The traditional description of salvation is the “atonement theory.” God created the world good. Adam messed up and offended God causing the gates of heaven to be shut. Since the offense was infinite the remedy needed to be infinite as well. Only God could repair an offense against God. Jesus as the Son of God atoned for Adam’s sin, the gates of heaven were opened and humanity was saved. St. Paul suggests a different theory of salvation in the epistle to the Colossians. We can call it the “divinization theory.” All things were created through him and for him. In other words, the whole point of creation was so that God could become incarnate in the world. God shared humanity so we could share divinity.
