“On The Human Soul” – Fr. Theodoros Giannakopolous

I believe this was the second installment of Fr. Theodoros’ “Orthodoxy as Therapy” lecture series. You can access the recording of the lecture here, and you can access the full index of lectures here.

In this installment, Fr. Theodoros explores the distinctly Orthodox concept of the nous, and the five aspects of the soul (logical, temperamental, etc.). In stark contrast to Western juridical understandings of salvation where the believer is in some way made good enough to go to Heaven (be it through the system of merits in the Latin church, or the effect of sola fide in the Protestant groups), Orthodox soteriology is the recovery of the state of communion of God’s grace (His uncreated energies) which man lost as a result of the Fall. It is the complete restoration of human anthropology, which is why the inspired St. Paul refers to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as “the new Adam” (cf. Hebrews 2:5-9). This is typified for us by the Lord Himself on Mt. Tabor (Matt. 17:1-9) where we see what we truly were intended to be: radiant and grace-filled with the uncreated energies of God. In Orthodoxy, the person being saved goes through three stages: purification, illumination, and deification (or theosis). “God became man so that man might become god,” so the ancient saying attributed to Sts. Gregory and Athanasius goes.

Once we know what we’re looking for, we’ll find this concept everywhere in Orthodoxy. Take for example the pre-Communion prayer of St. Symeon the New Theologian, where he says (emphasis mine),

“Partaking of the Divine Mysteries Which make men like unto God, I am no longer alone, but abide, O my Christ, with Thee, the all-effulgent Light Which illumineth the world… According to Thy mercy and condescension Thou cleansest those who repent with their whole heart; Thou enlightenest them, and makest them participants of the light, and sharers of Thy Divinity. And, albeit, it is strange for angels and men to comprehend, Thou oft-times holdest converse with them as with Thy true friends.”

The Church doesn’t grant the title of “theologian” to someone who has filled their head with academic facts about Christian experience; in fact, the Church doesn’t really grant the title of “theologian” to many people at all. Only three in the 2,000 year history of the Church are granted this title: St. John the Apostle and Theologian; St. Gregory the Theologian; and St. Symeon, the New Theologian. The Church grants the title of “theologian,” as St. Maximos and the rest of the Fathers teach, “to the one who prays.” The unfolding of this noetic reality is granted only by love for God proven manifest in obedience and prayer, facilitated of course by the Medicine of Immortality.

The Greek lay writer Alexander Kalomiros expresses this three-stage concept quite succinctly in his work, “Against False Union” where he writes (emphasis mine):

“The only way of knowledge is purity of heart. It alone permits the indwelling of the Holy Trinity in man. In this way alone is God and His whole creation known, without being conceptualized. He is known as He really is without becoming comprehensible and without being diminished in order to fit into the stifling limits of the human intellect. Thus the mind (nous) of man, living and uncomprehending, comes into union with the living and incomprehensible God. Knowledge is the living contact of man with the Creator and His creation, in mutual love.” pp.34-35

The “purity of heart” corresponds to the first stage, i.e., purification; the “coming into union” corresponds to the second stage, i.e., some degree of illumination; and the final stage is theosis, i.e., the constant, “living contact of man with the Creator” whereby man becomes a partaker of the divine nature (cf. 2 Peter 1:4), fully immersed in and permeated by the uncreated energies of God. This is the entire goal of our walk with Christ, our entire purpose in life. Everything else should be subordinated to this goal. That is what means to be a true Orthodox Christian.

May God grant Fr. Theodoros many more thought-provoking lectures!

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