metamorphosis
Definition
Metamorphosis (Greek: μεταμόρφωσις, metamórphosis; “transformation of form”) describes in the corpus authors the radical transformation of the human being from its Adamic form toward its heavenly destiny — conformed to the image of Christ. The term is drawn from the biological metamorphosis of caterpillar into butterfly: a creature undergoes not mere growth or improvement but an essential change of form in which the old form perishes and a new one emerges. Key scriptural texts are Rom. 12:2 (metamorphousthe: “be transformed”) and 2Cor. 3:18.
In the corpus, metamorphosis is distinguished from mere moral improvement or reformation of the Adamic flesh. Restoration is not the polishing of the old nature but the birth of a new creation. The caterpillar-butterfly metaphor is employed by multiple authors to illustrate this principle.
Usage variants by author
Jones
Jones uses the caterpillar-butterfly metaphor as the central illustration of anthropological transformation. The soul serves as the womb of the divine Seed, which is the engine of metamorphosis. The Adamic head (the old identity) falls away in the process:
“This holy Seed is within the womb of your soul, growing and maturing until the time of full birth. This Seed is actually the real you. It is not of your Adamic flesh. This is best illustrated by observing the butterfly. It begins as a caterpillar, which wraps its entire body in a cocoon, except for its head, which soon dies and falls off. Yet it is transformed through the process called ‘metamorphosis’ into a living butterfly. In the same way, we have a living Seed within us that makes it possible for us to be transformed into a new creature. When this metamorphosis is complete, and the old Adamic head falls off, we will be born as a new creation in the image of Christ.” [The Laws of the Second Coming, chap. 14]
Metamorphosis is for Jones the end-point of the threefold feast pattern: the bodily transformation that receives its fulfilment at Tabernacles. The soul is not destroyed but reformed: its faculties of emotion, mind, and will become instruments of the new creation.
Noordzij
Noordzij uses the caterpillar-butterfly metaphor as an image of the transition from the earthly to the heavenly human, and connects it with the willingness for humiliation and seclusion (cf. Gal. 1:12-17):
“What is the state of the transformation into God’s image and likeness? Have I spent long enough as an ‘earthly caterpillar’ cocooned, to become a ‘butterfly’ ‘from above’? What a beautiful image of absolute separation for metamorphosis to take place!” [From Passover to Tabernacles, section on the Great Day of Atonement]
Metamorphosis for Noordzij requires active preparation: humiliation and stillness as preconditions for the transformation. Whoever does not lay aside the works of the flesh will not reach the metamorphosis.