Saint Nectarios addresses in the first chapter of his work “Know thyself” the issue of faith, highlighting the importance of self-knowledge for believing in God and for the moral and spiritual life in general. Since man is created “in the image and likeness” of God, selfknowledge aids him discover his nature, understand his destination and acquire gradually the knowledge of God and faith. The Saint presents the content and the particular features of faith explaining how it is experienced and applied by the Christian in his daily life, thus giving him joy and strength to confront its difficulties. Next, we examine the image, as named by the Saint, of the believer and the corresponding image of the unbeliever. With these images he outlines in a very illustrative and didactic way the two characters, describing the aspects of their personal and social lives, while highlighting the consequences of their choices. We complete our study with the conclusion that Saint Nectarios manages to present the connection between faith and spiritual life in a way that makes faith appealing and its study an exercise of self-knowledge.
