During the past several weeks I have been sharing various thoughts about Eastern Christian spirituality, an idea and term which, I realize, is not, necessarily, easily understood. It is truly my firmest conviction that the spirituality of no two people … Continue reading
Category Archives: The Spirituality Of the Christian East
As I shared in the last issue of this article, one of primary foundations of Eastern Spirituality is Hesychasm. When we speak of Hesychasm, however, we must be careful to assign to each element its right proportions, and first to … Continue reading
In considering the liturgical element to Eastern spirituality and piety, we cannot avoid facing the very difficult question of a possible influence of the mystery cults on Hellenistic Christianity. That Christianity sometimes borrowed from the vocabulary and rites of the … Continue reading
In thinking more about eastern spirituality, I have decided that at this point I would like to present some information about the historical development of this spirituality. Some of this information, I believe, will put into context some of the … Continue reading
Theophan suggests how God’s grace works in awakening a person from the sleep of sin. God’s grace achieves this by exposing to the consciousness and feeling of a man the insignificance and dishonor of the things to which he is … Continue reading
The awakening of a sinner, Theophan says, is such an action of God’s grace in his heart that he, having awakened from sleep, sees his sinfulness and feels his danger. He then begins to fear for himself and concerns himself … Continue reading
I have shared with you, my readers, that Theophan believed that a sinner (i.e., a person who is not concerned about God or their spiritual) is in the same position as a man who is submerged in deep sleep. Just … Continue reading
I have been sharing with you, my readers, the thoughts of Theophan the Recluse about what it means to be human. He asserts that we humans are, if we do not make a decision to think about God and our … Continue reading
Theophan, as I shared, believed that the person who neglects his desire for God and his own salvation (i.e., sinner) will remain in a ceaseless whirl of the three types of emptiness forever (i.e., emptiness of mind, will and heart) … Continue reading
As I expressed in the last issue of this article, Theophan believed that when a person neglects his desire for God and his own salvation, he is filled with anxiety and trouble about many things. Luke first expressed this idea … Continue reading