Expert: Father Dave Bechtel - 2/1/2012

Question
Hi. I am a practitioner, born and raised, of the Asatru religion. I am curious about different religions. One thing I'm curious about is how Christians view human nature. We Asatruar believe that humanity is descended (metaphorically or literally) from the Gods. Because of this unique relationship we are imbued with inherent dignity and can, in the course of spiritual evolution become like the Gods. How does this match up to Christian beliefs?

Answer
Our beliefs such that they are very different, yet at first glance do not seem to be that far apart.  Your belief is actually more similar to the Mormon Religion then the Christian Religion.

Christians (at least Catholic Christians) believe that Humanity (Mankind) is made in the image and likeness of God, therefore humanity as a whole is fundamentally good and human nature is unique.  Humanity is set apart from everything else in creation (including the angels) because humanity alone bears God's image.  To say that humanity was created in the image of God is to say that God's own Spirit dwells within us. Humanity alone is called to have a relationship with God---in the spousal sense.  That is to say to humanity alone does God love so deeply that God gives humanity his very self, His very life.  God loves nothing else in creation in this manner.

Christians however do NOT believe that human nature is descended from God, but CREATED by God.  Christians believe that God's nature is Divine and that God is eternally transcendent.  While humanity IS a part of the God head (In the Divine Person of Jesus Christ# humanity is in the God head because God #the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity# freely choose to ASSUME our created nature.  The main difference between the Divine Nature and Humanity nature #and even angelic nature# is that the Divine Nature is uncreated and eternal.  Human nature is created and mortal.  While God is present IN His creation, God remains DISTINCT from creation.  Philosophies of the East tend to associate creation and God as one such that the distinction between God and creation is lost or muddied.  

Christians believe that God became man so that man might become gods.  This is not to be confused with the belief you hold #or Mormon's hold) which suggests that God evolves or our humanity evolves to the point of becoming God like.  Our human nature lacks the capacity to become gods.  Human nature by definition is NOT Divine and therefore cannot under it's own power take on Divine characteristics.  It is the definitive and totally free choice of God through redemption to raise our humanity beyond it's natural capabilities and endow upon it Divination.  God does this not through evolution but through infusing his life within us.  God's life is distinct from our nature, but it is in our nature.  In this way God and man are totally united, work and function as one, yet man and God remain distinct.

Indeed because we are created in the image and likeness of God we are imbibed with inherent dignity, and we can become godlike. However again---while we both believe that we become godlike---we simply believe differently in how this happens.  You say because our nature descended from God, it is in a sense Divine and therefore evolves to become like the gods.  We say that our humanity is totally distinct and separate from God's nature, and is a deliberate creation of God.  We become godlike not through the inherent powers our our humanity but through God's gratuitousness, and we believe that God and God alone imbibes us with his life so that we become godlike.