In Defense of Heavenly Hierarchies
it's all about Servanthood & Lifting Up
There's too much evidence of hierarchical realities in nature & special revelation to ignore.
At issue is what does it mean evaluatively & summons normatively.
Beyond a primary beatitude, as mediated by each entity's divine indwelling according to its essential mode (for persons, the beatific vision per an optimal aesthetic intensity), secondary beatitudes can be realized as supersufficient glories (per a broadened aesthetic scope), whether gifted monergically by election or synergically & meritoriously per theotic character - dispositions.
What it means, then, is that there are different degrees of supersufficient glory. Whether one's been elected or has volunteered to manifest these higher degrees (as measured in aesthetic scope, not intensity), they're responding to a summons to commensurately become Servants of the Lowly.
I (idiosyncratically?) draw a distinction between beatific & theotic dynamics.
The beatific's monergic & essentially ordered to the objective end THAT we manifest God; it's subjective end or primary beatitude gifts a sufficiently abundant unitive enjoyment.
The theotic's tropically ordered objectively to HOW & how MANY ways we manifest God. It broadens our scope of subjective unitive enjoyment & supersufficiently gifts one more secondary beatitudes.
Postmortem theosis can certainly continue apace but an eternal perichoretic Christogony will leave us all only ever asymptotically instantiating the logoi of the Totus Christus.
While we all enjoy the same theotic limiting potencies, I see no reason that our antemortem character dispositions couldn't effect an hierarchical differentiation of God-agents, postmortem, as would be based on a metric of how many of those potencies we'll have already reduced to unitive acts.
That others may grow more intimate than I, Lord, grant me the grace to desire it, provided that I grow into that degree of intimacy & glory that I should.
As Teresa of Jesus prayed, stepping out of a mud puddle: "Lord, if you have so few close friends, just consider the way that You treat us!". That's what I'm thinking about whenever I pray the Litany of Humility and end with "Thanks, Lord, but I'm good!".
"...secondary beatitudes can be realized as supersufficient glories (per a broadened aesthetic scope)."
Ah, so the hierarchies define 'secondary' beatitudes. Then OK. I mean, if everyone is participating in the eternal ascent into ever-increasing aesthetic enjoyment - sure. If we're talking about a hierarchy of diverse vocations or modes of expression, I'm in. The beauty of a stained-glass window depends upon all its contributing parts - different colors, different kinds of glass, metal for the framing, etc.
If this is what we're talking about, very cool. I think David M (unless I'm mistaken) is talking about a hierarchy of final participation that forever expresses abiding 'judgments' (including an eternal hell, so that eternal torment can be seen as the lowest level in a divine hierarchy of being).