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The statement by [[Saint|St.]] [[Athanasius of Alexandria]], "The Son of God became man, that we might become God", indicates the concept beautifully. II Peter 1:4 says that we have become " . . . partakers of divine nature." Athanasius amplifies the meaning of this verse when he says theosis is "becoming by grace what God is by nature" (''De Incarnatione'', I). What would otherwise seem absurd, that fallen, sinful man may become holy as God is holy, has been made possible through [[Jesus]] [[Christ]], who is God incarnate. Naturally, the crucial Christian assertion, that God is One, sets an absolute limit on the meaning of ''theosis'' - it is not possible for any created being to become, [[ontology|ontologically]], God or even another god.
Through ''[[theoria]]'', the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ, human beings come to know and experience what it means to be fully human (the created image of God); through their communion with Jesus Christ God shares Himself with the human race, in order to conform them to all that God is in knowledge, righteousness and holiness. ''Theosis'' also asserts the complete restoration of all people (and of the entire creation), in principle. This is built upon the understanding of the [[atonement]] put forward by [[Irenaeusof Lyons]], called "recapitulation."
For many fathers, ''theosis'' goes beyond simply restoring people to their state before the Fall of [[Adam and Eve]], teaching that because Christ united the human and divine natures in his person, it is now possible for someone to experience closer fellowship with God than Adam and Eve initially experienced in the Garden of Eden, and that people can become more like God than Adam and Eve were at that time. Some Orthodox theologians go so far as to say that Jesus would have become [[Incarnation|incarnate]] for this reason alone, even if Adam and Eve had never sinned.
