THE PERSON IN THE ORTHODOX TRADITION

The book The person in the Orthodox Church examines the basic teachings of the Fathers of the Church on the subject of the person. In attempting to define the person, the holy Fathers rejected the method and views of the philosophers. They asserted that the revelation and experience of the person takes place within the heart, when a human being is regenerated by divine grace. The person cannot be understood without Christian asceticism in association with the sacraments of the Church. As a practical example of a person in the fullest sense, the book includes a section which looks in detail at the life of St Symeon, a Fool for Christ of the sixth century, who was so discerning that he knew how to shock people in order to bring them to their senses and acknowledge their sins.