Funcția epistemologică și purificatoare a smereniei și a pocăinței după Părinții filocalici

Abstract

The passions-virtues dialectics is evident in the binomial pride-humility, for pride, seen as selfishness, is the source of all passions and humility, as self-overcoming is concentration of all virtues. Humility is the Christian antidote against pride, which is the most resistant of passions. Humility is a Christian specific virtue. Only in Christianity man comes to know himself, coming down from the shaky height of pride onto the stable ground of humility. By humility man knows what he really is and in Christ only. A less emphasized intake for the virtue of humility in the act of self-knowledge is what we call its epistemological function, determined in probing human abyss, through interplay with God. Like the being of any virtue, also the being of humility or humble thought is sprung from God. The direction and meaning of true spiritual order are established by humble thought. Philokalic parents strongly underline the gnoseological relationship between humility and human exaltation, seen in terms of perfection. Between repentance and humility there is an inbred kinship, both bearing the stamp of permanence. Because not only humility but repentance as well bears the feature of a permanent work within the soul. Genuine repentance is that which creates, not destroys man; that which replaces sin with virtue, not that who simply destroys man and sin altogether! The Christian religion has bound the famous dictum of Greek philosophy: “Know thyself!” with humility before God. For only the humble one before God’s infinity truly knows himself, and conversely, too. The conclusion to draw is crystal-clear: I cannot know myself, much less God, if I do not permanently climb the ascetic stairs, through sustained efforts, whereby humility and repentance constitute two exponential pillars.