#Nichita Stethatul

Authority in the Byzantine Church of the 11th century is analysed through the conflict between institutional authority and charismatic-mystical authority, with a focus on the figure of Saint Symeon the New Theologian. The tension between the secular humanism of Michael Psellos and the charismatic mysticism of Simeon, his dispute with Metropolitan Stephen of Nicomedia, and the modern interpretations of Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, paint a picture of authority gained through the mystical experience of the vision of God.

The spiritual crisis caused by cyberculture — the fragmentation of the self, distraction and inner incoherence — is analysed through the lens of Orthodox anthropology, bringing into dialogue Matthew Crawford’s contemporary diagnosis in The World on Your Head with the patristic tradition of mindfulness (προσοχή), from Saint Basil the Great and Diadochus of Photice to the Byzantine Hesychasts, proposing inner attention as the Gospel’s essential response to digital culture.