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For Mind and Heart: St. Nektarios as Teacher
St Nektarios of Pentapolis (1846-1920) was both a careful student of the art of teaching and a tireless teacher. The present work aims to present and analyze his labors with the sphere of education as well as furnish translations of his core writings on the topic. By these means he is shown a strong proponent of the view that education is properly understood as formation of the whole person, rather than the simple imparting of information.
124 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 13, 2025
Gaaaahh! This book was so great! St Nektarios opens the book with a sucker punch of conviction for mothers and why godly moms are essential for the spiritual formation of children in their young years. He then talks about virtue and raising children in a broader sense. He speaks of exercise, and how training our physical bodies helps us endure spiritual struggle. He goes into Greek philosophy, education in relation with religion, and qualifications for bishops. These topics all might seem a bit random, but they all revolve around educating and forming both the mind and heart. This is a must read!
April 15, 2025
What a book! My only complaint is it was only 84 pages and I wish it was 800 pages :( Somewhat surprised by it's rationality, philosophical tone and defense of pagan philosophers. If a Western person had written this I would be tempted to be skeptical but knowing what a beautiful life this beautiful saint lived it made what he said all the more interesting.
As the title suggests, the focus of education is the development of the mind and heart. Human's are composed of a body and soul and both of these need to be developed for a person to be whole and excel. Education begins at birth, which means education really begins with the mom. In the first few years of life mother's shape children in ways that will influence them for the rest of their lives both the good and the bad.
The first two talks are on motherhood and education. The third is on the importance of virtue for maintaining and improving civilization. The fourth is the importance of physical exercise in the making of a well formed citizen. The fifth is on how Greek philosophy helped prepare the Greek people to receive the faith and spread it to the rest of the world. Greek philosophy paved the way and prepared the ground but it can only point to the faith as a reflection in a mirror it is empty in itself. The last one is on the importance of education and all around learning for Priests and Bishops in order to guide their flocks and be teachers of authority.
I myself and others have pointed out that the Apostles were not educated but converted the world. St. Nektarios confronts this argument in the last section. He shows that they didn't need to be educated because they had the power of such great miracles but he also shows that they did not neglect speaking properly and in an educated manner. He also says that people who hold to this argument want to hide their own brutish ignorance in a way no one will recognize it. Pretty harsh words for St. Nektarios. It occurred to me that the Apostles were educated though for three years by the living God and then briefly by the Holy Theotokos.
The most insightful parts were on the importance of religion to a society, on Greek post modernism and on truth.
pg 6 "As social being, man must also be a religious being, since there cannot be a society without religion. The World's history bears witness to this truth. Once-great Rome succumbed to decay and its polity crumbled when the peoples' religious convictions were shaken." "Religion is the connecting link which binds together all the various members of a society into a single unified, stable body, since religion contains the means of ennobling man's sentiments, raising them above his desires and urges; it contains the means of influencing him salvifically. What, after all, is able to prevent one member of society from oppressing another? The state, perhaps. But the state presupposes religion, for the state requires that its members respect the ideals of faith, love, and altruism, and these are not to be found in an irreligious society: what is there in such a society to quell the urge to deceptively acquire another's wealth, for example? Lacking this, there is no state. Moreover, suppose that some strong will should establish a polity by means of force. Such a polity would quickly fall into ruin, because it lacks the most powerful means by which societies are set in good order, for man is not reined in by force, but rather, by faith." The universal rise of totalitarianism from the 20th century onward is a direct response to the universal rise in atheism to govern a society. Incredibly prophetic words written in the 19th century.
pg 42 The sophists "...chipped at the foundations of morality, religion, and faith, and , little by little, managed to completely overturn the very spiritual convictions of the world and the principles of society, and put an end to moral virtue. Saying that everything is a lie; that it is all a fantasy; that every position is deceived; that everything which has come to be from non-existence is produced; that everything that suffers corruption deteriorates into a non-being, and that man is the measure of all things. "Things are for each person as he believes them to be," and "...each individual's impressions are positively true."' Just like today with post modernism and scientific materialism.
pg 43 "Therefor, the being of things is not determined by their relation to us, neither are they made to change by us, but, rather, they possess, that essence which is proper to them. Man is not the measure, therefore, but, rather, the universal man; what is true is not what each thinks, but, rather, what is positively true is what is confessed universally, that truth common to all." The first part is a great rejection of subjectivism but I don't know about the second part. St. Nektarios does love objectivism. In rational terms I think this clearly fails because nothing is "objective" but one's perspective shapes everything. However, the faith is seen as "objective" and all the Saints describe the same reality in a sense. Good has always been the same even if various cultures lose sight of this or never attain it fully.
