Here’s a compact teaching table you can drop straight into notes/slides.
## Theosis in Barth, Bavinck, and Evangelical Calvinism
| Axis | Karl Barth | Herman Bavinck | Evangelical Calvinism (Torrance, Habets, etc.) |
| — | — | — | — |
| Use of theosis language | Rare and cautious; prefers “participation in Christ,” “being in Christ,” “wonderful exchange.” [1][2] | Mostly implicit; speaks of participation, communion with God, glorification, “partakers of the divine nature.” [3] | Open and programmatic; “theosis” becomes a core soteriological term within a Reformed frame. [4][5] |
| Basic idea of deification | Believers are lifted into participation in Christ’s history and relation to the Father by the Spirit. [1][2][6] | Believers share in God’s life by grace, are renewed after God’s image, and finally glorified in Christ. [3] | Believers participate in Christ’s vicarious, sanctified humanity and thus in the Triune life (Athanasius‑style). [4][5][7] |
| Center: union with Christ | Very strong: union/participation in Christ is the basic soteriological grammar; often described as a “Reformed theosis.” [1][2][8] | Strong: union with Christ structures the *ordo salutis* (justification–sanctification–
| Relation to Eastern Orthodox theosis | Convergent in language of participation, but rejects essence–energies and Orthodox metaphysics; “for and against” Orthodox theosis. [1][2][6] | Material overlap (participation, glorification) but no essence–energies; firmly within classic Reformed Creator–creature distinction. [3] | Most sympathetic: appropriates Athanasius/Cyril, speaks of deification, but retools without essence–energies and within Reformed commitments. [4][5][7] |
| Election and theosis | Election “in Christ” is structural; deification language describes the participatory outworking of this Christ‑centered election. [1][9][8] | Election provides covenantal framework; deification‑like glorification is an eschatological fruit of salvation, not its primary label. [3] | Follows Torrance’s Christ‑conditioned election and ontological atonement; election aims at humanity’s theosis in the Son. [4][9][10] |
| Atonement and theosis | Atonement is participatory: Christ’s history is ours; forensic categories are subordinated to participation in him. [1][2] | Atonement classically Reformed (satisfaction, substitution) but ordered toward communion and glorification. [3] | Ontological atonement: incarnation–cross–resurrection sanctify human nature; theosis names our participatory share in this. Forensic themes become secondary. [4][5][11] |
| Pedagogical summary line | “Barth gives you a **participatory**, Christ‑centered Reformed ‘theosis’ without using the word much.” [1][2] | “Bavinck gives you **implicitly theotic** Reformed dogmatics: strong on participation and glorification, cautious in terminology.” [3] | “Evangelical Calvinism gives you **explicit Reformed theosis**: salvation as deification through union with Christ’s vicarious humanity.” [4][12][10] |
If you tell me your course level (intro/systematics/seminar), I can add 3–4 discussion questions keyed to this table.
Sources
[1] Karl Barth’s Reformed Doctrine of Theosis in Contradistinction to the … https://growrag.wordpress.com/
[2] Karl Barth’s Doctrine of Theosis in Convergence with the Eastern … https://growrag.wordpress.com/
[3] Dennis Greeson: Herman Bavinck, Theosis & T.F. Torrance https://thelaymenslounge.com/
[4] Theosis in the Theology of Thomas Torrance | Myk Habets https://www.taylorfrancis.com/
[5] Theosis in the Theology of Thomas Torrance: A Review | https://jasongoroncy.com/2010/
[6] Barth and Orthodox Theosis: His For and Against https://growrag.wordpress.com/
[7] TF Torrance and Reformed-Orthodox Dialogue https://orthodoxbridge.com/
[8] Crossing Lessing’s Ugly Ditch: Karl Barth on Union with Christ https://reformedforum.org/
[9] The Doctrine of Election in Evangelical Calvinism: T. F. Torrance as … https://journals.sagepub.com/
[10] A Telling of an Evangelical Calvinism [contra Westminster Calvinism … https://growrag.wordpress.com/
[11] The Ontological Theory of the Atonement and Evangelical Calvinism https://growrag.wordpress.com/
[12] Review: “Evangelical Calvinism,” edited by Myk Habets and Bobby … https://wheatonblog.wordpress.
