Glory (from the Latin gloria, "fame, renown") is used to denote the manifestation of God's presence in the Judeo-Christian religious tradition. God's glory is often associated with visible displays of light, e.g. thunderbolts, fire, brightness.
Divine glory is an important motif throughout Judeo-Christian theology, where God is regarded as the most glorious being. Since they are created in the Image of God, human beings can share or participate in divine glory as image-bearers. Like a mirror, the human person reflects God's glory, though imperfectly. (Thus Christians are instructed to "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.")[1]
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"Glory" is one of the most common words in scripture. In the Old Testament, the word is used to translate several Hebrew words, including Hod (הוד) and kabod; and in the New Testament it is used to translate the Greek word doxa (δόξα). The Hebrew word kabod (K-B-D) originally means "weight" or "heaviness." The same word is then used to express importance, honor, and majesty. Greek versions of the Hebrew Bible translated this concept with the word doxa, which was then used extensively in the New Testament as well. Doxa originally means "judgment, opinion", and by extension, "good reputation, honor". Assuming that these various words and uses should refer to a single underlying concept, St. Augustine renders it as clara notitia cum laude, "brilliant celebrity with praise".[2]
In the Book of Exodus 33:19, Moses is told that no human being can see the glory of Yahweh and survive:
Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Again I shall do what you have asked, because you enjoy my favour and because I know you by name.'
He then said, 'Please show me your glory.'
Yahweh said, 'I shall make all my goodness pass before you, and before you I shall pronounce the name Yahweh; and I am gracious to those to whom I am gracious and I take pity on those on whom I take pity. But my face', he said, 'you cannot see, for no human being can see me and survive.' Then Yahweh said, 'Here is a place near me. You will stand on the rock, and when my glory passes by, I shall put you in a cleft of the rock and shield you with my hand until I have gone past. Then I shall take my hand away and you will see my back; but my face will not be seen.'[3]
The prophet Ezekiel writes in his vision:
I saw a brilliance like amber, like fire, radiating from what appeared to be the waist upwards; and from what appeared to be the waist downwards, I saw what looked like fire, giving a brilliant light all round. The radiance of the encircling light was like the radiance of the bow in the clouds on rainy days. The sight was like the glory of Yahweh.[4]
In the New Testament, the corresponding word is the Greek doxa, sometimes also translated "brightness". For example at the nativity of Christ:
In the countryside close by there were shepherds out in the fields keeping guard over their sheep during the watches of the night. An angel of the Lord stood over them and the glory of the Lord shone round them. They were terrified, but the angel said, 'Do not be afraid. Look, I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people.'[5]
In the gospel of John, Jesus addresses a long prayer to God in which he says:
I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. Now, Father, glorify me with that glory I had with you before ever the world existed.[6]
Catholic doctrine asserts that the world was created as an act of God's free will for His own glory.[7] Catholic doctrine teaches however, that God does not seek to be glorified for His own sake, but for the sake of mankind that they may know Him.[8]
The theologian C. S. Lewis, in his essay The Weight of Glory, writes "Glory suggests two ideas to me, of which one seems wicked and the other ridiculous. Either glory means to me fame, or it means luminosity."[9] He concludes that glory should be understood in the former sense, but states that one should not desire fame before men (human glory), but fame before God (divine glory).
Glorification (also referred to as canonization) is the term used in the Orthodox Christian Church for the official recognition of a person as a saint of the Church. The Orthodox Christian term theosis is roughly equivalent to the Protestant concept of glorification.
It is in this sense that the resurrected bodies of the righteous will be "glorified" at the Second Coming. As the soul was illuminated through theosis so the restored body will be illuminated by the grace of God when it is "changed" at the Parousia (1 Corinthians 15:51). This glorified body will be like the resurrected body of Jesus (John 20:19-20); similar in appearance to the body during life, but of a more refined and spiritualized nature (1 Corinthians 15:39).
In his dissertation "Concerning the End for which God Created the World", Jonathan Edwards concludes, "[I]t appears that all that is ever spoken of in the Scripture as an ultimate end of God's works is included in that one phrase, `the glory of God'."
There are two events that occur during glorification, these are "the receiving of perfection by the elect before entering into the kingdom of heaven," and "the receiving of the resurrection bodies by the elect"
Glorification is the third stage of Christian development. The first being justification, then sanctification, and finally glorification. (Rom. 8:28-30) Glorification is the completion, the consummation, the perfection, the full realization of salvation.
Glorification as a term is modified by its target, aka, who is being glorified, God or the Christian? The 3rd stage of Christian development is to glorify God through one's life, to decrease so that He may increase so that as others encounter a living breathing Christian who is walking in Glorification, they encounter Christ and perceive His Glory and His presence. This is attainable while living, just as justification and sanctification are attainable while living.
Glorification is the Protestant alternative to purgatory, as it is "the means by which the elect receive perfection before entering into the kingdom of Heaven."
While purgatory deals with the means by which the elect become perfect, glorification deals with the elect becoming perfect.
The majority of Protestant denominations believe in this form of glorification, although some have alternative names.
After the final judgement, all the righteous dead shall arise and their bodies will be perfected and will become a glorified body. Only then can they enter Heaven. To paraphrase C. S. Lewis's Weight of Glory: "If we were to see them in their glorified forms we would be tempted to bow down and worship them."
Many people believe that this body will be very similar to the one Christ had after He rose from the dead. That is, a perfect body fit for the needs of eternal life in a new Heaven and new Earth.
In opposition to the desire for glory from God, stands the desire for glory from man. Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica, cautions that the desire of glory from man is a sin. He lists vainglory as a capital vice.[10]
The manifestation of glory (upon a saint for example) is often depicted in iconography using the religious symbol of a halo. Other common symbols of glory include white robes, crowns, jewels, gold, and stars. The Coronation of the Virgin is one of the most common depictions of Mary in glory.
There are a number of specialised senses of "glory" in art, which all derive from French usages of "gloire". "Glory" was the medieval English word for a halo or aureole, and continues to be used sometimes in this sense, mostly for the full-body version. The subject of Christ in Majesty is also known as "Christ in Glory", and in general any depiction of a sacred person in heaven (e.g. in the clouds, surrounded by angels) can be called a "glory", although this sense is obsolete.[11]