{{Short description|Christian term}} {{about|the Christian doctrine|the recording by Marduk|Glorification (EP)|the anime film|Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion}} {{Split and dab|discuss=Talk:Glorification#Split|date=July 2024}} {{refimprove|date=April 2012}} '''Glorification''' may have several meanings in Christianity. The Nicene Creed states that God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are glorified.<ref>Church of England, [https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2021-02/nicene-creed.pdf The Nicene Creed], accessed on 24 July 2025</ref> From the Catholic canonization to the similar sainthood of the Eastern Orthodox Church to salvation in Christianity in Protestant beliefs, the glorification of the human condition can be a long and arduous process.
==Catholicism== The Catholic Church associates the resurrection of Jesus with his glorification,<ref name=v2>Second Vatican Council, [https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html ''Sacrosanctum Concilium''], paragraph 106, published on 4 December 1963, accessed on 24 July 2025</ref> and teaches that "at the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign for ever with Christ, glorified in body and soul. The universe itself will be renewed. [...] The visible universe, then, is itself destined to be transformed, 'so that the world itself, restored to its original state, facing no further obstacles, should be at the service of the just', sharing their glorification in the risen Jesus Christ."<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2Q.HTM Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1042, 1047]</ref>
The act of canonization, which the Catholic Church does not normally call glorification (as theologically, God is the one who glorifies), is something reserved in the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic Churches to the Apostolic See. This occurs at the conclusion of a long process requiring extensive proof a candidate for canonisation lived and died in an exemplary and holy way. The Church’s official declaration of a person or persons' sanctity implies them as presently in Heaven enjoying the Beatific Vision, and thus may be publicly invoked. Canonisation is therefore the act wherein the Church recognises and declares someone is a saint, and not the common misnomer that it is the "making" of a saint.
Canonization also decrees the name of the saint be inscribed in the Roman Martyrology, and that veneration may be given to the saint throughout the universal Church. Veneration within the liturgy is regulated by the norms of each individual liturgical rite: on weekdays of the year with no assigned particular solemnity, feast, or obligatory memorial, the Roman Rite allows celebration of the Mass of any Saint listed in the Martyrology for that day.<ref>[https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Resources/GIRM/Documents/GIRM.pdf General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 355]</ref>
Beatification is a similar decree permitting public veneration of a person or group recognised as holy, only within a limited geographical area or in certain communities, such as a religious institute.<ref>"Beatification, in the present discipline, differs from canonization in this: that the former implies (1) a locally restricted, not a universal, permission to venerate, which is (2) a mere permission, and no precept; while canonization implies a universal precept" ([https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02364b.htm Beccari, Camillo. "Beatification and Canonization".] ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 2. New York, New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. Accessed 27 May 2009.).</ref>
==Eastern Orthodox Church<!--linked from 'Canonization'-->== [[Image:PhilipandNikon.jpg|thumb|Tsar Alexis of Russia (reigned 1645-1676) praying before the relics of Metropolitan Philip of Moscow (in office 1566-1568) in the Presence of Patriarch Nikon.]] [[Image:RelicsStJohnShanghai.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The incorrupt Relics of St. John (Maximovitch) at the time of his glorification in San Francisco in 1994]] {{also|Canonization#Eastern Orthodox Church}} The Eastern Orthodox Church, as, for instance, the Orthodox Church in America, uses the term "glorification" to refer to the official recognition of a person as a saint of the Church.<ref>[http://www.oca.org/FS.NA-Document.asp?ID=83 "The Glorification of Saints in the Orthodox Church"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408161218/http://oca.org/FS.NA-Document.asp?ID=83 |date=2016-04-08 }} by Fr. Joseph Frawley</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.oca.org/fs/glorification-of-saints#:~:text=The%20formal%20Rite%20of%20Glorification,or%20her%20commemoration%20is%20established | title=The Glorification of the Saints in the Orthodox Church }}</ref> The Greek Orthodox church avoids using the term "canonization" because it is a Latin Church term.<ref name=pomazansky />
The Russian Orthodox Church uses the terms канонизация ("canonization"),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pravmir.ru/pochemu-byl-kanonizirovan-nikolaj-vtoroj/|title=Почему был канонизирован Николай Второй?}}</ref> прославление <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pravmir.ru/proslavlenie-svyatyx-eto-ne-delo-uzkogo-kruga-specialistov-eto-delo-vsej-cerkvi/|title=Прославление святых – это не дело узкого круга специалистов, это дело всей Церкви.}}</ref> ("glorification"), and the act of "numbering among the saints".<ref name=pomazansky>{{cite web|author=Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky|url=https://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/glorification_saints.htm|title=The Glorification of Saints|website=www.fatheralexander.org|date=1996|access-date=11 October 2025}}</ref>
