Anabasis describes the upward movement of God or the believer — ascent toward the holy, toward God's presence, toward heaven. The great biblical anabasis is Christ's own: his ascension from earth to the right hand of the Father, completing the arc that began with his katabasis (descent, incarnation). Theologically, anabasis is inseparable from katabasis — the Son descended into our condition that we might ascend into his glory. The Psalms of Ascent (Pss 120–134) were sung by pilgrims going "up" to Jerusalem — a liturgical anabasis mirroring the soul's ascent to God. The Christian life itself is an anabasis: a steady, disciplined movement upward from glory to glory (2 Cor 3:18), against the downward gravity of sin.
Webster 1828 does not include anabasis as a theological term; it was a classical Greek military and literary term.
• Anabasis — In classical literature, Xenophon's Anabasis (c. 370 BC) recounts the march of Greek mercenaries from Persia back to Greece — an arduous upward journey through hostile territory. The word became the paradigm for any heroic ascent or arduous journey upward against all odds.
• Ephesians 4:8–10 — "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives…In saying 'he ascended,' what does it mean but that he had also descended?"
• Psalm 24:3 — "Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?"
• John 20:17 — "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 — "We…are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another."
• Hebrews 12:22 — "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem."
G305 — anabainō (ἀναβαίνω): to go up, to ascend; used for Christ's ascension, for pilgrims going to Jerusalem, for the smoke of incense rising before God.
G308 — anablepō (ἀναβλέπω): to look up; the posture of the soul in anabasis — eyes lifted toward God (Ps 123:1).
Hebrew עָלָה (alah, H5927): to go up, ascend — used for going up to Jerusalem, up to the temple, up to meet God. Root of aliyah (ascent to Israel) and olah (burnt offering — that which goes up to God).
The modern age has inverted anabasis: instead of ascent toward God, culture offers the illusion of self-elevation through achievement, status, and technology — a counterfeit anabasis that goes nowhere vertical. Secular progressivism speaks of humanity "ascending" through evolution and reason, cutting the tether to the God who alone can lift the soul. True anabasis is not human striving upward but the gracious act of God drawing the soul toward himself — "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" (John 6:44).
Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- → Greek bainō (βαίνω, to go, to walk, to step) → ana- (ἀνά, up) + bainō → anabainō (to go up) → anabasis (ἀνάβασις): the act of going up; a march upward Counterpart: kata- (κατά, down) + bainō → katabainō → katabasis (the descent — used for the Incarnation) Hebrew parallel: עָלָה (alah, H5927) — to go up, ascend → מַעֲלָה (ma'alah, H4609) — ascent, step, stair → שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת (Shir HaMa'alot) — "Song of Ascents" (Psalms 120–134)