THEOSISTheodoret of Cyrus
When the adversaries I have dispatched against you strip you of your sovereign power, and when they end your life, shall we still, in pride and arrogance, refer to ourselves as divine, attempting to instill fear through the name of God? Yet this cannot be. A shift in circumstance will lead to a transformation in mindset. You will be wounded, hardened, and brought to death, akin to your uncircumcised subjects, and you will realize that you are merely a mortal, not a deity. My judgment stands firm and undeniable. This was articulated by God when He declared, ‘As I have spoken,’ says Adonai the Lord. This applies to the destructive spirit that instigated the deceitful prince of Tyre. God also threatens him with annihilation from foreign invaders and oppressors.
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Such were those who embraced and received the knowledge of God through the ancient proclamation of the Gospel. The Apostle articulates this when he notes that at times we act foolishly, are disobedient, and are led astray, indulging in desires and various indulgences, living in malice and envy, detestable and hating one another (Titus 3:3); for God Himself, through the esteemed Moses, affirmed, ‘They have provoked Me to anger with what is not God; they have moved Me to jealousy with their idols: and I will provoke them to jealousy with those who are not a people’ (Deuteronomy 32:21). Hence, through these once ignorant, unreasonable, thoughtless, adulterous, and despicable oppressors, strangers, and Gentiles, the prophetic word foretells the devil’s defeat. Yet it may be revealed that the term “strangers” is attributed to the faithful who have believed. For it is stated, “Ye who were once far off are made near” (Eph. 2:13). God indicates that with their swords, they will shatter the cunning of the devil, dismantling your plots, putting an end to your malevolent schemes against humanity, demolishing the altars you constructed for yourself, and bringing you to the void of death, claiming the authority to trample upon the serpent and the scorpion, and over all your power (Luke 10:19). You will come to know, indeed, that you have deceived people in vain by presenting yourself as a god. This will occur because your wisdom remains uncircumcised, and you have failed to sever the grievous passion of arrogance within you.