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“So That We Might Become God”: Understanding Catechism No. 460
Issue: What is meant by the quote from St. Athanasius that is found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God" (no. 460)?
Response: When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them supernatural grace that allowed them to participate in His divine nature. Christ became man in order to restore this grace, which was forfeited when Adam and Eve sinned. We are united to the Son of God in Baptism, whereby we share in his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. We are thus "sons in the Son" and, by grace, "partakers of the divine nature."
Discussion: While St. Athanasius’s quote might be easily misunderstood, the previous line in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Catechism), from St. Irenaeus, provides the appropriate context: "The Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God" (no. 460). To be the Son of God and to be a son of God are therefore two very different things: Christ is Son by nature (the "only Son" in John 3:16), while we are sons by grace ("sons in the Son" according to Gaudium et Spes, 22). Further, since man is a creature and there is only one God, man can never be God in the proper sense. Within the context of this paragraph, we see that St. Athanasius’s statement means something other than a man becoming the one God.
When God created Adam and Eve, He desired them to participate in His divine nature—to be able to love Him in an intimate way that exceeded the normal ability of human nature. So in addition to their human nature, God bestowed on Adam and Eve the supernatural gift of grace of original holiness (Catechism, no. 375). He thereby invited Adam and Eve to love Him as He loves Himself—that is, in a divine way. However, when they sinned, Adam and Eve forfeited this ability to love God supernaturally.
Christ became flesh in order to restore our union with God. In Baptism, we are united to Christ (cf. Gal. 3:27)—sharing in His Passion, Death, and Resurrection (cf. Rom. 6:3-4)—and so become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4). Because there is only one divine nature and this nature is God, we are said to "become" God.
Sacred Scripture offers further insight into understanding our unity with God as "sons in the Son." In the Gospel of John, Jesus prays to the Father that "those who believe in me . . . may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me (Jn. 17:20-21). It is precisely in this unity that Christ calls us "brethren" (Jn. 20:17, cf. Catechism, no. 654), for we have indeed been made sons of the Father (cf. 1 Jn. 3:1-2).
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The Offertory at Mass, in both the old and the new Roman rite, contains the prayer "By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity."
If we did not share in his divinity, then there would be only actual grace. But from Baptism onwards we receive Supernatural Graces—graces above our human nature.
If we did not share in his divinity, then we would be capable of only human faith, hope and charity as a result of our own strength of character. But we receive Supernatural Virtues—Faith, Hope and Charity by the power of God.
If we did not share in his divinity, then we would receive only his humanity in Holy Communion. But we receive the whole Christ, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
—Fr. Joseph Ponessa, S.S.D., co-author of the "Come and See" Catholic Bible Study Series on the Gospel of John from Emmaus Road Publishing |
Recommended Reading
Holy Bible (Catholic edition)
Catechism of the Catholic Church (Paperback and Hardback available)
Documents of Vatican II
To order, call Benedictus Books toll-free: (888) 316-2640. CUF members receive a 10% discount.
Hahn and Suprenant, eds., Catholic for a Reason: Scripture and the Mystery of the Family of God
Leon Suprenant and Philip Gray, Faith Facts: Answers to Catholic Questions
Ted Sri, Mystery of the Kingdom: On the Gospel of Matthew
Leon Suprenant, ed., Servants of the Gospel
Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, Without a Doubt: Bringing Faith to Life
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Available Faith Facts
Blessed Be God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Doctors of the Church
The Graces of Confirmation
The Theological Virtue of Faith
© 2006 Catholics United for the Faith
Date created: 1/9/2006
Date edited: 9/26/2007
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