Irenaeus
[T]he Word became flesh and the Son of God became the Son of Man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.
Marianne C. SharpModern revelation tells us that the glory of God is intelligence, and that as God is now, man may become. But if we are to travel the path of eternal progression we must be ever seeking and gaining knowledge and intelligence, for the Prophet Joseph said, “A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge,” and the Lord declares, “It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance.
AthanasiusThe Word was made flesh in order that we might be enabled to be made gods.
Ramez Naam‘Playing God’ is actually the highest expression of human nature. The urges to improve ourselves, to master our environment, and to set our children on the best path possible have been the fundamental driving forces of all human history. Without these urges to “play God,” the world as we know it wouldn’t exist today.
How, then, shall he become a God, who has not as yet been made a man? Or how can he be perfect who was but lately created? How, again, can he be immortal, who in his mortal nature did not obey his maker? For it must be that thou, at the outset, shouldest hold the rank of a man, and then afterwards partake of the glory of God.
Do we cast blame on him [God] because we were not made gods from the beginning, but were at first created merely as men, and then later as gods? Although God has adopted this course out of his pure benevolence, that no one may charge him with discrimination or stinginess, he declares, “I have said, ye are gods; and all of you are sons of the Most High.” . . .
If the Word became a man, it was so men may become gods.
Our Lord Jesus Christ . . . became what we are, so that He might bring us to be even what He Himself is.