Wesley’s perfection and Orthodox theosis share a participatory, transformative, love‑centered vision of salvation, even though they describe and develop it differently.[1][2][3][4][5]
## Shared goal: likeness and union
– Wesley defines Christian perfection as “a renewal of the heart in the whole image of God, the full likeness of Him that created it,” and as loving God with all the heart and neighbor as oneself.[3][4][6][7]
– Orthodoxy defines theosis as a “transformative process whose aim is likeness to or union with God,” in which human life “reaches its fulfillment only when it becomes divine” (by grace, not by nature).[5][8][1]
## Transformation of the person
– For Wesley, perfection is the restoration of the moral image of God—“righteousness and true holiness”—through new creation in Christ, so that affections, intentions, and dispositions are fully inclined toward God.[4][9][10][3]
– For Orthodoxy, theosis heals the whole person from corruption and death, involving purification from the passions, illumination, and eventual deification, so that the believer truly lives by the “holy life of God” in Christ through the Spirit.[8][11][1]
## Primacy of love
– Wesley sums Christian perfection in one word, **love**: love of God and neighbor “contain the whole of Christian perfection,” and perfect love casts out fear.[9][12][13][3]
– Orthodox accounts also present love as intrinsic to theosis, describing the journey as becoming “ever more perfect, ever more holy, ever more united with God” in a relationship grounded in God’s love and expressed as love of God and others.[11][1][5][8]
## Participation, not mere imitation
– Wesley insists that perfection is God’s sanctifying grace “in us,” not just God’s work “for us,” and speaks of believers being renewed in God’s image and sharing in God’s perfect love, not simply copying an external example.[2][6][10][14]
– Orthodoxy emphasizes that theosis is “union with the energies of God and not with the essence,” yet insists this is a true union—Christians “become by grace what Christ is by nature,” going beyond bare imitation into real participation.[1][5][8][11]
## Cooperation and ongoing pilgrimage
– Both stress synergistic cooperation: Wesley holds that grace precedes and enables human response, yet believers must actively seek holiness, use the means of grace, and grow in perfection.[10][14][2]
– Orthodoxy likewise describes theosis as an “infinite process of becoming more and more like God,” a lifelong pilgrimage of ascetic struggle, sacramental participation, and prayerful cooperation with the Spirit.[5][8][11][1]
If you’d like, I can now build a compact table just listing these shared motifs (image, love, participation, synergy, eschatological horizon) with key Wesley and Orthodox proof‑texts for classroom use.
Sources
[1] Theosis (Eastern Christian theology) – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
[2] [PDF] John Wesley and Eastern Orthodoxy – Duke Divinity School https://divinity.duke.edu/
[3] The Nature of Christian Perfection https://www.craigladams.com/
[4] A Plain Account of Christian Perfection – Holy Joys https://holyjoys.org/a-plain-
[5] Salvation – Holy Apostles Orthodox Church https://holyapostles.org/
[6] John Wesley: Plain Account of Christian Perfection https://www.ccel.org/ccel/
[7] John Wesley: A Plain Account of Christian Perfection. Chapter 12 https://www.worldinvisible.
[8] The Meaning of Theosis As the Goal of Christian Life https://www.tgoc.ut.goarch.
[9] On Perfection – The Wesley Center Online: Sermon 76 https://wesley.nnu.edu/john-
[10] Wesley’s Doctrine of Christian Perfection: Hebrews 6:1 https://spu.edu/lectio/
[11] Real Theosis: Becoming Like God – Ascension Press https://ascensionpress.com/
[12] John Wesley’s Doctrine of Christian Perfection https://www.
[13] What is Christian Perfection? John Wesley’s Quotes – Facebook https://www.facebook.com/
[14] [PDF] Wesleyan Theological Journal – The Wesley Center Online https://wesley.nnu.edu/
[15] Given what seems to be obvious, that John Wesley had ample … https://www.facebook.com/
