The First-Created Man: Seven Homilies by St. Symeon the New Theologian

Rating:
Summary: An Orthodox theologian for the Western mind
Review: Of all the material I have read dealing with the creation of Adam and Eve and their subsequent fall from innocence and holiness, Saint Symeon's homilies are among the best. Considering the limited material that Symeon has to deal with, I am amazed at the level of insight and knowledge that he gleens from the text. Symeon deals with such topics as Adam's and Eve's original created state and their purpose in the garden of Eden. Being of an Orthodox persuasion Symeon sees a strong message of Theosis in the beginning of Genesis. He argues that Adam and Eve were created holy and sinless, but that they were not created perfect since they still had the potential to sin and bring death and suffering into the world. Adam and Eve were created as innocent children who needed to grow in holiness as they obeyed the Lord and followed Him.

One portion of this book that I really liked was Saint Symeon's homily on the events immediately after the fall. Symeon understands God's calling to Adam in the garden as God's attempt to bring Adam and Eve to repentance and to ackowledge their wrong doing. God was giving them every opportunity to repent and he would have shown them mercy had they only admitted their trangression and sought God's forgiveness. This was an angle I had never even thought of before and really made me appreciate this section of the Genesis story. In addition, I love how Symeon understood Christ's work on the cross as the remedy to the disobedience in Eden. Just as Adam disobeyed at a tree and brought death and suffering into the world, Christ's obedience at the tree brought life and hapiness to those who believe in Him.

I really think individuals from a Western Christian perspective could really benefit from Saint Symeon's teachings. There are so many elements in his homilies that are similar to Protestant teaching, that I think people would find much to agree with. The Orthodox are often accused of having a less severe view of the fall and sin than the West, but Symeon's own words completely shatter this false assertion. Symeon refers to Adam's trangression as an act that brought a sinful nature upon all humanity. Symeon states that people sin because they are slaves to sin and not vice versa, and he even argues that everyone is unrighteous before God, even infants, because all are partakers in Adam's nature. I believe that Protestants will find much to agree with here, and they will also understand that the Orthodox do not take the sin issue lightly. Moreover, Symeon often refers to God's punishments as chastisements upon mankind for disobedience. Although chastisements are different than the Augustinian idea of judicial punishments, both the East and the West can agree that such maladies are God's response to man's sin. Although there are some differnces in thought I believe that everyone will benefit by reading this great theologian of the Eastern Church.

Rating:
Summary: An Orthodox theologian for the Western mind
Review: Of all the material I have read dealing with the creation of Adam and Eve and their subsequent fall from innocence and holiness, Saint Symeon's homilies are among the best. Considering the limited material that Symeon has to deal with, I am amazed at the level of insight and knowledge that he gleens from the text. Symeon deals with such topics as Adam's and Eve's original created state and their purpose in the garden of Eden. Being of an Orthodox persuasion Symeon sees a strong message of Theosis in the beginning of Genesis. He argues that Adam and Eve were created holy and sinless, but that they were not created perfect since they still had the potential to sin and bring death and suffering into the world. Adam and Eve were created as innocent children who needed to grow in holiness as they obeyed the Lord and followed Him.

One portion of this book that I really liked was Saint Symeon's homily on the events immediately after the fall. Symeon understands God's calling to Adam in the garden as God's attempt to bring Adam and Eve to repentance and to ackowledge their wrong doing. God was giving them every opportunity to repent and he would have shown them mercy had they only admitted their trangression and sought God's forgiveness. This was an angle I had never even thought of before and really made me appreciate this section of the Genesis story. In addition, I love how Symeon understood Christ's work on the cross as the remedy to the disobedience in Eden. Just as Adam disobeyed at a tree and brought death and suffering into the world, Christ's obedience at the tree brought life and hapiness to those who believe in Him.

I really think individuals from a Western Christian perspective could really benefit from Saint Symeon's teachings. There are so many elements in his homilies that are similar to Protestant teaching, that I think people would find much to agree with. The Orthodox are often accused of having a less severe view of the fall and sin than the West, but Symeon's own words completely shatter this false assertion. Symeon refers to Adam's trangression as an act that brought a sinful nature upon all humanity. Symeon states that people sin because they are slaves to sin and not vice versa, and he even argues that everyone is unrighteous before God, even infants, because all are partakers in Adam's nature. I believe that Protestants will find much to agree with here, and they will also understand that the Orthodox do not take the sin issue lightly. Moreover, Symeon often refers to God's punishments as chastisements upon mankind for disobedience. Although chastisements are different than the Augustinian idea of judicial punishments, both the East and the West can agree that such maladies are God's response to man's sin. Although there are some differnces in thought I believe that everyone will benefit by reading this great theologian of the Eastern Church.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful group of Homilies
Review: St. Symeon the New Theologian is often overlooked in the Western Church, but thankfully this is changing. This selection of his homilies concerning the fall of Adam and the nature of the Fall-Redemption relationship is very good; I recommend it highly. Father Seraphim's translation reads very well and allows one to focus upon the message of the text rather than on deciphering the writing. All in all, this is a wonderful book for anyone interested in Christian thought, be they Orthodox or no.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful group of Homilies
Review: St. Symeon the New Theologian is often overlooked in the Western Church, but thankfully this is changing. This selection of his homilies concerning the fall of Adam and the nature of the Fall-Redemption relationship is very good; I recommend it highly. Father Seraphim's translation reads very well and allows one to focus upon the message of the text rather than on deciphering the writing. All in all, this is a wonderful book for anyone interested in Christian thought, be they Orthodox or no.

Rating:
Summary: The Sin of Adam and the Redemption of Man
Review: _The First Created Man_, compiled, edited and translated by Seraphim Rose, is a selection of seven Homilies by the St. Symeon the New Theologian concerning the sin of Adam, the fall from Paradise and the redemption brought about by Christ. St. Symeon is one of only three in the Church who have attainted the title "Theologian": the other two being St. John the Evangelist (of the Apostles) and St. Gregory of Nazianzus (of the Fathers of the Church). St. Symeon was a highly influential monk and abbot in the 10th and 11th century Byzantine Empire. He wrote extensively on theological topics and remains one of the most respected teachers in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Fr. Seraphim's translation comes from the Russian translation of the original Greek by St. Theophan the Recluse, a 19th century Russian bishop. The first part of the book is an introduction to the life and teachings of St Symeon. The second part is the seven Homilies. Man, when he first lived in Paradise/Eden, was not distracted and out of direct contact with the Divine as he is today. He did not have to strive against creation to survive, and was not burdened by the pain, hunger, thirst, lusts of the flesh and endless toil unto death that sums up human existence since the Fall. When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit against God's commandment, they did not receive Divine Mercy at that point because they did not repent of their sin and had listened to the councils of the serpent. God, in time, did redeem man from his cursed state, in the person of Jesus Christ, who died so that man may be free from death and have life with God in Heaven, a return to Paradise, a return to the original Golden Age. The Cross/tree that Jesus was pinned on to save man is the counterpart of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden that destroyed man. At the end of time, teaches St. Symeon, God will create the new Heaven and Earth. The material world will be dissolved by the Divine fire and the new Earth will be one in which there is direct communion with God, the pure essence of Being that transcends all that can be perceived by the senses or human thought.