By Abbot Tryphon, October 22, 2019
The limits of human reason and the knowledge of God
The things that are of God are far beyond the capabilities of our finite mind to comprehend. According to Orthodox theology, the divine can only be known through the nous, that place in the heart that is our true center. It, unlike the brain, is capable of knowledge that is beyond human comprehension, coming as it does from noetic knowledge.
There is the seen, and the unseen, the material and the immaterial. That which is material can be scientifically examined and experienced, but the immaterial can only be seen and experienced spiritually. These are two worlds that are only seemingly at odds with one another. If you attempt to examine that which is of a spiritual nature using a science that is by its very nature meant to explore the material realm, you will fail.
When we try to apply words to the noetic form, we fail. We can no more explain God than we can explain quantum physics, since both are unseen. God is outside the realm of human intellectual understanding. The Eastern Church approaches things of God as holy mysteries, since God can only be known in His divine energies, not in His essence. If a scientist can believe in quantum physics, the unseen, why can he not believe in God Whom he has not seen? If we can believe in the concept of infinity, something that goes on and on without end, why can we not believe in God?
The science of the soul is noetic and can be examined and experience only through the activation of the nous. The nous in Orthodox Christian theology is the “eye of the heart or soul”, and the mind of the heart. God created us with the nous because the human intellect is not capable of knowing Him without it. The intellect alone cannot know God, for human reasoning is limited to the things that are of a material nature. God is unknowable without His divine revelation, and only the nous can perceive this knowledge. God’s essence remains inaccessible without noetic knowledge. Science has its place, but only the heart can know God.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
~Abbot Tryphon, The Morning Offering, https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/morningoffering/2019/10/the-seen-and-the-unseen-6/
By Abbot Tryphon, October 23, 2019
“Silence is the Cross that crucifies the ego (Saint Seraphim of Sarov).”
The desert must be a part of our daily living, for without entering into the desert of the heart, nothing can be gained. With the noise of the radio, television, the Internet, and the world of computers, iPods, laptops, and iPhones, the noise of the world threatens our soul like nothing in the previous history of humanity. The world of cybernetics has its place, but we must not allow it to overwhelm the spiritual dimension of our humanity.
This noise is not only dangerous to us, spiritually, but is dangerous to our children. When we demonstrate by our own willingness to embrace silence, we prepare our children for a life of positive interactions with their friends, teachers, and future employers, for in imparting the importance of silence to them, we empower them with an inner strength that will only come to them when they come to know themselves.
If we are to hear the voice of God speaking to us, we must learn to be silent. Without silence the inner life is impossible, for all the noise and distractions of the world will continue to keep us from that which is all important, the Kingdom of God that is within. Often we need to retreat to our “prayer closet” (St. Matthew 6:6) in order to hear His ” still small voice.”(1Kings 19:12).
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
~Abbot Tryphon, The Morning Offering, https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/morningoffering/2019/10/shutting-out-all-the-noise/
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