What do you think?
Rate this book
God and Man by Metropolitan Anthony Of Sourozh
Excellent Book
Paperback
First published October 1, 2004
12 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Bloom
90 books80 followersMetropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh was a prominent writer and broadcaster on prayer and the Christian life, as well as the founder and leader of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh.
See also: Antonie de Suroj, Anthony of Sourozh, Antonijus Surožietis, Антоний Сурожский, Anthony van Sourozh, Антоний Сурожки
See also: Antonie de Suroj, Anthony of Sourozh, Antonijus Surožietis, Антоний Сурожский, Anthony van Sourozh, Антоний Сурожки
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 9, 2014
الكتاب رائع بكل معنى الكلمة وساحر ايضا ..
يبحر بك الى اعماق سحيقة بكل بساطة ورغم صعوبة الكتاب الا انى كنت اتاخر فى كل جملة تقريبا لاستمتع به .. فكر المتروبوليب انطونى بلوم عميق جدا ..
متعة الكتاب فى انه يقدم العقيدة الارثوذوكسية بشكل معاصر وعميق نفتقر له جميعا ...
كتاب دسم ويحتاج الى قرائته عدة مرات ..
ملئ بالتبصرات والحقائق بشكل عفوى جميل ..
كتاب لا غنى عنه ولغة الترجمة اعاقت قليلا جدا المعنى ..
اعجبنى حوار الملحدة ورئيس الاساقفة والله والانسان
ليس دائما تجد كتابا مثل هذا..
يبحر بك الى اعماق سحيقة بكل بساطة ورغم صعوبة الكتاب الا انى كنت اتاخر فى كل جملة تقريبا لاستمتع به .. فكر المتروبوليب انطونى بلوم عميق جدا ..
متعة الكتاب فى انه يقدم العقيدة الارثوذوكسية بشكل معاصر وعميق نفتقر له جميعا ...
كتاب دسم ويحتاج الى قرائته عدة مرات ..
ملئ بالتبصرات والحقائق بشكل عفوى جميل ..
كتاب لا غنى عنه ولغة الترجمة اعاقت قليلا جدا المعنى ..
اعجبنى حوار الملحدة ورئيس الاساقفة والله والانسان
ليس دائما تجد كتابا مثل هذا..
April 22, 2012
I've only read two books by Bloom, but he's one of those rare writers on things spiritual who I've come to trust. There's something about his quiet, wise voice that really clicks with me. This particular book is something of a grab bag, with several essays (or talks) gathered under the title of a BBC interview (debate?) that Bloom had in 1970 with British journalist (and atheist) Marghanita Laski. This is probably the weakest part of the book. Bloom (a Russian Orthodox Archbishop), and Laski, don't exactly go at it hammer and tong. That's a good thing, but nevertheless the two of them circle each other in such a respectful way that all you get is polite nuance. Also, the medium of TV can be limiting, especially so when all you're doing is reading it.
The following essays are where the meat of the book can be found. They are: "Doubt and the Christian Life" (necessary reading IMHO); Man and God; "Holiness and Prayer" (best, and longest piece in the book); and "John the Baptist." On one hand, these are not heavy theological pieces, but they are demanding. It's kind of like having a heavy conversation with a friend. One (long) quote (regarding being a Christian) jumped out at me as I finished the book:
Now I will tell you what a priest at the end of a Roman Mass says to the people -- "Go" -- it is a dismissal; but what is a dismissal? Does it simply say that the service is over, out of the chapel, while the congregation in a rather ambiguous way says: "Thanks be to God."
No, it is not that. The dismissal means this: You have been on the Mount of Transfiguration, you have seen the glory of God, you have been on the road to Damascus, you have faced the living God, you have been in the upper chamber, you have been here and there in Galilee and Judaea, all the mysterious places where one meets God, and now having spent several days with him, he says now that so much has been given -- go, your joy will never abandon you. What you have acquired, you will never lose as long as you remain faithful. Go now, and if truly you have discovered joy, how can you not give joy to others? If truly you have come nearer to truth, how can you keep it for yourself? If truly something has been kindled in you which is life, are you going to allow anyone not to have a spark of life? It does not mean go round and tell everyone specifically religious things or use clerical phrases. It means you should go into the world which is yours with a radiance, with a joy, with an intensity that will make everyone look at you and say "He has something he hadn't before. Is it that truly God has come near? He has something he never had before and which I do not possess -- joy, life, certainty, a new courage, a new daring, a vision, where can I get it?"
