On Jesus

[1] “Hominification” (otherwise called “hominization”) constitutes that process, complementary to man’s deification (or “partaking in God”), whereby the deity assumes human nature in the man Jesus Christ. The concept of deification itself, arguably having its source in the Biblical witness (e.g. 2 Pet 1:4), has a long history, particularly within the Eastern Churches, though was also found from at least the time of St Augustine in the writings of Latin Christians. Though the process of deification was believed by some to be available to people in via, that is to say, during their lifetimes as Christians, the full results thereof were believed only to be accessible to those in patria or, in other words, to those enjoying beatitude in heavenly glory. Ramon Llull adopts and adapts this concept, seeing the dynamic activity of the principle and essence of Deity (i.e. God’s divinity) as unfolding in the correlatives thereof. The process of deification, therefore, as open to mankind, signifies a movement of ascending refluència (or causal reflux, Neoplatonically conceived), while that of hominification represents God’s descending influència (or causal influence, likewise conceived) upon man, through the person of His Son, within the human nature of Jesus Christ. Over the course of Llull’s writerly output, he progressively emphasises the superior significance of God’s descent (i.e. of divine causality) over man’s own ascent (to beatitude), thereby indicating the subaltern nature of human interests to those of God, as exemplified by his framing of these two complementary movements within his own doctrine of intentions (for which, see Ch. LXXIV, § 6, and Ch. XCIII). The Lullian “first intention” consists in man’s principle purpose or duty, namely, to remember, know, honour, love, serve and praise God; the “second intention” consists in anything which contributes towards the aforesaid primary goal. In Llull’s writings, hominification, with respect to the generality of mankind rather than the specificity of Christ, describes the process whereby man becomes most fully himself insofar as he progresses towards the perfection of his nature via the fulfilment of his “first intention”.