{"id":1441,"date":"2020-05-09T08:48:52","date_gmt":"2020-05-09T06:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441"},"modified":"2026-10-15T14:25:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T12:25:37","slug":"the-social-nature-of-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441","title":{"rendered":"The social nature of man"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Man is not a solitary creature but a social one.”
writes St. Basil. This is also what Greek philosophers said. St. Basil, however, emphasized this for a specific reason.
He personally visited Egyptian monks. He knew there were many saints among them, but not all. Loners become even weirdos. So he wrote a polemical statement against this way of life and provided several reasons for his position. No one is enough on their own. We dress in clothes made by others, and we eat the fruits that our neighbor has grown. There is a constant exchange of work. Even spiritual values \u200b\u200bare experienced.
Together with others, we exchange personal gifts in the mystical body of Christ. Only love is possible; only in society with others can we keep all of God’s commandments. We help each other; we admonish, correct our mistakes, and hear. St. Basil is one of the main founders of religious life in the form of a cenobitic, t. j. social. This kind, after all, prevailed in the Church, especially in the West. Monks still live together, usually in one house, around one table, with common property, a common order, and one superior. They work together for one big goal. Proponents of this direction are convinced that it makes life easier and is at the same time more useful for the Church and more personally meritorious, because it removes the main obstacles on the way to God, namely arbitrariness.
They see in the common life and unanimity of the brothers a foreshadowing of heaven and the future age. “Brothers and Fathers,” writes St. Theodor Studita to the monks, \u201cthey will still call you by these names, which signify brotherhood and fatherhood; I know very well that the name corresponds to the truth and really means that it is about you … You have adopted a life together where
one heart and one soul, one father\u2014God, one country -the heavenly Jerusalem. \u00bb Contradictions between loneliness and community
The fact that there are still two opposite directions in the Church proves that the issue is still alive and that it cannot be resolved once and for all some general provision. Monks, finally, they often considered and discussed the problem. Mostly agreed on several principles. Man is truly a social creature. His natural nature and Christian love lead him to stay in contact with others. That, of course, doesn’t mean constant external coexistence or cohabitation, nor does it mean constantly talking and discussing. Noise and screaming do more harm to real human contact than they help. If we have to exchange spiritual values, we must have them first.
Many of them are obtained only in peace and solitude.
A kind of desert, love in solitude is part of every person’s life. So he must be able to discover the moments when he will be alone. Deep natures usually seek and love these moments. Everything, understandably, has its peace. They determine our degree of solitude: circumstances, inner need, and God’s special calling. At a time when only rush and external activity are being evaluated, God often calls some people to complete solitude and silence. They are a living sign for others:
\u00a0In a community of believers, will the age, if the whole world also gains, harm his soul? (Mt 16:26). Just as holy work is for God, so is loneliness for God. It’s an even better life because it’s better.
unites with God. On the contrary, escaping to solitude from resentment, anger, and suspicion, the loneliness of the freaks is a deviation rather than a virtue. Solitude can be neither a cloak of comfort nor an escape from duties. On the contrary, for love of people, activities, and work for the Church, one who flashes unnecessarily and hypocritically cannot be alone for a moment; inwardly, one is desolate or full of unrest and has an evil and unclean conscience. So, if we are not religious and live in the world, is it better to seek solitude or society? The students asked the preacher this question during the spiritual exercises. He answered them evasively, but aptly: “Is it better to eat or to sleep?” Normal life includes both, but in moderation. In this sense, they advised caution as well as great advocates of solitude, e.g., Vol. Nile: \u00abDon’t go into solitude, foolishly, only if you want and if you have taste! It could be salvation for you, not destruction of the soul.<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Man is not a solitary creature but a social one.”writes St. Basil. This is also what Greek philosophers said. St. Basil, however, emphasized this for a specific reason.He personally visited Egyptian monks. He knew there were many saints among them, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nezaradene"],"yoast_head":"\nThe social nature of man - predication.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The social nature of man - predication.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“Man is not a solitary creature but a social one.”writes St. Basil. This is also what Greek philosophers said. St. Basil, however, emphasized this for a specific reason.He personally visited Egyptian monks. He knew there were many saints among them, … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"predication.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-09T06:48:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-15T12:25:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter Prochac\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter Prochac\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/?p=1441#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/?p=1441\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Peter Prochac\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f62557857ae410ff13810b0081c7093e\"},\"headline\":\"The social nature of man\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-09T06:48:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-15T12:25:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/?p=1441\"},\"wordCount\":748,\"articleSection\":[\"Nezaraden\u00e9\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/?p=1441\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/?p=1441\",\"name\":\"The social nature of man - predication.net\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-09T06:48:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-15T12:25:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f62557857ae410ff13810b0081c7093e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/?p=1441#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/?p=1441\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/?p=1441#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The social nature of man\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/\",\"name\":\"predication.net\",\"description\":\"Petr Prochac's web blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/predication.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f62557857ae410ff13810b0081c7093e\",\"name\":\"Peter Prochac\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/71c4613d6cbe235658e1e54b06c76a3feea1b74d3ba9c2c47f907d199762838b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/71c4613d6cbe235658e1e54b06c76a3feea1b74d3ba9c2c47f907d199762838b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/71c4613d6cbe235658e1e54b06c76a3feea1b74d3ba9c2c47f907d199762838b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Peter Prochac\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The social nature of man - predication.net","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The social nature of man - predication.net","og_description":"“Man is not a solitary creature but a social one.”writes St. Basil. This is also what Greek philosophers said. St. Basil, however, emphasized this for a specific reason.He personally visited Egyptian monks. He knew there were many saints among them, … Continue reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441","og_site_name":"predication.net","article_published_time":"2020-05-09T06:48:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-15T12:25:37+00:00","author":"Peter Prochac","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter Prochac","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441"},"author":{"name":"Peter Prochac","@id":"http:\/\/predication.net\/#\/schema\/person\/f62557857ae410ff13810b0081c7093e"},"headline":"The social nature of man","datePublished":"2020-05-09T06:48:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-15T12:25:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441"},"wordCount":748,"articleSection":["Nezaraden\u00e9"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441","url":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441","name":"The social nature of man - predication.net","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/predication.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-05-09T06:48:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-15T12:25:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/predication.net\/#\/schema\/person\/f62557857ae410ff13810b0081c7093e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=1441#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/predication.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The social nature of man"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/predication.net\/#website","url":"http:\/\/predication.net\/","name":"predication.net","description":"Petr Prochac's web blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/predication.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/predication.net\/#\/schema\/person\/f62557857ae410ff13810b0081c7093e","name":"Peter Prochac","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/71c4613d6cbe235658e1e54b06c76a3feea1b74d3ba9c2c47f907d199762838b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/71c4613d6cbe235658e1e54b06c76a3feea1b74d3ba9c2c47f907d199762838b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/71c4613d6cbe235658e1e54b06c76a3feea1b74d3ba9c2c47f907d199762838b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Peter Prochac"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/predication.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/predication.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/predication.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/predication.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/predication.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1441"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/predication.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10137,"href":"https:\/\/predication.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441\/revisions\/10137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/predication.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/predication.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/predication.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}