Deification in Sacraments, Liturgy, and Prayer

Abstract This chapter discusses the relationship of the sacraments, liturgy, and prayer to Christian deification. According to most accounts of Christian deification, the sacraments, liturgy, and prayer together serve as primary elements in the deification of a Christian. The sacraments of initiation—baptism, chrismation/confirmation, and the Eucharist—in conjunction with the word of God in scripture––are the principal means by which God’s own divine life comes to dwell and act effectively within the believer. Through communal liturgy and personal prayer, the members of the Christian community are progressively transformed, season by season, into the likeness of God as they actively cooperate with grace and pursue a life of holiness and communion with God and each other. All this, in conjunction with the full range of human activity under grace, contributes to the progressive deification of the believer.