Towards Understanding of the Practice of Proclamation: The Core Element of Russian Baptist Worship, Timofey Cheprasov, 2015

nborn human ability for transformation. Thus starts the process of the transformation of an individual human being, the whole humanity and even the visible and invisible universe. It is a process when the likeness of God the Father is reflected in His creation through the mediation of the incarnate Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit.° Archimandrite George argues that theosis is the purpose of human life, being declared in the first chapter of the Bible, ‘He [God] does not wish him [a human] simply to be a being with certain gifts, certain qualities, a certain superiority over the rest of creation, He wishes him to be a god by Grace.’”” Orthodox theology always considers two aspects of salvation — the positive and the negative. The negative is an indication of being free from the false state of life, which is caused by sin.® This is where salvation is understood from the perspective of atonement and forgiveness. The positive aspect of salvation is in sanctification and theosis, which is ° M.N., “Velika Nagrada Vasha na Nebesakh” [“Your Reward in Heaven is Great”], in Bratskii Vestnik, Vol. 5 (1985), pp 12-13. ° B. Bilaniuk, "The Mystery of Theosis or Divinization," in The Heritage of the Early Church: Essay in Honor of the Very Reverend Georges Vasilievich Florovsky (Rome, 1973), p 347. Cf. Jaroslav Pelikan, "Orthodox Theology in the West: The Reformation," in J. Breck, J. Meyendorff and E. Silk, eds., The Legacy of St. Viadimir (Crestwood, NY, St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1990), p 164. ” Archimandrite George, Theosis: The True Purpose of Human Life (Holy Monastery of St. Gregorios, Mount Athos, 2006), p 19. 8 Maximos Aghiorgoussis, "The Theology and Experience of Salvation," Greek Orthodox Theological Review, Vol. 22 (1977), p 406. 33 emphasised more than a negative one. Hence salvation is not only about forgiveness of sins, but first of all is a renewal of a human being and a restoration of God’s image in him, ..Christ is gradually extended into the believers that they may continue their process of deification, a process that entails both the Spirit’s intervention by the operation of divine energies, and their individual effort. Thus salvation is conceived as the culmination of synergy between divine and human, that is, the deification of human beings by divine grace.” 10 tis a The important question is not ‘salvation from what,’ but ‘salvation for what. mystery of humans reaching perfection through faithfulness, worship and prayer, thus fulfilling God’s plan for the universe.” Theosis, therefore, is both the process of transformation and the goal of that process. Since it involves both God and human effort, human striving for perfection, for purification of thoughts, attitudes and actions, Christians are called to a holy way of life. That life must be lived within the Orthodox Church, which by itself becomes of paramount importance, since ‘everything in the Church leads t