Theoria, often translated as “contemplation,” is a critical concept for most of the ancient fathers of the Church, and it is important for us to talk about it right away. Coming into true contemplation, theoria, is, according to the Conferences, the essential purpose of a monk’s life. According to Abba Moses, theoria is a state of mind in which the monk contemplates “only the vision of God.”41 We may thus define it as the transcendent and total experience of God that is commonly referred to by many later fathers as the vision of divine light. In true theoria, the Christian proceeds through contemplative prayer to become conscious of nothing but God, establishing a direct connection with the divine that she inevitably fails to describe in words.
As we have already seen in the teachings of Abba Moses, there is little or no meaningful distinction between God himself and the kingdom of God in the thought of the Conferences. As such, theoria, since it amounts to a complete and total connection of the mind with God, is, in turn, a mental experience in this life of the kingdom of God itself. It is thus a means by which the monk receives a foretaste of his telos while still awaiting its fullness. For the fathers of the Conferences, theoria is the most profound such human experience of the kingdom of God that is possible for those still alive in the fallen flesh. It is therefore no surprise that Abba Moses calls theoria the chiefest good for Christians.
You can see, then, that the Lord has established theoria (that is, divine contemplation) as the principal good. Thus, we understand the other virtues to be of the second order (granted, they are necessary and useful and good), since every one of them is done in order to realize this one purpose. Indeed, the Lord says “you are worried and troubled by many things, yet only a few are needful-or, really, one” [Lk 10.4 I]. Thus, he locates the greatest good not in practical, laudable works that bear many fruits, but in the contemplation of the Lord himself one thing-simple.42
For Abba Moses, the point of practicing virtues is eventually to arrive at the contemplation of the kingdom of God in theoria. This is true to so great a degree that there is even a sense in which virtues become potential impediments to the ultimate good in that they can distract a monk &om the work of contemplation. Thus teaches Abba Theonas in the twenty-third conference.
So, while all of the virtues that I have discussed are good and precious things in themselves, still they pale in comparison to the brilliance of theoria. Indeed, they often drag the saints away and cut them off from that sublime contemplation, doing so by way of earthly concerns (albeit, often including good works).43
The Christian focus on virtue and good works, according to Abba Theonas, must not exceed its place such as to become an impediment to the total devotion of the mind to God alone that is contemplation.
In spite of this fact, it is impossible for any person to remain in this most contemplative state while still living in the flesh of this world, as Abba Theonas himself also notes. One must eventually tend to the needs of the body, if nothing else.
Even among the most preeminent of all just and holy people, who do you suppose-while still in the shackles of this body could possibly hold on to this highest good to the point of never ceasing in divine contemplation, not for a minute drawn by earthly thoughts away from him who alone is good?44
The implied answer to Abba Theonas’ question is “no one.” Yet the fathers of the Conferences nonetheless seek out what moments of theoria are possible for them at every turn. For them, contemplation is time spent in the kingdom of God, and, as we noted in the beginning of this chapter, it is the kingdom of God that is the telos of the Christian.
For the fathers of the Conferences, the Christian alive in this world can, in principle, attain to a taste of her real telos for a time-an experience of what is her promised destiny if she seeks purity of heart. To experience the kingdom is not something that awaits Christians only at the end of time (though it does so await us), it is also something that can become a present reality at least to a degree. It is for this reason that the fathers of the Conferences valued theoria so highly, and that they understood the practice of virtue as preparing the way for theoria in just the same way that purity of heart prepares one for the kingdom of God.
As we continue our exploration of how the wisdom of the Conferences can be applied in lay life, we will need to maintain an awareness of how really present the fathers believed the kingdom could be to us here and now. This is especially because theoria, as we will see, is not the only profound experience foreshadowing the kingdom that can arise from virtue. Purity of heart makes way for all manner of holy experiences of our telos, and we will talk about some of them in the chapters to come.
~Daniel G. Opperwall, A Layman in the Desert
41 Conf. I.VIII.3.
42 Conf. I.VIII.2-3.
43 Conf. 23.IV4.
44 Conf. 23. V3.