==Oriental Orthodox Church== The Oriental Orthodox Churches also hold a doctrinal tradition similar to the Eastern Orthodox Churches whereby martyrs are not in need of any formal glorification. With time, the greatness of their sanctity which is venerated by the faithful is recognized by the Church. In the words of Armenian Patriarch H. H. Karekin II, {{quote|The Armenian Church doesn't sanctify. It recognizes the sanctity of saints or of those people that is already common among people or has been shown with evidence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://armenpress.am/eng/news/792552/armenian-apostolic-church-to-canonize-armenian-genocide-victims-on-april-23-after-long-interval.html|title=Armenian Apostolic Church to canonize Armenian Genocide victims on April 23 after long interval|date=3 February 2015 }}</ref>}} This is in conformity with the tradition of other Churches in the Oriental Orthodox family such as Coptic Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Indian Orthodox Church. The instances of glorification of the 21 Coptic martyrs<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/3718470/isis-copts-egypt/|title=Christians Mourn Their Relatives Beheaded by ISIS|magazine=Time}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/02/23/coptic-church-recognises-martyrdom-of-21-egyptians-killed-by-isis/|title=Coptic Church recognises martyrdom of 21 Christians killed by ISIS - CatholicHerald.co.uk|date=23 February 2015}}</ref> in 2015 or the victims of Armenian genocide<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/world-news/detail/articolo/turchia-turkeyturquia-28409/|title=Armenian Church irritates Turkey with plans to canonize genocide victims}}</ref> of 1915 simply serve as official recognition given by the hierarchs to the steadfast faith of those who laid down their lives in defense of their Christian identity.
==Reformed Churches== {{Main|Glorification in Reformed Christianity}} 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. (Romans 8:28-30) Glorification is the completion, the consummation, the perfection, and the full realization of salvation.
===Receiving of perfection=== Glorification is the means by which the elect are delivered from their sins before entering into the kingdom of Heaven.<ref name="PRCA2019"/> According to Reformed Christians, glorification is a continuous, flowing process, whereby believers in Jesus the Christ, who have either died or who are raptured alive (called up into heaven), receive glorified, perfect bodies and souls, sinless and Christlike.<ref name="PRCA2019">{{cite web |title=Glorification |url=https://www.prca.org/current/Doctrine/Volume%205/news-e21.htm |publisher=Protestant Reformed Churches in America |access-date=23 May 2019 |language=en}}</ref> It is not a painful process.<ref name="Walls2002">{{cite book |last1=Walls |first1=Jerry L. |title=Heaven: The Logic of Eternal Joy |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199880553 |language=en}}</ref>
Jerry L. Walls and James B. Gould have likened that process to the core or sanctification view of purgatory.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vEScDQAAQBAJ&dq=gould+%22core+view%22+purgatory&pg=PA74 James B. Gould, ''Practicing Prayer for the Dead: Its Theological Meaning and Spiritual Value'' (Wipf and Stock 2016), pp. 73−76]</ref> "Grace is much more than forgiveness, it is also transformation and sanctification, and finally, glorification. We need more than forgiveness and justification to purge our sinful dispositions and make us fully ready for heaven. Purgatory is nothing more than the continuation of the sanctifying grace we need, for as long as necessary to complete the job".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=kFqzG3UPz3EC&dq=%22finally+glorification%22+Walls&pg=PA174 Jerry L. Walls, ''Purgatory: The Logic of Total Transformation'' (Oxford University Press 2012), p. 174]; cf. [https://books.google.com/books?id=61Ndt5cmkhwC&dq=purgatory+%22situate+a+process+of+purification+within%22&pg=PA53 Jerry L. Walls, ''Heaven: The Logic of Eternal Joy'' (Oxford University Press 2002), pp. 53−62] and [https://www.firstthings.com/article/2002/04/purgatory-for-everyone Jerry L. Walls, "Purgatory for Everyone"]</ref>
Glorification is the Reformed alternative to purgatory.{{cn|date=May 2019}} According to the theologies of most major Protestant groups, purgatory is a doctrine of the Catholic Church, a holding place for those whose lives were dominated by venial sins but not guilty of mortal sins.{{cn|date=May 2019}}
===Receiving of the resurrection bodies=== 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."{{cn|date=April 2019}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== ;Protestantism * http://www.abideinchrist.com/keys/sanctification-perfect.html * http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/books/wws/salv17.htm{{Dead link|date=January 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}
{{Christian Soteriology}}
Category:Christian terminology Category:Posthumous recognitions Category:Christian practices Category:Christian saints Category:Glory (honor)