed into us the breath (spirit) of life, and endued us with an incorruptible panoply. If, therefore, man has become immortal, he will also be God. And if he is made God by water and the Holy Spirit after the regeneration of the layer he is found to be also joint-heir with Christ after the resurrection from the dead.” (Hippolytus. The Discourse on the Holy Theophany, Chapter 8. Copyright © 2007 by Kevin Knight).

Origen of Alexandria (ca. AD 185-251)

Origen taught his doctrine of pre-existent souls on a cosmic transmigration from sin to perfection in successive lives and ages. His complex doctrine of theosis, found primarily in 'On First Principles,' may be outlined as follows:

God creates, without reference to time, rational beings/souls (nouses), which are incorporeal, equal and eternal. The Logos, the firstborn of all creation, is the exact image of God, and by God all things were made. Rational beings are reflections of the Image. As such, they participate in the divine nature through the Logos, as sparks of a greater Fire. The Father of Lights is the archetype of the Logos, who in turn is the archetype of rational beings. All souls, except the soul of Jesus, turned their attention away from God and suffered a cosmic fall. Redemption is made possible through the Incarnation of the Logos, which restores the image of God and awakens souls to joyfully participate in the divine nature, and ascend to their native land of Divinity. The universe, Origen imagines, is moving toward a restored and perfected state of integration and completion. After the final age, at the end of time, all souls (in human beings, angels, animals, stars and planets) are finally saved, sanctified, glorified, and unified in God.

The goal of the Christian life, according to Origen, is to see God face to face, and in so doing, to be deified. The means to deification is by participation in divinity: that is, by contemplation of God in the mirror of the soul which increasingly appropriates divine being. Thus "...nourished by God the Word, who was in the beginning with God (cf. Jn. 1:1), we may be made divine" (Origen, Treatise on Prayer, xxvii.13).

“Now it is possible that some may dislike what we have said representing the Father as the one true God, but admitting other beings besides the true God, who have become gods by having a share of God. They may fear that the glory of Him who surpasses all creation may be lowered to the level of those other beings called gods. They may fear that the glory of Him who surpasses all creation may be lowered to the lever of those other beings called gods...[However], as, then there are many gods, but to us there is but one God the Father, and many Lords, but to us there is one Lord, Jesus Christ.” (cf. 1 Cor. 8:5-6).(Origen, Commentary on John, Book II, Chapter 3.)

In Rufinus' Latin translation of the Peri Archon we read Origen say that we should follow the example of Christ, so that “by this means we may as far as is possible become, through our imitation of him, partakers of the divine nature.” (ut si forte per hoc in quantum fieri potest per imitationem eius participes efficiamur divinae naturae)( Peri Archon IV, 4, 4 (GCS v, p. 355,4-6) Cf. In Lev. IV, 4 (GCS vi, p.319,16-I7); In Rom. IV, 9 (PG 14, col. 997C).)

A little further on Origen defines this divine nature as ‘intellectual light'. “Since the heavenly powers receive a share of intellectual light, the human soul, when it receives a share itself, must be of one nature and substance with them, for it is axiomatic that everyone who shares in anything is undoubtedly of one substance and one nature with him who shares in the same thing.” (Peri Archon IV, 4, 9 (GCS v, p. 361,16-17.))

Origen explains, this intellectual light, which belongs properly to God alone, is immortal and incorruptible. “Therefore those who share in it receive a share of immortality and incorruption, thus coming to participate too in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit 'in proportion to the earnestness of the soul and the capacity of the mind'.” (Peri Archon IV, 4, 9 (GCS v, p. 363, 2-3).

“Men should escape from being men, and hasten to BECOME GODS...” (Origen, Commentary on John, 29.27,29.)

“Thou shalt resemble Him...having made thee even God to his glory.” (Origen, Refutations, X.30.)

“And thus the first-born of all creation, who is the first to be with God, and to attract to Himself divinity, is a being of more exalted rank than the other gods beside Him, of whom God is the God, as it is written, "The God of gods, the Lord, hath spoken and called the earth." It was by the offices of the first-born that they became gods, for He drew from God in generous measure that they should be made gods, and He communicated it to them according to His own bounty. The true God, then, is "The God," and those who are formed after Him are gods, images, as it were, of Him the prototype.” (Origen, Commentary on John, Book II, Chapter 2.)

“The Father, then, is proclaimed as the one true God; but besides the true God are many who become gods by participating in God.” (Origen in Bettensen, Henry. The Early Christian Fathers, 324)

Origen also defined what it means to "participate" in something:

“Every one who participates in anything, is unquestionably of one essence and nature with him who is partaker of the same thing.” (Origin, De Principiis, 4:1:36 in Ante-Nicene Fathers 4:381.)

Origen said that, “God could, if He chose, create other worlds after this one.” (See Reinhold Seeberg, Text-Book of the History of Doctrines, translated by Charles E. Hay (Michigan 1958; German 1895, 1898): I: 160, citing de principiis 3.6.3 on the possibility of future creations.)

Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria (c. 293 – 2 May 373)

In 347, Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria and participant in the council of Nicea, said of the Incarnation of Christ:

"God became man so that man might become God" (On the Incarnation of the Word, Bk. IV. par 65).

“…the Word was made flesh in order that we might be enabled to be made gods....just as the Lord, putting on the body, became a man, so also we men are both deified through His flesh, and henceforth inherit everlasting life...[we are] sons and gods by reason of the word in us." (Athanasius, Against the Arians, 1.39, 3.39.)

"For as Christ died and was exalted as man, so, as man, is He said to take what, as God, He ever had, that even such a grant of grace might reach to us. For the Word was not impaired in receiving a body, that He should seek to receive a grace, but rather He deified that which He put on, and more than that, gave it graciously to the race of man." (Athanasius, Against the Arians, 1:42, in Nicen and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, 4:330-331.)

