Symeon, the New Theologian: The Discourses (Classics of Western Spirituality) (Paperback)

~ C. J. De Catanzaro (Translator) "The ways and practices of spiritual men..." (more)
Key Phrases: worthy penitence, didst grant, ascetical life, Holy Ghost, Christ Himself, Lord Jesus Christ (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Father George Maloney in his introduction to this volume focuses directly on the special importance of St. Symeon and on how similar the religious situation of his era is to our own. "Concretely, the battle of two opposing views of theology centered around St. Symeon and his mystical apophatic approach of the experiencing of God immanently present to the individual, as opposed to the "head trip" scholastic theology as represented by Archbishop Stephen of Nicomedia, the official theologian at the court of Constantinople. Stephen represented the abstract, philosophical type of theologizing while Symeon strove to restore theology to its pristine mystical tendency as a wisdom infused by the Holy Spirit into the Christian after he had been thoroughly purified through a rigorous asceticism and a state of constant repentance."

This great spiritual master of Eastern Christianity was an abbot, spiritual director of renown, theologian and important church reformer. These Discourses which form the central work of his life were preached by St. Symeon to his monks during their morning Matins ritual. They treat such basic spiritual themes as repentance, detachment, renunciation, the works of charity, impassiblity, remembrance of death, sorrow for sins, the practice of God's commandments, mystical union with the indwelling Trinity, faith and contemplation.

Language Notes

Text: English, Greek (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Paulist Press (May 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809122308
• ISBN-13: 978-0809122301
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #397,500 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An American View of an Eastern Saint, January 4, 2003

By	T. Polk - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I first encountered this book, I was an American Anglican, raised a southern Baptist. As such, I did not begin to appreciate Symeon's Discourses until well into this book. By the time I finished it, I was talking to other people about how much contemporary American Christians have to learn from this dedicated abbot from tenth and early eleventh century Constantinople. The Discourses are valuable reading for American Christians who want to deepen their concept of discipleship.

Symeon the New Theologian is highly respected in the Orthodox Church. However, his name will be unfamiliar to many western Christians. Only in the past decades, translators and publishers have made his writings accessible to the English speaing public. In 1980, Paulist Press published this English translation from Symeon's Greek, together with an extensive introduction by George Maloney S.J. and preface by Basile Krivocheine. The translation by C.J. deCatanzaro is in eloquent, fiery English that is a pleasure to read.

What initially bothered me about Symeon is the same thing that I eventually realized makes his work beneficial. He seemed to have read only that part of the Bible that contemporary American Christians avoid. Specifically, he wrote extensively on the subject of repentence. If there is a passage anywhere in the Bible about repentance, Symeon found it. He was also zealous about the Holy Spirit. However, he did not write much about grace.

It finally occurred to me that Symeon was writing from an extreme in the theological spectrum from the past 2,000 years of church history, while contemporary Americans are living at the opposite end of that spectrum. There is much that we can learn from Symeon to balance our all too extremist "easy believism."

The importance of the Discourses began to sink in while I read Discourse Number IX "On Works of Mercy." I thought about my own financial excesses while reading that God counts our possessions as our own , "entrusted to us by God for the benefit of our fellow servants" so that we are "scattering them abroad generously with joy and magnanimity, not reluctantly or under compulsion." (Section 7). This is followed by typically eloquent writing of this deeply zealous man in Section 10, illustrative of his lessons on repentence: "Repentance gives rise to the tear from the depths of the soul; the tear cleanses the heart and wipes away great sins. When these have been blotted out through tears the soul finds itself in the comfort of the Spirit of God and is watered by streams of sweetest compunction. By these it is spiritually fructified day by day so that it produces the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22f.) and in due time yields them like an abundant harvest of grain as an unfailing supply of food for the incorruptible and eternal life of the soul." (Section 10). The day after I read that, I listened as a well known Evangelical radio minister spoke about the loss of emphasis on repentance in the contemporary church. I then began to appreciate Symeon on a new level.

I highly recommend that readers unfamiliar with Symeon read the introduction and preface before venturing into his text. His life is a wonderful lesson on leadership and perseverance.

As a young man, Symeon worked in Constantinople, managing the household of a patrician and possibly even working as a diplomat, perhaps serving in the palaces of the wealthy eastern city. He was the son of provincial nobility, described as a physically beautiful man. His familiarity with the splendid wealth of the culture are evident in some of his writing, such as Discourse XI, section 6. There, he compares feasting on the Word of God with attending a "sumptuous banquet" where the guests were encouraged to eat their fill from " and to take food home to share with their friends or the poor the following day.

While working in the secular world, he went home every evening and spent a long time in prayer. At the age of 27, after a 13 year wait, Symeon entered the Stoudion Monastery of Constantinople, a cooly formalistic intellectual community that he had wanted because his spiritual advisor was there. There was one major problem with that: Symeon's hot zeal did not fit in. His experience of Christianity was one of personal, intense worship. His faith was one drawn from the Bible and the early church fathers. It was not an intellectual endeavor. Symeon was immediately rejected. He was asked to leave after the first few months. Symeon spent most of his life reforming a decadent monastery and developing his discourses. A new generation of monks then rejected his asceticism. He spent the last years of his life editing his writings with the help of one of his disciples.

Despite the rejection, in retrospect, Symeon may have been the most important theologian of the tenth century whose writing still survives. Together with Gerbert of Aurillac (Pope Sylvest II) and St. Anselm in the west, his writing gives a rare glimpse into the spiritual and intellectual life of a few lights that shown at the turn of the last millineum. This author whose culture was so vastly different from our own, and whose church was far removed from the contemporary church, deserves a careful reading to balance what is missing from our faith.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Byzantine mystic, November 16, 2006

By	Greg (Australia) - See all my reviews

This edition of Symeon's works is a pleasing addition to the excellent Classics of Western Spirituality series.

Symeon was a Byzantine monk who experienced the 'Divine Light' of God. In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, many saints and mystics emphasize what is called the 'hesychast' approach to God which enables the mystic to experience God's 'energies', that is, how his essence manifests itself to created beings and the world. The experience is characterised by an overwhelming divine light which blinds the 'eyes of the soul' yet is also a personal, loving prescence. Symeon argued this experience was possible for all baptized Christians, not just monks.

Symeon was somewhat radical and some of his ideas included the monk being able to forgive sins (a function usually practiced by the priesthood). This got Symeon into some trouble with the Archbiship, an experience which is quite common for mystics of many religions. However, Symeon is fairly biblical in his spirituality, very frequently quoting the Gospels and the letters of Paul.

This work sheds much light on the Eastern branch of Christianity and its beautiful spirituality.

11 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Only for serious students of religion, but great!, December 26, 1996

By A Customer

The serious student of western theology will be familiar with the writings of this great mystic who sought to reawaken enthusiasm for the personal experience of God. God should be known, not just studied. I recommend this book if you are more than just a religion dilletante. But don't just read the book. Live what Saint Symeon teaches