metanoia

Definition

A fundamental change of mind.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μετάνοια (metánoia, “repentance”, literally “afterthought”), a compound of μετά (metá, “after, with”) and νοέω (noéō, “to perceive, to think”).

Example Sentences

• "Sadly behind the great age of rowdy self-advertisement in which their lot has fallen, they seem not to have advanced one whit beyond John the Baptist and the Apostles, 1800 years ago, in their notions of the way in which the metanoia, the change of mind of the ill-doer, is to be brought about."
• "Metanoia is the knowledge that there can be totalities in this world totally different from what we thought. This is the sense in which metanoia is the most radical form of poiesis."
• "There is therefore enthusiasm no less than resignation in an enlightened metanoia. You give up everything in the form of claims; you receive everything back in the form of a divine presence."

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