"We may study as much as we will but we shall still not come to know the Lord unless we live according to His commandments, for the Lord is not made known through learning, but by the Holy Spirit. Many philosophers and scholars have arrived at a belief in the existence of God, but they have not come to know God. To believe in God is one thing, to know God another." St Silouan the Athonite p.354
How does this happen?
"The soul suddenly sees the Lord and knows that it is He.
Who shall describe this joy, this gladbess?
The Lord is made known in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit pervades the entire man - soul, mind and body.
After this wise is God known in heaven and on earth.
The Lord in His boundless mercy accorded this grace to me, a sinner, that others might come to know God and turn to Him." p.353
"I went into church, to Vespers, and looking at the icon of the Saviour, I cried: 'Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon me, a sinner. ' And as I uttered these words, I saw the living Lord in the place where the icon was, and the grace of the Holy Spirit flooded my soul and my whole body. And so it was I came to know through the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ is God; and I was filled with a sweet longing to endure sufferings for His sake." p. 458
"Pride is the root of unbelief. ...the Lord reveals Himself only to the lowly in heart....If we take pains to explore the human heart, this is what we shall see: the Kingdom of Heaven in the heart of the saint, but in the soul of the sinner darkness and torment. And it is good to know this because we shall dwell eternally either in the Kingdom or in torment." p.355
"Many martyrs came to know the Lord...
The grace of God teaches them to love their enemies, since the man who has no love for his enemies cannot come to know the Lord, Who died on the cross for His enemies, and gave us an example in Himself with the commandment to love our enemies (The Gospel of St John 13:15)"
"The man to whom the Lord is known through the Holy Spirit (the man to whom the Lord has appeared alive and visible as stated above- emphasis mine) becomes like unto the Lord, as St John the Divine said, 'We shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is' 1 John 3:2, and we shall behold His glory." p.356
"But the man who cries out against evil men but does not pray for them will never know the grace of God." p.357
"O ye peoples of the earth, fashioned by God, know your Creator and His love for us!
...Turn to Him, all ye peoples of the earth, and lift up your prayers to God...
Know, all ye peoples, that we are created for the glory of God in the heavens. Cleave not to the earth, for God is our Father and He loves us like dear children." p.358-359
Selections from the book, St Silouan the Athonite by Archimandrite Sophrony, translated by Rosemary Edmonds, St Vladimir Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York 10707. ISBN 0-88141-195-7
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