Be Still and Know

God's Presence in Silence

Norris J. Chumley

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781451470512
• eBook ISBN: 9781451479911
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

Early Christian spirituality is a topic of enduring fascination today among scholars and general readers alike. Stories of hermits living in the desert in their pursuit of God catch our fancy. What motivated them and drew them to silence on their path to God? In this gracious tour through our tradition, Norris J. Chumley (Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer, HarperOne 2011) introduces us to Hesychasm, or silence and the lives of its early practicioners. Then, as only a teacher and mentor can, he opens up those important meanings for today.

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Appendix 1: Glossary of Terms

Abbess – (Latin, abbatissa) Earliest known use is in a sepulchral inscription, 514, on the site of an ancient convent near the basilica of St. Agnes extra muros at Rome. Greek, hegumene. Head of a nunnery.^[1] Superior of houses of nuns. Depending on the constitution of the convent or house, an abbess may hold office for a term of years, for an indefinite period, until a certain retiring age, and sometimes for life.^[2]

Abbot – (Greek, Patrem, from Aramaic and Syriac, abba, i.e., father) According to the Rule of St. Benedict, the abbot is to be regarded as the father of his monastic family. Abbots are always elected and hold authority in accordance with the constitutions of their Order or congregation: sometimes for life, an indefinite term, until reaching a certain age, or for a term of years.^[3]

Anaphora – Offering of the liturgical Gifts for consecration. The most important part of the Orthodox Liturgy.^[4]

Anchorite (m.) Anchoress (f.) – (from Greek, “to withdraw”) A person who withdraws from the world to live a solitary life of silence, prayer, and mortification. Technically the term connotes coenobites as well as hermits, but is commonly restricted to the latter, i.e., persons who live entirely alone.^[5]

Antiphons – Something sung alternatively by two choirs or two cantors.^[6]

Apatheia – A habitual state of dispassion, achieved by practicing simplicity, frugality, and solitude according to Evagrius.

Apophatic Theology – “Apophatic theology is a method of theologizing which safeguards the absolute transcendence of God against misrepresentation based upon human analogies.”^[7] Negative terminology used in Eastern Christian discourse already in use since the fourth century, already a part of the Greek philosophical tradition, found in the Enneads of Plotinus (third century). The Cappadocians used it against Eunomios’s claim that God’s essence may be known. Also in Evagrius (fourth c.) and Dionysius the Aereopagite (sixth c.), “the pre-eminent path of contemplative travel to reach a state of pure prayer.”^[8]

Apostle – The name has from ancient times signified someone sent by another to carry out an order, a mission, or to transmit a message. In Christianity, the “Twelve Disciples of Christ.”^[9]

Archbishop – A title signifying the first among bishops, or the chief. It could be an honorary title or one that represents definitive rights and authority in the church.^[10]

Archimandrite – In ancient times considered the presiding monk of a large monastery, or the authority of a supervisor of a number of monastic communities. In modern practice, the title is designated for celibate priests in administrative positions. Ranked immediately below the bishop.^[11]

Asceticism, Ascesis – Nineteenth century, Greek, askesis, or “training,” from askein, “to exercise.” Used by Greek philosophers to imply moral training, or voluntary abstention from certain pleasures; (1) practices employed to combat vices and develop virtues, (2) renunciation of various facets of customary social life and comfort or the adoption of painful conditions for religious reasons.^[12]

Athonites – Monks who live on the Holy Mountain, Mount Athos in Greece.

Baptism – Sacramental initiation into the Christian church. First of seven sacraments without which membership in the Orthodox Church cannot be held. “Christ Himself pointed out the necessity of a spiritual regeneration by way of ‘water and the Spirit’ (John 3:5), thus instituting the sacrament of baptism.”^[13]

Beatitude – The total and ultimate perfection of a human being, blessed by grace in the supernatural order: “the beatific vision, the resurrection of the flesh, the definitive basileia of God (Heaven), in the perfected communion of saints Eschatology).”^[14]

Bishop – The English term is an Anglo-Saxon corruption of the term “episcopus,” which is a transliteration of the original Greek term episcopos.^[15] The highest rank of the Christian priesthood.

Canonization or Canonized – Differing from the Roman Catholic, in Orthodoxy it is “the allowance of tradition and public veneration to finally make the selection to sainthood . . . the way by which approval of the Church was and is expressed for a particular saint is by composing for him/her a liturgical service, by setting aside a particular day in the year for his/her veneration, by venerating his/her relics, if extant, by depicting him/her on icons for public veneration, and by erecting to his/her memory places of public worship, that is churches.”^[16]

Cell – Private room or apartment of a religious person of either sex. A hermit’s cell leading an eremitical life. (2) A monastic house dependent on a mother house, in control of its personnel and property. (3) Small groups of Christians, mainly laypeople pledged to intensive work for prayer, study, service, counsel, etc.^[17]

Church – From the Greek kyriakon, meaning something that belongs to the Lord. In German, kirche, in Dutch kerke. The word was originally applied to a building. It may also signify an assembly of citizens of a self-governing city. It is also considered by many to be “the body of Christ” with a membership of Christians participating in baptism, chrismation, and Holy Communion.^[18]

Coenobitic – Greek, “living in a community,” from “common,” “life,” “way of life.” A monk or nun who has taken vows, who lives in community, either in separate dwellings and observes rules of silence, or lives in a common household or building.^[19]

Coinherence – The Trinity is of one essence, eternal and unchanging, and all three aspects, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are all from the Father.

Desert – Has its origins in Latin: desertum, “something left waste,” from deserere, to “leave, forsake.”^[20] The Greeks have a word for desert, eremos, which means “abandonment.” The word hermit is a derivation.

Diatiposeis – Ontological appraisals, of our own imagination.

Dualism – (1) Doctrine that holds that mind and matter are distinct and separate, equally real; opposite of monism, that all that exists has a singular nature. (2) A metaphysical system: good and evil are the outcome or product of ultimate first causes. (3) The Nestorian view that in the Incarnate Christ there were not only two natures, but two persons, human and divine.^[21]

Ekstasis – (Greek: displacement, cession, trance, ecstasy) The state of being outside of oneself, or separation of the soul from the body; mystical or prophetic bliss, or rapture.

Elder – A church officer, either a teacher or administrator. Cf. Tim. 5:17.

Energies – (Greek energeiai) “The principle is that God’s essence (ousia) is distinct from his energies or activities in the world...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table Of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Silence (Hesychia): A Method for Experiencing God
• Development and Methodology of Hesychia through Stories of the Ancient Practitioners
• Silence (Hesychia) in Contemporary Focus: Methodology and Importance of the Practices inside and outside Monasteries
• Conclusion
• Appendix 1: Glossary of Terms
• Appendix 2: Chronology of Places Visited and Persons Interviewed for This Book and Ethnographic Film
• Bibliography
• Index
• Additional Information