Climacus and The Ladder of Divine Ascent

Saint John Climacus whom we commemorate this Sunday is known for his work on the ascetical life entitled, The Ladder of Divine Ascent.  What does this mean “Divine Ascent”?  Let us talk about what is behind this designation.  To do so we need to speak about Orthodox anthropology and our ascetic tradition.  In order to do this I choose to refer to writings of Harry Boosalis a contemporary author and retired seminary professor. In his book, Orthodox Spiritual Life according to Saint Silouan the Athonite, he tells us:

“Orthodox anthropology teaches that man is created to participate in the life of God.  This is the essential meaning of the Scriptural account of the creation of man, ‘And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness…so God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him…’ This passage conveys the fundamental truth that man is a spiritual being and that the true meaning if human existence is understood only in its proper theological perspective.  According to the Orthodox view, God grants to man through grace that which belongs to Himself by nature, i.e., divine life.  Man was created to be a vessel of divine grace.”  (Orthodox Spiritual Life according to Saint Silouan the Athonite, St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 2000,  pp. 27-8)

However,

“Man was not created is a state of completed perfection…For Orthodox anthropology, the term ‘image’ has a different meaning from the term ‘likeness’.  Image may be seen as the potential inherent in man for sanctification, while the term ‘likeness’ refers to its perfection.  Or in other words, one could say ‘image’ implies ‘potentiality’, whereas ‘likeness’ implies ‘actuality’”.  (ibid. p. 29)

In the service for a monastic the process from ‘potentiality’ to ‘actuality’ is clearly spoken of as follows:  

“Having preserved that which in the image of God, and set thy mind as master over the pernicious passions through fasting, thou didst ascend to that which is in the likeness of God, as far as thou wast able; for, compelling thy nature manfully, thou didst strive to subdue that which is baser to that which is more sublime, and to enslave the flesh to the spirit.” (The Menaion of the Orthodox Church, Volume V, The Saint John of Kronstadt Press, Libertyville, Tennessee, Second Edition 2012, p. 280)  

One of our Holy Fathers Diadokos of Photiki, who was an ascetic and bishop also writes beautifully on this subject beginning with the grace of Baptism:

“Divine grace confers on us two gifts through the baptism of regeneration, one being infinitely superior to the other.  The first gift is given to us at once, when grace renews us in the actual waters of baptism and cleanses all the lineaments of our soul, that is, the image of God in us, by washing away every stain of sin.  The second—our likeness to God—requires our cooperation.  When the intellect begins to perceive the Holy Spirit with full consciousness, we should realize that grace is beginning to paint the divine likeness over the divine image in us.  Artists first draw the outline of a man in monochrome, and then add one color after another, until little by little they capture the likeness of the subject down to the smallest details.  In the same way the grace of God starts by remaking the divine image in man into what it was when he was first created.  But when it sees us longing with all our heart for the beauty of the divine likeness and humbly standing naked in its atelier [art studio], then by making one virtue after another come into flower and exalting the beauty of the soul ‘from glory to glory’ (2 Cor. 3:18), it depicts the divine likeness on the soul.”  (The Philokalia, The Complete Text, Volume One, Faber and Faber, 1986, p.288)

It should be obvious why we call the ladder or book of St. John, “The Ladder of Divine Ascent”.  Since, as Harry Boosalis points out, “man is created to participate in the life of God…God grants to man through grace that which belongs to Himself by nature, i.e., divine life.” St. Diadokos uses the terms, “divine image” and “divine likeness”.  And he states, “Divine grace confers on us two gifts through the baptism of regeneration.” 

So let us strive according to the best of our ability to live the ascetic principles of our Orthodox Church which is so clearly laid out for us in St. John’s “Ladder of Divine Ascent”.  He reveals to us the passions which attack us and distort the image of God in us, and he goes on to instruct us on how to overcome them.  In addition he speaks of the virtues we need to acquire in order to ascend in to the likeness of God.  So, with these instructions as a guide let us make a movement to preserve that which is in the image of God in us and ascend into the likeness.  The more we achieve this so much the more will God see us as one of His own and grant us a rich entrance into his heavenly kingdom.  Amen.