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The Art of Salvation
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100 pages, Hardcover
First published July 6, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 20, 2020
This is a book containing the homilies of an Orthodox monk, Elder Ephraim. In it, in general, Elder Ephraim emphasizes the need for repentance, humility, denial of the passions, prayer, and role of the Church in the successful Christian life as means by which to realize greater closeness to God.
Having read The Philokalia's ancient writings on such topics, it was interesting reading Elder Ephraim, a 20th Century Orthodox writer, and seeing how his teachings compared. While Ephraim's analogies and references are from modern times for modern readers, the basic essence of his teachings holds no daylight between his beliefs and those of saints from millenia ago.
I enjoyed reading this book very much, and found his firm guidance helpful with my daily struggles in living the Christian life. The book itself, published by St. Nektarios Monastery, is attractive with icon pictures of saints mentioned by Elder Ephraim.
I recommend this book for Christians seeking guidance on how to live a more spiritually successful walk. Definitely a wonderful book!
Having read The Philokalia's ancient writings on such topics, it was interesting reading Elder Ephraim, a 20th Century Orthodox writer, and seeing how his teachings compared. While Ephraim's analogies and references are from modern times for modern readers, the basic essence of his teachings holds no daylight between his beliefs and those of saints from millenia ago.
I enjoyed reading this book very much, and found his firm guidance helpful with my daily struggles in living the Christian life. The book itself, published by St. Nektarios Monastery, is attractive with icon pictures of saints mentioned by Elder Ephraim.
I recommend this book for Christians seeking guidance on how to live a more spiritually successful walk. Definitely a wonderful book!
September 8, 2024
Glory be to God, pray for us saint ephraim of Arizona. This man is a monastic who is full of notice prayer and lover of christ people and all mankind. Dive deep into the teachings of the spiritual father and be blown away by yet another modern day saint produced by orthodoxy, saint as in holy spirit or defied by God's grace by aesitic practices, praying and sacraments of the orthodox church from Mount athos all the way to Arizona in America he has spread the faith and started monasteries from the holy land to modern day usa. Amazing teacher of christ Jesus.
February 13, 2016
i find this title a misnomer; this collection of homilies deals primarily with the practical application of ascesis, it's more like a spiritual science, a systematic study of the structure of spiritual living and the guidelines of behavior that lead to it. Which is cool, too.
When I think of the art of salvation, I think of inner creative activity, inspiration, which these homilies do lay the groundwork for, but it's heavily weighted on the side of Do This and It Will Lead To This, Do That and It Will Lead To That.
the book was difficult for me to get through,. took me a year. Not that it's not helpful, it's very basic Good Advice: Don't Talk Idly. Be Quiet. Say Your Prayers. Think About Death. Be More Humble. Do Your Work Diligently. It would be unfair to limit the homilies to this level of simplicity, Elder Ephraim has monastic discernment for the elements of primary importance when it comes to spiritual life, and his homilies never stray into meaningless theory or intellectual vanity. He just talks about what matters, and nothing else. His language is simple, and his teachings constitute a pragmatic approach to spiritual living, covering the vast reach of the Commandments of Christ, from almsgiving to dealing with egotism and the passions.
For some reason, when I read material that is primarily directives for the framework of spiritual living, even if those directives are right and true, I feel bogged down.
For me, when it comes to an art, I have to be inspired to truly learn it. This is why when it comes to the contemporary monastic elders of Greece, I really love Elder Porphyrios. There is something inspirational, something intoxicating in his teachings.
This collection of homilies by Elder Ephraim is very good and much of the material is written for laypeople as well as monks. The book is divided, with the homilies for monks coming in the latter half. The material is indispensable.
(my 3 star rating is not a value based rating--it's how much I enjoyed the book)
When I think of the art of salvation, I think of inner creative activity, inspiration, which these homilies do lay the groundwork for, but it's heavily weighted on the side of Do This and It Will Lead To This, Do That and It Will Lead To That.
the book was difficult for me to get through,. took me a year. Not that it's not helpful, it's very basic Good Advice: Don't Talk Idly. Be Quiet. Say Your Prayers. Think About Death. Be More Humble. Do Your Work Diligently. It would be unfair to limit the homilies to this level of simplicity, Elder Ephraim has monastic discernment for the elements of primary importance when it comes to spiritual life, and his homilies never stray into meaningless theory or intellectual vanity. He just talks about what matters, and nothing else. His language is simple, and his teachings constitute a pragmatic approach to spiritual living, covering the vast reach of the Commandments of Christ, from almsgiving to dealing with egotism and the passions.
For some reason, when I read material that is primarily directives for the framework of spiritual living, even if those directives are right and true, I feel bogged down.
For me, when it comes to an art, I have to be inspired to truly learn it. This is why when it comes to the contemporary monastic elders of Greece, I really love Elder Porphyrios. There is something inspirational, something intoxicating in his teachings.
This collection of homilies by Elder Ephraim is very good and much of the material is written for laypeople as well as monks. The book is divided, with the homilies for monks coming in the latter half. The material is indispensable.
(my 3 star rating is not a value based rating--it's how much I enjoyed the book)
December 11, 2018
The short (and wonderful) homilies allow you to really absorb the essential topics being covered in each one, and each homily gives you a lot to take away.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews