WHAT IS THE HUMAN NOUS?

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

WHAT IS THE HUMAN NOUS?
By Protopresbyter John S. Romanides, of
blessed memory.

The chief concern of the Orthodox Church IS THE HEALING OF THE HUMAN SOUL. The Church has always considered the soul as the part of the human being THAT NEEDS HEALING because She has seen from Hebrew tradition, from Christ Himself, and from the Apostles that in the region of the physical heart there functions something that the Fathers called NOUS. In other words, the Fathers took the traditional term nous, which means INTELLECT (dianoia) and speech or reason (logos), and gave it a different meaning. They used NOUS to refer to this NOETIC ENERGY that functions IN THE HEART OF EVERY SPIRITUALLY HEALTHY PERSON. We do not know when this change in meaning took place, because we know that some Fathers used the same words NOUSa to refer to reason as well as to this noetic energy THAT DESCENDS AND FUNCTIONS IN THE REGION OF THE HEART.

So from this perspective, NOETIC ACTIVITY IS AN ACTIVITY ESSENTIAL TO THE SOUL. It functions in the brain as the reason; IT SIMULTANEOUSLY FUNCTIONS IN THE HEART AS THE NOUS. In other words, the same organ, the nous, prays ceaselessly n the heart and simultaneously thinks about mathematical problems, for example, nor anything else in the brain.

We should point out that there is a difference in terminology between Saint Paul and the Holy Fathers call DIANOIA. When the Apostle Paul says, "I will pray with the spirits" (1 Corinthians 14:5), he means what the Holy Fathers mean when they say, "I will pray wit the nous." And when he says, "I will pray with the nous," he means "I will pray with the intellect (dianoia). When the Holy Fathers use the words nous, the Apostle Paul uses the word ‘spirit.’ When he says "I will pray with the nous, I will pray with the spirit," ..he uses the word ‘spirit’ to mean what the Holy Fathers refer to as the nous. And by the word nous, he means the intellect or reason.

In the phrase, "the Spirit of God bears witness to our spirit," Saint Paul speaks about two spirits: THE SPIRIT OF GOD AND THE HUMAN SPIRIT. By some strange turn of events, what Saint Paul meant by the human spirit later reappeared during the time of Saint Makarios the Egyptian with the name NOUS, and only the words LOGOS and DIANOIA continued to refer to man’s rational ability. This is how the nous came to be identified with spirit, that is, WITH THE HEART, since according to Saint Paul, THE HEART IS THE PLACE OF MAN’S SPIRIT.

This means that the Spirit of God speaks to our spirit. In other words, GOD SPEAKS WITHIN OUR HEART BY THE GRACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Saint Gregory Palamas to his second discourse from "In Behalf of the Sacred Hesychasts" notes that "THE HEART RULES OVER THE WHOLE HUMAN ORGANISM..FOR THE NOUS AND AL THE THOUGHTS (LOGISMOI) OF THE SOUL ARE LOCATED THERE." From the context of grace-filled prayer, it is clear that the term ‘heart’ does not refer to the intellect (dianoia) but to the energy/activity of the heart, the NOETIC ENERGY which wells forth from the essence of the nous (i.e., the heart). For this reason Saint Gregory adds that it is necessary for the hesychasts "to bring their nous back and enclose it within their body and particularly within that innermost body, within the body that we call "heart." Philokalia, vol. IV.

Thus, for the Apostle Paul reasonable or logical worship takes place by means of the NOUS (i.e.., the reason or the intellect) while noetic prayer occurs through the spirit and is spiritual prayer or prayer of the heart. Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, who notes: "Man has two centers of knowing the NOUS which is the appropriate organ for receiving the revelation of God that is later put into words around us."

When the Apostle Paul says, "I prefer to say five words with my NOUS in order to instruct others rather than a thousand with my tongue," he means that he prefers to say five words, in other words to speak a bit, for the instruction of others rather than pray noetically. Some monks interpret what Saint Paul says here as a reference to the Prayer of Jesus, which consists of five words. In Greek, the Prayer of Jesus consists of exactly five words in its simplest form, which in English is translated as "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me."

Those who have NOETIC PRAYER in their hearts do, however, communicate with one another. In other words, they have the ability to sit together, and communicate with each other NOETICALLY, WITHOUT SPEAKING. That is, they are able TO COMMUNICATE SPIRITUALLY. Of course, this also occurs even when such people are far apart. They also have the gifts of CLAIRVOYANCEs and FOREKNOWLEDGE. Through their clairvoyance, THEY CAN SENSE BOTH OTHER PEOPLE’S SINS AND THOUGHTS (LOGISMOI), WHILE FOREKNOWLEDGE ENABLES THEM TO SEE AND TALK ABOUT SUBJECTS, DEEDS, AND EVENTS IN THE FUTURE. Such charismatic people really do exist. If you go to them for confession, they know everything that you have done in your life before you open your mouth to tell them. [Resources: Patristic Theology]

__________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George