LAUSR

ABSTRACT Recent theological work on the meaning of theosis or deification has largely ignored today’s cultural context in which ordinary Christians are expected to put theosis into practice. The widespread use of various technologies of human enhancement creates expectations that might distort the interpretation of theosis. Human enhancement technologies tend to feed off the desire to expand the self, while theosis is grounded in the idea that true divinization means becoming like God in God’s own kenosis of self-giving love. The theology of theosis is a call to empty the self, not to expand it. If theosis defines the Christian life, the use of human enhancement technology is largely a matter of indifference.