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Sacred Cosmology in the Christian Tradition (Part III)

The Original Christian World-view A study of the lives and writings of the great spiritual masters of the First Millennium of the Christian Church — East and West — will show that a sacred cosmology was integral to the Church’s world-view. Salvation, or deification, as the ancient Church and the Orthodox Church of today calls the process of reconciliation with God, was cosmic as well as personal in scope. It included not only human beings

REPENTANCE IN THE PHILOKALIA (Part II)

Neilos the Ascetic (died ca. 430) was probably from Constantinople and a follower of St. John Chrysostom. He became abbot of a monastery in what is now Ankara, Turkey, and is the first writer known to make unequivocal mention of the Jesus Prayer. “In the biblical story Elisha then threw a stick into the Jordan and brought to the surface the axe head his disciple had lost (cf. 2 Kings 6:6); that is to say,

The Soul (Part II)

Does the Soul Exist? Since some people do not realize it quite clearly enough, it is necessary to demonstrate briefly that every human being has a rational soul. Some deny this truth, convinced that human beings consist only of their bodies. A good argument is the following. Only the human being manages to think of objects outside its own body and to meditate upon things it does not see. Furthermore, the human being reflects upon

REPENTANCE IN THE PHILOKALIA (Part II)

Neilos the Ascetic (died ca. 430) was probably from Constantinople and a follower of St. John Chrysostom. He became abbot of a monastery in what is now Ankara, Turkey, and is the first writer known to make unequivocal mention of the Jesus Prayer. “In the biblical story Elisha then threw a stick into the Jordan and brought to the surface the axe head his disciple had lost (cf. 2 Kings 6:6); that is to say,

Sacred Cosmology in the Christian Tradition (Part III)

The Original Christian World-view: A study of the lives and writings of the great spiritual masters of the First Millennium of the Christian Church — East and West — will show that a sacred cosmology was integral to the Church’s world-view. Salvation, or deification, as the ancient Church and the Orthodox Church of today calls the process of reconciliation with God, was cosmic as well as personal in scope. It included not only human beings