Download Free Practical Spirituality According To The Desert Fathers Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Practical Spirituality According To The Desert Fathers and write the review.

Although the Bible tells what people need to do to reach perfection and earn eternal life, it does not tell how. Fr. Iskander borrowed methods and techniques from the Holy Fathers and provided wise instructions on how to practically apply them to the struggles faced by young Orthodox people living in the 21st century.
This book explores varieties of spiritual movements and alternative experiments for generation of beauty, dignity and dialogues, in a world where the rise of the religious in politics and the public sphere is often accompanied by violence. It examines how spirituality can contribute to human development, social transformations and planetary realizations, urging us to treat each other, and our planet, with evolutionary care and respect. Trans-disciplinary and trans-paradigmatic to its very core, this text opens new pathways of practical spirituality and humanistic action for both scholarship and discourse and offers an invaluable companion for scholars across religious studies, cultural studies and development studies.
In "A Practical Spirituality," Father J.J. Edward, a Catholic priest and professor of philosophy at the National Seminary of Lahore, Pakistan, outlines how people can empower themselves by working toward humanism and peace. But to reach their full potential, people must work on their inner selves before they can think about social change and global transformation. Private victories must come before public victories. In the third millennium, only the spiritually fit will survive. Walk down a path that is faithful to your Christian ideals as you learn The basic elements of spirituality How spirituality ties into aging, a sense of mission, and work Ways to celebrate forgiveness The essentials of prayer The art of creating affluence And much more! Walk down a path that will help you become a better person and take steps to help the world become a more peaceful place in A Practical Spirituality.
Father John's inspiring introduction to the spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers brings their words to life for the modern reader. These key figures of the early church chose lives of hardship and solitude, where they could point their hearts away from the outward world and toward an introspective path of God's calling in a deliberate and individual way. Contains a Foreword by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, the second highest ranking Orthodox Bishop in England.
The 1500-year-old wisdom of the "Desert Fathers & Mothers" is becoming a refreshingly attractive resource for coping with contemporary breakdowns in personal & cultural norms. "Desert Wisdom" refers to a spiritual philosophy that arose when the Roman Empire, after centuries of persecuting Christians, suddenly claimed earthly power in the name of Christ after the conversion of Constantine. Those who longed for the discipline & courage of the earlier martyrs migrated to the deserts of Egypt. These fourth-century desert mystics left a legacy of wisdom & a way of life that is relevant wherever society suffers a spiritual upheaval. Mayers presents the ancient thought & lifestyle through traditional Wisdom Stories in which characters, actions, & sayings address deep, universal human needs. This insightful collection draws from hermit monks & nuns ("abbas" & "ammas") known to history only as Moses, Poeman, Syncletica, Macarius, Ammonas, Evagrius, Sisoes the Theban, & Bessaron. Each chapter begins with a brief story that has been used for centuries to sharpen spiritual awareness & contemplative practice. Mayers follows with provocative interpretations of the lessons taught by the masters, & concludes with contemporary applications that blend psychology & spirituality. Readers with a special interest in the evolution of spiritual consciousness as well as those with little background in monastic spirituality will find much here that is both enlightening & nourishing.
What are the thoughts that matter? They are the seemingly uncontrollable, idle thoughts (‘If she wasn’t married’, ‘I hate that guy...’) that can annihilate what is good in us, what is godly, and do real damage in our world. Thoughts about food, sex, things, anger, dejection, acedia (weariness of soul), vainglory and pride. The fourth-century monk John Cassian described a method of training the mind not unlike that found in Eastern religions. In this book, a Benedictine nun and head of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue interprets this method in a contemporary way suitable for all serious about the spiritual life, devoting a chapter to each of the areas of thought that can prevent us achieving peace with God.
What if our exhaustion, burnout, and pain are an invitation into a more vibrant faith? Christianity is fighting for its soul. We’ve enjoyed the benefits of power and privilege for so long that many of us have forgotten the radical way of Jesus. But we have been here before. And there is a way through. Within a few hundred years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Christianity emerged as the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. Where it once took courage to be a Christian, suddenly it was easy, and the radical way of Jesus was being lost. Toward the end of the fourth century, a group of men and women began to withdraw from the halls of privilege and power into the desert to rediscover the essence of Jesus Christ. The stories and examples of these desert fathers and mothers are recorded for us. And their lives still speak by as they teach us: To embrace the disciplines of solitude, silence, and prayer; To pursue humility, generosity, and unity in rich relationship with others; To develop a keen eye for wisdom; and To lay down our rights for the good of others. The desert fathers and mothers found a way to live radically, humanly, and beautifully in a spiritually desolate and confusing time. So can we. Streams in the Wasteland is for all those who thirst for a better way—the radical way of Jesus amid the desert of our age.
Desert spirituality speaks to the mind and heart. It is a spirituality that helps us balance our work and daily obligations and figure out our priorities and the place of God in our lives. Desert spirituality addresses our most intimate thoughts and helps us analyze the roots of our spiritual setbacks. Its essence is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matt 22:37). Starting in fourth-century Egypt, desert spirituality has become a global phenomenon. It has endured through the centuries because it is practical and simple; it tells us how to live out Scripture in our daily lives. It is also profound; it is deeply rooted in the theology of the incarnation and the renewal of creation by the resurrection. The desert fathers and mothers left us short wisdom sayings, revealing their inner experience in their long journey toward being with God. They speak about Scripture and prayer, but also about how to love our neighbors, discern our thoughts, and evaluate our daily activities. Come, learn from these desert dwellers as they teach us about the examination of thoughts, the discernment of the soul, and the balance of the heart.
The Desert Fathers were the first Christian monks, living in solitude in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. In contrast to the formalised and official theology of the "founding fathers" of the church, the Desert Fathers were ordinary Christians who chose to renounce the world and live lives of celibacy, fasting, vigil, prayer and poverty in direct and simple response to the gospel. Their sayings were first recorded in the 4th century and consist of spiritual advice, anecdotes and parables. The Desert Fathers' teachings and lives have inspired poetry, opera and art, as well as providing spiritual nourishment and a template for monastic life.
'Discernment in the Desert Fathers' is a study of discernment (Diakrisis) in the life and thought of the fourth- and fifth-century Egyptian Desert Fathers. Rich argues that their understanding of Diakrisis was based upon a practical application of biblical Diakrisis in general and not, as has been argued, primarily a development of the gift of discernment of spirits. He begins with an examination of Scripture and goes on to consider the philosophical and theological background of the period as represented by Plotinus and Origen respectively. An examination of the works of the first theologians of the desert, Evagrius and Cassian, who lived among these first Christian monks and nuns, provides an early interpretation of the sayings of the Desert Fathers or Apophthegmata Patrum. The Greek, Latin, and Coptic sayings that survive are then examined in detail, some of them translated into English for the first time. This indepth analysis (including the comprehensive list of crossÐreferences which will be a valuable resource for scholars researching the subject in the future) provides many insights into the lives of these early Christians and demonstrates how Diakrisis touched every aspect of their inward and outward lives. Rich concludes that Diakrisis was a critical faculty and charism central to the spiritual and practical life of these early monks and nuns in their mystical search for God, for purity of life, and knowledge of him.