Symeon the New Theologian (Greek: Συμεὼν ὁ Νέος Θεολόγος; 949–1022) was an Eastern Orthodox monk and poet who was the last of three saints canonized by the Eastern Orthodox Church and given the title of "Theologian" (along with John the Apostle and Gregory of Nazianzus). "Theologian" was not applied to Symeon in the modern academic sense of theological study; the title was designed only to recognize someone who spoke from personal experience of the vision of God. One of his principal teachings was that humans could and should experience theoria (literally "contemplation," or direct experience of God).
Symeon was born into the Byzantine nobility and given a traditional education. At age fourteen he met Symeon the Studite, a renowned monk of the Monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople, who convinced him to give his own life to prayer and asceticism under the elder Symeon's guidance. By the time he was thirty, Symeon the New Theologian became the abbot of the Monastery of Saint Mamas, a position he held for twenty-five years. He attracted many monks and clergy with his reputation for sanctity, though his teachings brought him into conflict with church authorities, who would eventually send him into exile. His most well known disciple was Nicetas Stethatos who wrote the Life of Symeon.
Symeon is recognized as the first Eastern Christian mystic to freely share his own mystical experiences. Some of his writings are included in the Philokalia, a collection of texts by early Christian mystics on contemplative prayer and hesychast teachings. Symeon wrote and spoke frequently about the importance of experiencing directly the grace of God, often talking about his own experiences of God as divine light. Another common subject in his writings was the need of putting oneself under the guidance of a spiritual father. The authority for many of his teachings derived from the traditions of the Desert Fathers, early Christian monks and ascetics. Symeon's writings include Hymns of Divine Love, Ethical Discourses, and The Catechetical Discourses.
SymeontheNewTheologian (Greek: Συμεὼν ὁ Νέος Θεολόγος; 949–1022) was an Eastern Orthodox monk and poet who was the last of three saints canonized by...
(St. John of Sinai)(6th-7th century), Maximus the Confessor (c. 580–662), and SymeontheNewTheologian (949–1022) are representatives of this hesychast...
officially designated "Theologian" by epithet, the other two being John theTheologian (the Evangelist), and SymeontheNewTheologian. Gregory was born to...
Constantinople during the 10th century. He was the spiritual father, or teacher, of SymeontheNewTheologian. Little is known about Symeon's life. He was born...
coverage of texts by Saint John of the Ladder, Saint Dorotheos of Gaza, Maximus the Confessor, SymeontheNewTheologian, and Gregory Palamas. This work...
(345–399), John Climacus (6th–7th century), Maximus the Confessor (c. 580–662), and SymeontheNewTheologian (949–1022). John Climacus, in his influential...
mystic and theologian who is considered a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was a follower of SymeontheNewTheologian and wrote the most complete...
obedience – the thought not to ask the director originates from the enemy. St. SymeontheNewTheologian, St. Theophan the Recluse, St. Silouan the Athonite...
in the Fathers (St. SymeontheNewTheologian, St. Maximus the Confessor). I have always seen it translated 'original sin,' though Greek theologians are...
SymeontheNewTheologian On the Mystical Life: The Ethical Discourses, vol. 3: Life, Times, and Theology by St. SymeontheNewTheologian On the Apostolic...
is a fruit of the vision of God. "THE ILLNESS AND CURE OF THE SOUL" Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos [1] St. SymeontheNewTheologian in Practical...
Marcus (2004). The Macarian Legacy: The Place of Macarius-Symeon in the Eastern Christian Tradition. Oxford Theology and Religion Monographs. New York: Oxford...
with the object of love, the one Reality, God. Here the self has been permanently established on a transcendental level and liberated for a new purpose...
such as Sophronius and John Moschos in the seventh century, Symeonthe Elder and SymeontheNewTheologian in the eleventh century, and contemporary charismatic...
physis ["nature"] of the Word of God made flesh" (or "one physis of God the Word made flesh")” The preeminent Antiochene theologian Theodore of Mopsuestia...
(NRSV) (Philippians 2:7), using the verb form κενόω (kenóō), meaning "to empty". The exact meaning varies among theologians. The less controversial meaning...
The Greek term hesychia (ἡσυχία, Greek pronunciation: [isiˈçia]) is a concept that can be translated as "stillness, rest, quiet, silence". In the Eastern...
The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, also called the Divine Mercy Chaplet, is a Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy, based on the Christological apparitions...
central tenets of Neoplatonism served as a philosophical interim for the Christian theologian Augustine of Hippo on his journey from dualistic Manichaeism to...
existences. Negative theology has a place in the Western Christian tradition as well. The 9th-century theologian John Scotus Erigena wrote: We do not know...
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