Pride Blocks the Knowledge of God: St. Silouan on Faith and Revelation

A quotation from St. Silouan the Athonite on the origin of unbelief. He says unbelief comes from pride. The proud person claims he will know everything through his mind and through science, but the knowledge of God remains unreachable for him, because God is known only through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. The Lord reveals Himself to humble souls. To them He shows His works, which are beyond the grasp of our mind.

With our natural mind we can know only earthly things, and even those partially, while God and all heavenly things are known through the Holy Spirit. The post presents this teaching as a single attributed quotation, with no further commentary or discussion attached. It sets two ways of knowing side by side: the natural mind, which reaches earthly things in part, and the Holy Spirit, through whom God and the things of heaven are known.

It also names pride as the obstacle and humility as the condition in which the Lord reveals Himself and shows His works, which the mind cannot contain.