Collected quotes from the book “I Know a Man in Christ” , by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, Hierotheos, published by, Birth of the Theotokos Monastery, 2015.
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| Saint Sophrony the Athonite. |
The
whole of the West was influenced by St. Augustine. Augustinian theory is rather
psychological; it deals with God psychologically. In Greece today there is a
noticeable trend towards psychology, which is why St. Augustine is studied so
much. St. Augustine may be a saint, but his work is subject to much
exploitation.
There is a great difference between the Orthodox and Western traditions. Psychology is adjusted to the Western tradition, so it differs enormously from the Orthodox tradition.
I am
sorry about those spiritual fathers who assert that the spiritual life is not
enough and psychology is also necessary.
Human psychology uses different anthropology.
It is more or less heretical. It is dangerous. It is bad that it is used by
spiritual fathers. To a certain extent it helps those who have no experience to
understand other people, but it does harm. Spiritual things also have
psychological repercussions, as can be seen when one looks at the Orthodox and
the Latins. But psychological things are not spiritual as well.
Psychology
and the spiritual life have different starting points; their anthropology is
different. However, we cannot overlook psychology, which mainly helps people
who are atheists and do not want to use the hesychastic tradition of the
Church. It is a remedy for people who are far from the living God and are in
terrible torment. It should be used discreetly and wisely. Medication may help
the body that has suffered serious harm from various problems, but the cure
will come through man’s regeneration by the grace of God. The soul’s wounds are
cured by means of prayer.
The
view that everything Psychological is also spiritual, and everything spiritual
is also psychological is a deadly danger. It is very dangerous for us to regard
people’s psychological problems as spiritual states. Such a view is a blasphemy
against God. The exact opposite ought to happen, that is to say, we ought to
make a distinction between spiritual life and psychological life.
In all our years in the Monastery here is
England, I have never met anyone who was cured through psychoanalysis, although
it is highly developed in Western societies, However, to be fair, neurologist
and doctors who give drugs to patients are more humble than psychoanalysts, and
they help people to become socially balanced. They also help those within the
Church, when they have problems of a neurological nature for various
reasons.
The
observations of psychology with regard to human beings are significant, because
they explain that beyond the rational faculty there is something more profound.
Psychological analysis, however, are infantile compared with the teaching of
the Fathers of the Church. Although the observations of psychology are
significant, the therapeudic method that it offers is awful. Psychoanalysis
does not cure man; rather it confuses him even more.
One
ought not to ‘spy’ on oneself, but to have profound repentance.
There is a difference between psychology and
life in Christ. Psychology attempts to deliver man from guilt complexes,
whereas in life in Christ we experience grief, pain, on account of being far
from God, and we do not stop repenting until this grief is transformed.
Reference:
https://panagiaquicktohear.com/2016/11/14/archimandrite-sophrony-on-psychology/