Ανθρωπολογική γνωσιολογία κατά τη Βίβλο των Ηθικών του Αγίου Συμεών του Νέου Θεολόγου
Creators: name: Σίσκος, Γεώργιος Αγοράκη
Publisher: name: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Year: 2007
Subjects: Συμεών Νέος Θεολόγος
Φιλοκαλία
Χριστολογία Ενανθρώπηση
Θέωση Ακτιστο Φως
Symeon the New Theologian
Philokalia
Christology Incarnation
Deification Uncreated Light

description: Το πρώτο κεφάλαιο εστιάζεται στις θεμελιακές δομές της ανθρώπινης υπόστασης και του τρόπου με τον οποίο αυτές οι δομές δημιουργούν τη δυνατότητα στον άνθρωπο να μεθέξει τη ζωτική από το Θεό γνώση.Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο με άξονα το προπατορικό αμάρτημα θίγεται η μετάπλαση της ανθρώπινης φύσης, ο εγκλωβισμός της στο κράτος του θανάτου και αναλύεται η φθοροποιός επίδραση της αμαρτίας πάνω στη φυσική κατάσταση του ανθρώπου με τη διαμεσολάβηση της σαρκικής γνώσης. Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο καταγράφονται οι συνέπειες της ενανθρώπησης του Θεού Λόγου και του τρόπου με τον οποίο η υποστατική ένωση τν φύσεών του ανακαινίζει την ανθρώπινη φύση και της χαρίζει διαφορετικές δυνατότητες στην παραγωγή μιας γνώσης, που υπό προϋποθέσεις μπορεί να χαρακτηριστεί ως γνώση Θεού. Στο τέταρτο κεφάλαιο διερευνάται το γεγονός του ακτίστου φωτός. Αναλύεται η φανέρωση του θεού ως ακτίστου φωτός, η λειτουργία των αισθήσεων στη σύναψή τους με το άκτιστο φως και η θέα του Θεού από τον άνθρωπο
description: The present study deals with the phenomenon of gnosis (as knowledge in Greek) and the way that gnosis shapes up man's existential position. In Eastern Orthodox christian tradition, the role of gnosis as a functional part of human behavior rises up through the "Bible of Ethical Discourses" of Saint Symeon.The first part focuses on the fundamental structures of human substance, that is, the image of God and likeness. It analyzes the concrete characteristics of the image, that is the logical character of the image as well as free will, which give human nature the capacity for the reception of God. The subject matter of man's communion with God is gnosis, which mostly interests us in the present study. The second chapter of the first part describes gnosis before the Fall. Unavoidably, issues such as the status of human nature and the way that this status gave birth to a concrete gnosis are set, which presupposes a clear understanding of God's will and reveals a vital communion between God and man (on man's part) as well as the gnosis of God through man's vision.The keystone to the second part is the Original Sin and its result on the transformation of human nature and human's captivity under the state of death, both physical and mental. First though, in a different chapter human faculties such as intellect, logos, physical and mental sense are examined and their collaboration in order to produce gnosis is described. Man's relationship with his Creator and consequently the gnosis of "His Face" deprives from the former status. From now on in order for man to restore the redeeming gnosis, that is knowledge of God, which means literally life itself, man has to practise a crucial ascetic self-abnegation. The reason for that is not the substance itself but man's self-destructive energy. For its biggest part the chapter deals with the deadly distortive effect of the sin upon man's physical condition under the mediation of carnal gnosis ("sarkikh gnosis"). The third part investigates the concequences of the Incarnation of Logos and the way that the "hypostatic" union of the divine and human nature in the person of God the Word provides an ontological renewal of human nature. The different potential of natural upgrade gives the potential for a gnosis which can be characterized -under several ascetic conditions and under the total necessity of divine grace - as divine. The Incarnation of God the Word does not make the divinization of man by grace an a-priori fact. Man must mirror himself and the way that he lives to the divine commandments. Saint Symeon insists that God is aknowledgeable through the application of divine commandments. In fact, according to St. Symeon's words, God is hidden in the divine commandments. From another point of view gnosis of God, means an existential equation with Incarnated God's way. The virtues that St. Symeon describes are presents of divine grace. It is showed that virtues are attached to the gnosis of God and the application of virtues lead to an endless gnosis during man's desire to meet God himself. The fourth part deals with the divine light. God reveals himself as light. This light is the uncreated energy of Triune God, that is the way God exists in relevance with his creation. Another issue of exploration is how mental and physical senses are unified with the divine light. Two radical incompatible natures come to a conjunction. This happens upon the mediation of the divine grace of the Holy Spirit.A really fastidious point, at this matter, is the "self-visual" character of the divine light("autopticon"). This is a term derived from St. Gregory Palamas, but the same meaning, when it comes to the character of the light, derives from the textual context of St. Symeon.Specifically, the capability of human senses to receive the divine grace as well as divine grace itself are presents of the Holy Spirit. God sees through human substance God himself (Romanides).The gnosiology of the time being is set with semantic loans from Greek philosophy. Sense, as a term in the textual context, means the transporting energy which brings the external world into the soul, using as organ the physical senses. The soul unifies the different signals of the senses into a singular form. On the contrary, when man receives God through the appearance of divine light, sense has a singular form too in order to meet the simplicity of divine nature. What happens there, is that while sense has a singular character, the reception of divine energy becomes broader than the reception under the five senses. God is visualized, touched, smelt, heard and tasted but not in a natural manner. The last chapter is dedicated to the vision of God through the autobiographical experience of St. Symeon's. The vision of God rises up issues involved with i) the limited capacity of human nature to receive the infinite God and the diminution of the Uncreated in order to enter into the human nature, ii) the stages of "theoptia" and the different experiences according to man's situation, iii) the loss of consciousness known as the phenomenon of Ecstasy, iv) the vital dialogue with God "face to face", v) the necessity of divine commandments when man reaches that level of communion with God.