Thank you for all the articles you have written. Thank you particularly for the one written and to be written under this topic. I grow in the Orthodox way by reading your work.
“The Orthodox phronema (‘mentality,’ ‘stance,’ or ‘approach’) is the foundation of Orthodox Christianity. It is usually unexpressed and unexamined, and rarely discussed, but it affects not simply what we believe and why but—above all else—how we think.”
“Orthodox Christians with a correct phronema do not feel obligated to be perfect, obsessing over details such as applying exact rules of fasting, dotting every ‘i’ or crossing every ‘t.’”
“The Orthodox phronema allows us to accept who we are (our limitations) and who God is (the Unlimited) so that we may simply exist in the presence of God, worshipping the All-Holy Trinity without struggling to intellectually resolve the unresolvable.”
“We take the Church, our spiritual lives, and our doctrine extremely seriously, and yet the Orthodox phronema is essentially relaxed. It is not rigid, not demanding, not stressed, but calm. Anxiety and obsessiveness are qualities of the world, but our relationship with Christ results in freedom and inner peace.”
“When I respond, the information is invariably received and placed in a Western theological framework, which often distorts it. The Orthodox teaching is often misunderstood, not intentionally, but because it is interpreted through a different conceptual lens, an entirely different phronema.”
“The Orthodox phronema is a consistent attitude that has been known and experienced in the Church from the beginning and is unconcerned with conforming to the expectations of this world. Our phronema is the reason for the stability of Orthodoxy. It is why we are calm, confident, and comfortable with the assurance that we—as a Church and as individuals—know who we are, what we believe, and where we stand.”
Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, Thinking Orthodox: Understanding and Acquiring the Orthodox Christian Mind (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2020), 3–4, 15–16.
Thank you for all the articles you have written. Thank you particularly for the one written and to be written under this topic. I grow in the Orthodox way by reading your work.
I am offering gratitude for your mindful reflections on becoming orthodox. Todays article is especially helpful.
I also very much liked Dr. Eugenia Constantinou's talk on the theme of the phronema.
A few highlights I liked:
“The Orthodox phronema (‘mentality,’ ‘stance,’ or ‘approach’) is the foundation of Orthodox Christianity. It is usually unexpressed and unexamined, and rarely discussed, but it affects not simply what we believe and why but—above all else—how we think.”
“Orthodox Christians with a correct phronema do not feel obligated to be perfect, obsessing over details such as applying exact rules of fasting, dotting every ‘i’ or crossing every ‘t.’”
“The Orthodox phronema allows us to accept who we are (our limitations) and who God is (the Unlimited) so that we may simply exist in the presence of God, worshipping the All-Holy Trinity without struggling to intellectually resolve the unresolvable.”
“We take the Church, our spiritual lives, and our doctrine extremely seriously, and yet the Orthodox phronema is essentially relaxed. It is not rigid, not demanding, not stressed, but calm. Anxiety and obsessiveness are qualities of the world, but our relationship with Christ results in freedom and inner peace.”
“When I respond, the information is invariably received and placed in a Western theological framework, which often distorts it. The Orthodox teaching is often misunderstood, not intentionally, but because it is interpreted through a different conceptual lens, an entirely different phronema.”
“The Orthodox phronema is a consistent attitude that has been known and experienced in the Church from the beginning and is unconcerned with conforming to the expectations of this world. Our phronema is the reason for the stability of Orthodoxy. It is why we are calm, confident, and comfortable with the assurance that we—as a Church and as individuals—know who we are, what we believe, and where we stand.”
Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, Thinking Orthodox: Understanding and Acquiring the Orthodox Christian Mind (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2020), 3–4, 15–16.