As the title suggests, the focus of education is the development of the mind and heart. Human's are composed of a body and soul and both of these need to be developed for a person to be whole and excel. Education begins at birth, which means education really begins with the mom. In the first few years of life mother's shape children in ways that will influence them for the rest of their lives both the good and the bad.
The first two talks are on motherhood and education. The third is on the importance of virtue for maintaining and improving civilization. The fourth is the importance of physical exercise in the making of a well formed citizen. The fifth is on how Greek philosophy helped prepare the Greek people to receive the faith and spread it to the rest of the world. Greek philosophy paved the way and prepared the ground but it can only point to the faith as a reflection in a mirror it is empty in itself. The last one is on the importance of education and all around learning for Priests and Bishops in order to guide their flocks and be teachers of authority.
I myself and others have pointed out that the Apostles were not educated but converted the world. St. Nektarios confronts this argument in the last section. He shows that they didn't need to be educated because they had the power of such great miracles but he also shows that they did not neglect speaking properly and in an educated manner. He also says that people who hold to this argument want to hide their own brutish ignorance in a way no one will recognize it. Pretty harsh words for St. Nektarios. It occurred to me that the Apostles were educated though for three years by the living God and then briefly by the Holy Theotokos.
The most insightful parts were on the importance of religion to a society, on Greek post modernism and on truth.
pg 6 "As social being, man must also be a religious being, since there cannot be a society without religion. The World's history bears witness to this truth. Once-great Rome succumbed to decay and its polity crumbled when the peoples' religious convictions were shaken." "Religion is the connecting link which binds together all the various members of a society into a single unified, stable body, since religion contains the means of ennobling man's sentiments, raising them above his desires and urges; it contains the means of influencing him salvifically. What, after all, is able to prevent one member of society from oppressing another? The state, perhaps. But the state presupposes religion, for the state requires that its members respect the ideals of faith, love, and altruism, and these are not to be found in an irreligious society: what is there in such a society to quell the urge to deceptively acquire another's wealth, for example? Lacking this, there is no state. Moreover, suppose that some strong will should establish a polity by means of force. Such a polity would quickly fall into ruin, because it lacks the most powerful means by which societies are set in good order, for man is not reined in by force, but rather, by faith." The universal rise of totalitarianism from the 20th century onward is a direct response to the universal rise in atheism to govern a society. Incredibly prophetic words written in the 19th century.
pg 42 The sophists "...chipped at the foundations of morality, religion, and faith, and , little by little, managed to completely overturn the very spiritual convictions of the world and the principles of society, and put an end to moral virtue. Saying that everything is a lie; that it is all a fantasy; that every position is deceived; that everything which has come to be from non-existence is produced; that everything that suffers corruption deteriorates into a non-being, and that man is the measure of all things. "Things are for each person as he believes them to be," and "...each individual's impressions are positively true."' Just like today with post modernism and scientific materialism.
pg 43 "Therefor, the being of things is not determined by their relation to us, neither are they made to change by us, but, rather, they possess, that essence which is proper to them. Man is not the measure, therefore, but, rather, the universal man; what is true is not what each thinks, but, rather, what is positively true is what is confessed universally, that truth common to all." The first part is a great rejection of subjectivism but I don't know about the second part. St. Nektarios does love objectivism. In rational terms I think this clearly fails because nothing is "objective" but one's perspective shapes everything. However, the faith is seen as "objective" and all the Saints describe the same reality in a sense. Good has always been the same even if various cultures lose sight of this or never attain it fully.
January 15, 2021
Beautiful and important words on education from St. Nektarios. A short book with a lot packed into it.
October 17, 2023
5 stars for content but 3 stars for quality as there were quite a lot of typos and formatting errors for the price.
September 28, 2024
Great book!!! Much easier to read than some other works from St Nektarios!!!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews