From an Obedient Union of Wills to Embodied Theosis: A Pathway to Divinization in St John of the Cross

Abstract

The union of human and divine wills is a concept that features abundantly in Christian spiritual literature. Yet, it gets very little hearing in most systematic works on theosis despite the fact that it offers a way of talking about the process of divinisation. I propose that the union of human and divine wills is the pinnacle of the virtue of obedience, and that the union in turn constitutes a pathway to divinization. I map this trajectory in St John of the Cross and plot his works as a vademecum on the way to deification. Finally, I consider John’s understanding of the impact of this supernatural union on the human body as well as the role of the latter in deification. Despite uncovering unexpected resources for embodied theosis in John’s writings, I also list major omissions with regards to his (reconstructed) spiritual theology concerning the body transformed by union.