I do not rush to ignore the one, and I am encompassed by the three, says Saint Gregory, recording the experience of one God revealed in three consubstantial persons. But newer generations of thinkers and theologians have sought the ontological priority of the one person in the Godhead and in human society. This personalism, contrary to its promise, undermines persons, establishing hierarchies of power, primacy, and absolute authority, and consigning to oblivion the "triadic monarchy" that pervasively informs the theological and social thought of the holy Fathers.

Through the treasures of the ascetic and theological tradition shared by the East and the West during the first millennium, this book explores the mystery of nature, person, and grace, as the whole person journeys towards unity with God, the world, and oneself. In this unity, where nature and grace legislate the "equal," man finds his integrity and becomes a beholder of his own world and the beauty of the royal Trinity.