He also stated that Christ "became man that we might be made divine." (Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 54.)

Basil of Caesarea (330 – 379)

Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, (330 – January 1, 379) said:

“Spirit-bearing souls, illumined by Him, finally become spiritual themselves, and their grace is sent forth to others. From this comes knowledge of the future, understanding of mysteries, apprehension of hidden things, distribution of wonderful gifts, heavenly citizenship, a place in the choir of angels, endless joy in the presence of God, becoming like God, and, the highest of all desires, becoming God [theon genesthai].” Notice that this illumination, though beginning in this life, continues into the next, where the redeemed are eventually deified.[Thomas Hopko,“The Trinity in the Cappadocians,” in Christian Spirituality I: Origins, ed. B.McGinn and John Meyendorff (New York 1985): 260-76, at page 273-4, quoting On the Holy Spirit 23.]

Jerome (AD 340-420)

Jerome also described the deification of believers as an act of grace, which matches the LDS understanding precisely:

“I said 'you are gods, all of you sons of the most high.’" let Eunomius hear this, let Arius, who say that the son of God is son in the same way we are. That we are gods is not so by nature, but by grace.“but to as many as receive Him he gave power to becoming sons of God” I made man for that purpose, that from men they may become gods. We are called gods and sons!...[Christ said] "all of you sons of the Most High," it is not possible to be the son of the Most High, unless He Himself is the Most High. I said that all of you would be exalted as I am exalted.”(Jerome, The Homilies of Saint Jerome, 106–107.)

Jerome goes on to say that we should give thanks to the God of gods. The prophet is referring to those gods of whom it is written:

I said ‘you are gods’ and again ‘god arises in the divine assembly’ they, who cease to be mere men, abandon the ways of vice and become perfect, are gods and the sons of the most high...” (Jerome, The Homilies of Saint Jerome, 106–353.)

St. John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407)

John Chrysostom believed that a primary image of salvation is:

“that of human nature itself seated on the royal throne of Christ: ‘It is a great and wonderful thing, and full of amazement that our flesh should sit on high, and be adored by angels and archangels.’” Notice that worship by the angels is offered to those deified mortals on their thrones. [Melvin E. Lawrenz, The Christology of John Chrysostom (Mellen Press 1996): 153, quoting Homily on Hebrews 5.1.]

A homily of John Chrysostom says: “’God gave us a share in his throne. The sitting at the right hand is the greatest honor, with nothing to equal it. This statement holds true of us also: we too are to sit with him on thrones…. Think of where Christ sits on his throne!‘Above all principalities and powers! And with whom are you to sit on the throne? With him!’” Once again, notice that the ‘principalities and powers’ are subject to these deified mortals.[Christoph Schonborn, From Death to Life (Ignatius Books 1995): 39-40, quoting Homily on Ephesians 4.2.]

Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430)

Augustine, considered one of the greatest Church Fathers, said, “but He himself that justifies also deifies, for by justifying He makes sons of God. For He has given them power to become the sons of God, (John 1:12). If then we have been made sons of God, we have also been made gods.” (Augustine, On the Psalms, 50:2.)

“He has called men gods that are deified of His Grace, not born of His Substance.”

“Let us applaud and give thanks that we have become not only Christians but Christ himself. Do you understand, my brothers, the grace that God our head has given us? Be filled with wonder and joy—we have become veritable Christs!”

“The Son of God became a son of man, in order to make sons of men into sons of God.”

The “true God,” Augustine proclaims, is a “deifying God,” a “god-making God.”

Saint Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376 - 444)

Cyril of Alexandria said, "… we are nothing less than "creatures called to gods" (The Vision of God).

Walter Burckhardt quotes Cyril of Alexandria as having written that one who is redeemed “’shall come close to God and be of His family, and prove capable of saving others in time to come.’” (Walter J. Burghardt, S.J.,“Cyril of Alexandria on ’Wool and Linen,’” Traditio 2 (1944): 486)

“’Baptized and clothed in Christ, you are engrafted on the Son of God…. Since you have become sharers with Christ, you may rightly be called christs.’” (Cipriano Vagaggini, The Flesh. Instrument of Salvation: A Theology of the Human Body (Society of St. Paul 1969): 85-6, citing Mystical Catechesis 3.1.)

Maximus the Confessor (c. 580 – 662)

St. Maximus wrote, "A sure warrant for looking forward with hope to deification of human nature is provided by the incarnation of God, which makes man god to the same degree as God himself became man.... Let us become the image of the one whole God, bearing nothing earthly in ourselves, so that we may consort with God and become gods, receiving from God our existence as gods. For it is clear that He who became man without sin (cf. Heb. 4:15) will divinize human nature without changing it into the divine nature, and will raise it up for his own sake to the same degree as He lowered himself for man's sake. This is what St Paul teaches mystically when he says, '...that in the ages to come he might display the overflowing richness of His grace' (Eph. 2:7)."(page 178 PHILOKALIA Volume II)

Dionysius the Areopagite (6th Century?)

Gregory Palamas (1296 - 1359)

With Gregory Palamas the chief focus of deification settles on participation in uncreated grace, which enables the human person to transcend himself and live with the life of Christ, so that he becomes 'uncreated through grace'.( On Symeon the New Theologian, see Μ. Lot-Βorodin, La déification de l'homme (Paris, 1969); and on Gregory Palamas, L.Contos, The Concept of Theosis in Saint Gregory Palamas (Los Angeles, 1963), and J. Μeyendorff, A Study of Gregory Palamas (Leighton Βuzzard, 1974).)