Continual Repentance as a Hermeneutical Tool for Interpreting the Writings of Saint Symeon the New Theologian

Abstract

Abstract

St Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022) is one of the most important, yet also one of the most misinterpreted and enigmatic Fathers in the Orthodox Church. Controversial in his own time because of his fierce enthusiasm and claim to spiritual authority; he was a spiritual master rather than a systematic theologian, who wrote and taught from his own experience. Much of the past century of scholarship on Symeon has focused primarily on his supposed mysticism – especially in relation to his writings on the vision and experience of God. It has been assumed by scholars that because Symeon so often appeals to the luminous vision, he is thus a ‘type’ of mystic whose writings constitute a prime example of mysticism; which purports to explain many of the peculiarities of his life and works. This approach has resulted in a fragmented image of the saint. Recently, however, scholars have challenged this assumption, and have suggested that a more contextually-based reading of Symeon’s theology is needed. Moreover, they have also noted that repentance plays a prominent role in what Symeon understood and articulated as the experience of God. To date, there has yet to appear an extended study of Symeon’s historical, social, and theological context and how it is related to the role of repentance in his life and theology. This thesis addresses this issue in order to fill this void. This thesis challenges the assumption of Symeon as a mystic and is a unique contribution to the growing scholarship on Symeon and to Patristic studies in general, in that it contains five important contributions: The first is that it adopts the key principles of Patristic hermeneutics and contributes to the development of a better understanding of Symeon’s historical, social, and theological contexts, and how they are related to his theology, which results in the emergence of a more coherent image of Symeon in the wider context of the continuum of experience in the Christian tradition. In particular, the thesis makes a clear difference between attribute-based and circumstance/context-based characterizations to enhance the explanatory power of its analytical approach. Secondly, it contributes to a better understanding of the importance of repentance in Symeon’s context and how it could be used as a valuable integrative hermeneutical key for interpreting Symeon’s life and works, leading to a better assessment of the value of his theological contributions. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies that adopts a contextual examination of the explanatory potential of repentance as an existential factor in Symeon’s life and works in such depth and detail. Thirdly, a contextually-based reading of Symeon’s works not only helps in contributing to a better understanding of his theology and theological contributions, but in the wider scope of Patristic studies in general, it provides a methodological signpost that could inspire future similar studies and enable a better understanding of the writings of the Fathers, as well as underscores the importance of and the need for scholars to employ a contextually-based approach when interpreting the life and works of the Church Fathers. Fourthly, it builds on the latest scholarly work in contributing to a better understanding of how to situate and integrate Symeon’s theological contributions within the continuum of experience in the tradition, which leads to a better understanding of Symeon’s place in Orthodox theology. Finally, it provides a conceptual clarification and contributes to a better understanding of what constitutes ‘mysticism’ and ‘spirituality’; what these terms mean or do not mean – and in light of Symeon’s theological contributions – the challenges they pose for us today. Thus, the discussion provided in this thesis may be of interest to an audience that goes beyond the topical academic circles.