The deification of desire

The ancient pagans, when a temptation or sin became too much for them, rather than continuing to recognize it as wrong, proceeded to exalt this sin as a god. Hades was a greedy and rich god, Aris was the god of war and Aphrodite was the god of beauty, desire, sex and love. Aphrodite had many lovers among the gods and the mortals.

In our day and age, the deification of desire still occurs. Jesus tells us, “Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.” (Luke 12:34). Many people are still willing to practice idolatry by the attention and craving for money, power and sex. The use of terminology such as ‘sex god’ is typically characteristic of how this process can occur. When a sin overwhelms us it can be exalted in the time and energy we use to give it praise. I will never forget the banner of some football fans who insisted that Manchester united was a religion. This was perhaps not far from the truth if they worshipped their players. If we indulge excessively in the acquisition of money, a form of financial deification takes place if we spend the majority of our waking hours giving it homage.

For the Christian deification is a different process. St Gregory of Naziansus writes ‘God became man so that man might become god’ (Athanasius De Incarnatione. 54; c.f. Gregory. Oration 29.19: ‘I may become god in so far as he became man.’). Gregory frequently described the soul as a ‘breath of God’ or an ‘offshoot of the divine.’ At a first glance, this appears to be somewhat heretical. But, no sophisticated theologian would fail to distinguish between the creature and the creator. St Gregory in his writings talked about the deifying process of the Holy Spirit in the soul. He believed that life is a cosmic mystery in which the soul take the long journey to union with God.

St Clement of Alexandria explained this union more clearly. He wrote,

“All of us who have received one and the same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, are in a sense blended together with one another and with God. For if Christ, together with the Father's and his own Spirit, comes to dwell in each of us, though we are many, still the Spirit is one and undivided. He binds together the spirits of each and every one of us, . . . and makes all appear as one in him. For just as the power of Christ's sacred flesh unites those in whom it dwells into one body, I think that in the same way the one and undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in all, leads all into spiritual unity.” (St. Cyril of Alexandria, In Jo. ev., 11,11: PG 74, 561).

St John of the Cross also writes in the dark night of the soul of how the soul is deified in this path to attain union with God. As our ultimate goal is heaven and union with God, the Holy Spirit comes to live with us to help us in this process. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19-20), and for this reason, we should glorify God with our bodies, and not our sinful desires.