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ABSTRACT. A series of Apostles and Fathers of the Church testify that the light shown by God to the saints is different from the knowledge of the created things, it is the glory of the divine nature. Compared to the author of the fourth Gospel, St. Symeon the New Theologian is certainly a point of reference in the post-patristic history of the Byzantine spirituality. Saint Symeon professes an Orthodox perspective on the divine light, being in line with the confessions of St. John, the beloved disciple of the incarnate Light, the first theologian and model for the mystical theologians, both in the East and the West, and for St. Gregory of Nazianzus. As a theologian, St. Symeon is organically integrated in the tradition of the Fathers of the Church that he managed, in some chapters, to develop and enlarge on the basis of his own experiences. The Orthodox Spirituality earned through his works one of his great classical doctrinarians and mystics. He should be known and brought back to the very core of the Christian life, as his spiritual teachings and practice have never ceased to be rich in spiritual benefits. Saint Symeon made it a point that the spiritual experience is not a simple relationship with God, but a living and sentient presence, before the Creator, through which the workings of our spirit performs at a supersensible and paradoxical level.

Keywords: St. Symeon the New Theologian; experience; nature; Light of God; theologian; text

LIVIU PETCU
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Reverend Researcher PhD at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University,
Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Department, Iaşi, Romania

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