1. This very strong expression is used by St. Augustine and many
of the Fathers to describe one of the effects of grace. By grace
we are deified, i. e., made into gods. Right at the beginning of
all the woes of humanity when, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve
first were tempted, the lying spirit promised that the reward of
disobedience would be that they should become "as gods." The
result of sin could hardly be that, so man, made only a little
lower than the angels, can at times find himself rebuked by the
very beasts. Yet the promise became in the end fulfilled, since
the Incarnation really affected that transformation, and God, by
becoming human, made man himself divine. St. Peter, in his second
epistle (4.1), insinuates the same truth when he describes the
great promises of Christ making us "partakers of the Divine
Nature." The work, then, of grace is something superhuman and
divine. Creation pours into us the divine gift of existence and
therefore makes us partakers in the divine being, for existence
implies a participation in the being of God. The indwelling of the
Blessed Trinity, then, does even more, for by it we participate
not only in the divine being, but in the divine nature, and
fulfill the prophecy of Our Lord: "Ye are gods." Justification,
therefore, is a higher gift than creation, since it does more for
us.
2. This divine participation is what is implied in many texts
which allude to the sacrament of Baptism, for the purpose of
Baptism is just that, to make us children of God. The phrases
concerning "new birth" and "being born again" all are intended to
convey the same idea, that the soul by means of this sacrament is
lifted above its normal existence and lives a new life. This life
is lived "with Christ in God," i. e., it is a sort of entrance
within the charmed circle of the Trinity, or, more accurately, it
is that the Blessed Trinity inhabits our soul and enters into our
own small life, which at once therefore takes on a new and higher
importance. In it henceforth there can be nothing small or mean.
For the same reason Our Lord speaks of it to the Samaritan woman
as "_the_ gift of God," beside which all His other benefactions
fade into nothingness. Again, it is a "fountain of living water,"
it is a "refreshment," it is "life" itself. Not the stagnant water
that remains in a pool in some dark wood, but a stream gushing out
from its source, fertilizing the ground on every side, soaking
through to all the thirsting roots about it, giving freshness and
vitality to the whole district through which it wanders. Life
indeed it bears as its great gift; and so does sanctifying grace
carry within it the fertilizing power needed by the soul.
3. The participation in the Divine Nature is therefore no mere
metaphor, but is a real fact. The indwelling of God makes the soul
like to God. I find myself influenced by the people with whom I
live, picking up their expressions, copying their tricks and
habits, following out their thoughts, absorbing their principles,
growing daily like them. With God at the centre of my life the
same effect is produced, and slowly, patiently, almost
unconsciously, I find myself infected by His spirit. What He loves
becomes my ideal; what He hates, my detestation. But it is even
closer than this, no mere concord of wills nor harmony of ideas, a
real and true elevation to the life of God. Grace is formally in
God, at the back, so to say, of His divine nature, the inner
essence of Himself. By receiving it, therefore, I receive
something of God, and begin to be able to perform divine actions.
I can begin to know God even as I am known, to taste His
sweetness, and by His favor to have personal, experimental
knowledge of Himself. To act divinely is only possible to those
who are made divine. This, then, becomes the formal union with
God, its terms, its end, its purpose. Deified, therefore, we
become in our essence by grace, in our intelligence by its light,
in our will by charity.