In the Heart of the Desert: The Spiritualilty of the Desert Fathers and Mothers (Treasures of the World's Religions)
by John Chryssavgis
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Book Summary Information
Author: John ChryssavgisEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Format: Illustrated
Published: 2003-05-25
ISBN: 0941532518
Number of pages: 200
Publisher: World Wisdom
Book Reviews of In the Heart of the Desert: The Spiritualilty of the Desert Fathers and Mothers (Treasures of the World's Religions)
Book Review: Readable guide to the desert fathers and mothers
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a very readable introduction to the Desert Fathers and Mothers, summarising some of the points that come up most often. The problem with studying this body of texts is always to pin down what is essentially a collection of diverse opinions and ways of life. Chryssavgis does this fairly well, and his genre of "spirituality" gives him the option of not going too deeply into the problematic and contradictory nature of some of these topics.
It is probably best to read one of Ward's translations of the collections before reading this book. Having said that, if you do so, the book will soon become redundant: it is difficult to improve on the articulate and pithy answers given by these masters of the monastic life.
In sum: this is a good book, but the number of issues raised precludes an in-depth treatment of the thorny topics the desert fathers and mothers struggled with. And given the everyday nature of their wisdom, one wonders whether the "spirituality" in the title is not decoration for the sake of marketing.
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