The Orthodox Church goes further, making the human side flow upwards rather than downwards, as in Athanasius of Alexandria's fourth-century statement that Jesus Christ was incarnate so we could be made God.

Judged as of 2017-04-11. True: Orthodox theology teaches theosis (deification), where humanity is lifted up into the divine, and Athanasius (4th century, De Incarnatione 54) wrote words to the effect that 'He became man so that we might become God.' Mostly true: both hold, with a minor slip, such as a slightly misattributed wording or the doctrine being shared by other traditions so that 'further' is debatable. Mixed: one of the two parts (the doctrine or the attribution) is accurate and the other is not. Mostly false: the statement distorts Orthodox teaching (e.g. describes Christ's human nature itself flowing upward in a way theologians reject) while resting on theosis. False: the Orthodox Church does not hold such a doctrine and Athanasius made no such statement.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 On the Incarnation of the Word New Advent (English translation of Athanasius, On the Incarnation)

   “For He was made man that we might be made God ; and He manifested Himself by a body that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father;”

2. E2 Divinization (Christian) - Wikipedia Wikipedia · 26 June 2003

   “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.”

3. E3 Theosis OrthodoxWiki · 9 April 2012

   “Athanasius amplifies the meaning of this verse when he says theosis is "becoming by grace what God is by nature" (De Incarnatione, I).”

4. E4 New Horizons June 2026: Orthodox Soteriology Orthodox Presbyterian Church (New Horizons, article by Robert Letham) · June 2026

   “Becoming more like God means becoming more human, since being human is ultimately being in the image of Christ, who is God.”

E1, a translation of Athanasius's On the Incarnation, contains the sentence "He was made man that we might be made God." E2 attributes the same line to Athanasius. E3, from OrthodoxWiki, presents theosis as a doctrine of Orthodox theology: humans "becoming by grace what God is by nature." Both parts of the true criterion are therefore met: the Orthodox doctrine of deification and the Athanasius attribution.