To get a sense of Bloom's quiet intensity, here's a Youtube link to an interview he gave regarding Suffering: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK1v0L...
The following essays are where the meat of the book can be found. They are: "Doubt and the Christian Life" (necessary reading IMHO); Man and God; "Holiness and Prayer" (best, and longest piece in the book); and "John the Baptist." On one hand, these are not heavy theological pieces, but they are demanding. It's kind of like having a heavy conversation with a friend. One (long) quote (regarding being a Christian) jumped out at me as I finished the book:
Now I will tell you what a priest at the end of a Roman Mass says to the people -- "Go" -- it is a dismissal; but what is a dismissal? Does it simply say that the service is over, out of the chapel, while the congregation in a rather ambiguous way says: "Thanks be to God."
No, it is not that. The dismissal means this: You have been on the Mount of Transfiguration, you have seen the glory of God, you have been on the road to Damascus, you have faced the living God, you have been in the upper chamber, you have been here and there in Galilee and Judaea, all the mysterious places where one meets God, and now having spent several days with him, he says now that so much has been given -- go, your joy will never abandon you. What you have acquired, you will never lose as long as you remain faithful. Go now, and if truly you have discovered joy, how can you not give joy to others? If truly you have come nearer to truth, how can you keep it for yourself? If truly something has been kindled in you which is life, are you going to allow anyone not to have a spark of life? It does not mean go round and tell everyone specifically religious things or use clerical phrases. It means you should go into the world which is yours with a radiance, with a joy, with an intensity that will make everyone look at you and say "He has something he hadn't before. Is it that truly God has come near? He has something he never had before and which I do not possess -- joy, life, certainty, a new courage, a new daring, a vision, where can I get it?"
To get a sense of Bloom's quiet intensity, here's a Youtube link to an interview he gave regarding Suffering: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK1v0L...
February 17, 2020
I just finished reading this book, and have been paying very close attention to all that Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh had to say in this book, as I can definitely sense the great depth and breadth of spiritual wisdom comprising the text from a Christian Orthodox perspective.
Here are a couple of excerpts that struck me:
"If we think of a scientist and a believer, then we will see that the scientist's doubt is systematic, it is surging, it is hopeful, it is joyful, it is destructive of what he has done himself because he believes in the reality that is beyond and not in the model he has constructed. This we must learn as believers for our spiritual life both in the highest forms of theology and in the small simple concrete experience of being a Christian. Whenever we are confronted with a crossroads, whenever we are in doubt, whenever our mind sees two alternatives, instead of saying 'Oh God, make me blind, Oh God help me not to see, Oh God give me loyalty to what I know now to be untrue', we should say 'God is casting a ray of light which is a ray of reality on something I have outgrown--the smallness of my original vision. I have come to a point when I can see more and deeper, thanks be to God.' That is not perplexity, it is not bewilderment, it is not the anguished doubt of the believer who hides his head and hopes that he will be able to revert to the age of 8."
- Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh (19 June 1914 – 4 August 2003) in Man and God, Chapter 2: Doubt and the Christian Life, pgs. 38-39
"And then what is our attitude as Christians to those who are the enemies of Christ, who hate him, who reject him and those who are Godless, not only because they have not yet met God, but because they have met a caricature of God, whom we have presented them with in the name of God Himself? We must realise that we stand before the judgement of those who reject God because of us, and that Christ is not alien to them, and they are not outside Him, they are not alien to Him. There is a mystery of salvation far beyond the Church, far beyond our experience, far beyond our understanding.
What I have said about Christ is said not about the God of Heaven who becomes man, but about the Man, Jesus, who had such faith in us, in all of us, that he accepted becoming everything we are, including our Godlessness and our death. He believed in us and was prepared to vindicate the greatness of man by showing us in his person that man is so great that when God unites Himself with him, man remains in the full sense of the word--only instead of remaining small, he becomes what God has willed him to be."
- Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh (19 June 1914 – 4 August 2003), in God and Man, Chapter 3: Man and God, pgs. 56-57
This book is filled with such a degree of spiritual wisdom that I have rarely come across thus far, so it truly is a joy to read and absorb that contents thereof.
Here are a couple of excerpts that struck me:
"If we think of a scientist and a believer, then we will see that the scientist's doubt is systematic, it is surging, it is hopeful, it is joyful, it is destructive of what he has done himself because he believes in the reality that is beyond and not in the model he has constructed. This we must learn as believers for our spiritual life both in the highest forms of theology and in the small simple concrete experience of being a Christian. Whenever we are confronted with a crossroads, whenever we are in doubt, whenever our mind sees two alternatives, instead of saying 'Oh God, make me blind, Oh God help me not to see, Oh God give me loyalty to what I know now to be untrue', we should say 'God is casting a ray of light which is a ray of reality on something I have outgrown--the smallness of my original vision. I have come to a point when I can see more and deeper, thanks be to God.' That is not perplexity, it is not bewilderment, it is not the anguished doubt of the believer who hides his head and hopes that he will be able to revert to the age of 8."
- Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh (19 June 1914 – 4 August 2003) in Man and God, Chapter 2: Doubt and the Christian Life, pgs. 38-39
"And then what is our attitude as Christians to those who are the enemies of Christ, who hate him, who reject him and those who are Godless, not only because they have not yet met God, but because they have met a caricature of God, whom we have presented them with in the name of God Himself? We must realise that we stand before the judgement of those who reject God because of us, and that Christ is not alien to them, and they are not outside Him, they are not alien to Him. There is a mystery of salvation far beyond the Church, far beyond our experience, far beyond our understanding.
What I have said about Christ is said not about the God of Heaven who becomes man, but about the Man, Jesus, who had such faith in us, in all of us, that he accepted becoming everything we are, including our Godlessness and our death. He believed in us and was prepared to vindicate the greatness of man by showing us in his person that man is so great that when God unites Himself with him, man remains in the full sense of the word--only instead of remaining small, he becomes what God has willed him to be."
- Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh (19 June 1914 – 4 August 2003), in God and Man, Chapter 3: Man and God, pgs. 56-57
This book is filled with such a degree of spiritual wisdom that I have rarely come across thus far, so it truly is a joy to read and absorb that contents thereof.
June 27, 2013
A penetrating discussion between "The Atheist and the Archbishop" - Anthony Bloom's famous television discussion with Marghanita Laski - on the essence of Christian faith and life opens this book of five selections. Summarizing the Christian life in terms of worship, joy, and the challenge to grow into a full stature, Metropolitan Anthony calls for a worshipful attitude to life.
In other essays on "Doubt and the Christian Life," "Man and God," and "Holiness and Prayer," he seeks to reveal the true nature of man by looking to Christ, the true man and true God. Man, he states, becomes truly human only when he is united with God, infinitely, deeply, inseparably, so that the fullness of God abides in the flesh. Thus, in terms of holiness, all holiness is God's holiness in us; it is the expression of love - the response of the love given by God to His Church.
In other essays on "Doubt and the Christian Life," "Man and God," and "Holiness and Prayer," he seeks to reveal the true nature of man by looking to Christ, the true man and true God. Man, he states, becomes truly human only when he is united with God, infinitely, deeply, inseparably, so that the fullness of God abides in the flesh. Thus, in terms of holiness, all holiness is God's holiness in us; it is the expression of love - the response of the love given by God to His Church.
May 15, 2007
MAKES SENSE TO THE MIND AND HEART. A gift from the Orthodox Christian Group at Birmingham. The most beautiful spiritual community I've experienced. Eleni, Kalli, Nikolai, Andrew, Niki, Loukia... and others I've sadly lost touch with...
May 4, 2020
A challenging book which gives an Orthodox perspective on our relationship with God and in particular prayer. There is much to ponder from Archbishop Bloom’s words.
April 2, 2013
Besides the Bible, maybe the most important book I've ever read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews