Orthodox Psychotherapy

Description

Author: Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos

Book Format: Softcover

ISBN: 9789607070272

Language: English

Page Number: 369

Publisher: Birth of the Theotokos Monastery

Translated by: Esther Williams

The book “Orthodox Psychotherapy” (The Science of the Fathers) sets out the teaching of the holy Fathers of the Church on curing the soul.

It has been increasingly established in recent years that Orthodoxy is a therapeutic science. In order for a person to find the health of his soul and really to know God and himself, he must first of all find the place of his heart. “Finding and curing the heart is essentially finding salvation.”

The knowledge of God, which has man’s salvation as its consequence, is discussed in the last chapter of the book, entitled “Orthodox Epistemology”. The necessary precondition for the knowledge of God is for the soul to have been purified and healed. Deification, which is the vision of the uncreated Light in the pure heart of man, is the goal of the spiritual life and the end of healing.

From studying this book we come to understand that the Church is a hospital for souls. As the Christian makes use of the therapeutic method which the Church has at its disposal, and passes through the three stages of the spiritual life, namely, purification, illumination and deification, he attains to communion and union with God. Only the Orthodox Tradition is able to heal and free man from the death of the soul, and for that reason it is of great importance for our time.The book “Orthodox Psychotherapy” (The Science of the Fathers) sets out the teaching of the holy Fathers of the Church on curing the soul.