The Ascent

The first movement of the soul toward God

Purification — the katharsis of the ancient tradition — is the sustained work of freeing the soul from the patterns of thought and desire that obstruct its natural movement toward God.

The mind begins to see

Illumination is the second stage of the ascent — the gradual brightening of the nous as it is freed from the distortions of passion and begins to perceive both itself and creation with a new kind of clarity.

The goal of the human person

Theosis — deification — is the Eastern Christian term for the ultimate destiny of the human person: a real participation in the divine life that transforms without abolishing the one who receives it.

The cooperation of human freedom and divine grace

Synergy — the cooperation of human will and divine grace — is the Eastern Christian understanding of how transformation actually happens: neither by human effort alone nor by divine imposition, but by a genuine partnership.