Okay--I understand. So here in a human being "nous" is the discerner, "intellect" the guard dog, and heart an aspect of the soul.
The Heart is the Center, the Core, of the psuche, and the intellect is the faculty of soul that deals with material existence, which means, in neptic terms, is the guardian of the heart, when the person enters the closet of the soul, and closes the door to the senses... The nous is the eye of the heart, discerning identities... A Janus kind of eye, that can be turned pros ton theon, or pros ton kosmon... The Fall of Adam, darkening the heart, darkened the nous of man, so that now, in order to discern good and evil, he must regain God's Grace that gives him the Gift of Discernment, which Grace is given to the Nous...
Here's this from Orthodox Wiki - "The nous as the eye of the soul, which some Fathers also call the heart, is the center of man and is where true (spiritual) knowledge is validated. This is seen as true knowledge which is "implanted in the nous as always co-existing with it."[2]"
That formulaic is about as sloppy as my own...
OK - Go clean up the coffee...
That was n-o-t that funny, OK?
Maybe since it is so specific to human beings, that's why I prefer "intellect" when speaking of God, apart from "mind" with its attendant new-age baggage. So in this respect when I say intellect of God you can understand me to mean nous.
The baggage of intellect is "intellectual" and entails powers of ratiocination plus memory... A word-processor with gigs... We have simply gone to the Greek term 'nous' anymore - Which I understand internally as the mind anterior to thoughts and images and sensations... For Hellen Keller, just the latter...
Yes, I most certainly would! You are quite right--that was imprecise.
Imprecision, the mother of...
Yes, and never mind essence, God even told Moses that no one could see His face and live.
That is why the Fathers all interpret the passage as meaning Essence by the term Prosopon...
20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
I think there is some deep hiddeness here, because when one encounters saints, their faces reflect their essence - Ugly old mugs take on a radiance of beauty that is hard to look upon - Moses being the Proto-Typos...
Well we can't see the Father's face this side of heaven, but we know He has one for the reason above and
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
Nor can we see the Prosopon of the Logos this side of the grave, but only of the Incarnate Christ... And after the Ascension, only in the faces of His Holy Ones, where even a passing shadow can bring healing...
I would think they meant "seeing" a part of His essence through what God was showing Moses in that passage and, in this case, goodness:
Well, the "Face" had to pass from sight, and the "Backward Parts" were what lit Moses up in his facial radiance...
18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
I don't think any Father would claim that Moses saw (or we could see) His entire essence.
They ALL say, to a man, woman and schnartzian child of them, that Moses did NOT see ANY of His ESSENCE... God's Hand of Mercy covered the eyes of Moses until AFTER His Face could no longer be seen...
If we wanted to be purely Scriptural at the parable level...
? ? ? IF ? ? ?
That is a VERY big Greek word, dontchaknow...
we'd translate ousia/essence as "wealth"--
Which is what it is...
Essence is to ti estan einai, where ti = wealth
the wealth/essence/ousia of the Father being is His be-ing (not being).
It is all one, I know... But God does not permit us, out of His Love for us, to 'see' His Prosopon... Yet He DOES permit us to see His "Backward Parts" which lit up Moses' face like a Time's Square Christmas Tree...
And oh what marvelous things unfold when you consider that in the parable of the prodigal son!
Big Time!
11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property [ousia, your be-ing] that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property [ousia, be-ing] between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property [be-ing] in reckless living...
Triple AMEN kudos!
But the Father did not give the prodigal His Essence, but only His Ousia/Wealth... Which was squandered...
Essence, you see, CANNOT be squandered...
Not the Divine Essence...
Hence the Cherubim guarding the Garden with its Tree of Life...
Arsenios