What do you think?
Rate this book
Contemplating Christ: The Gospels and the Interior Life
The incarnation has made mystics of us all. What if we read the gospels as if that were true? In his book Contemplating Christ,Vincent Pizzuto offers an exploration of the interior life for modern contemplatives that is as beautiful as it is compelling. With an emphasis on the gospels and Christian mystical tradition, his book explores ancient themes in new and surprising ways. Drawing on his rich experience as an academic and priest, Pizzuto gradually unfolds the Christian mystery of deification to which the whole of biblical revelation and the Christian contemplative life are through the incarnation, we have all been made “other Christs” in the world.
- GenresSpirituality
251 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 26, 2018
46 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 8, 2019
I think the book is excellent in exploring asceticism not as a monastic practice but as a way of life for all Christians. The book is based on the two pillars of incarnation and deification - God became human so that we humans might become God. The author is not Orthodox, yet makes excellent use of both Orthodox and non-Orthodox writers to explore how each of is to live the Christian life toward the goal of deification. Well written and a worthy read, though some Orthodox may find his comments toward the end of the book on social issues discomforting as he reflects his own tradition, but even there it can be a good challenge for us to think through our positions on difficult contemporary issues.
July 29, 2019
A book to be savored, bit by bit. I actually began reading this in May. I’m sure that I will read it at least two more times to capture even a small nugget. Father Puzzuto spends a great deal of time on the Incarnation . The chapter on demons was very enlightening. The last part of the book focused on “Becoming Prayer”. The most enlightening part of this was Deification, Christ actually considering us divine. This is well backed up in the New Testament.
February 10, 2021
“The spiritual life can no longer be understood as humanity in search of God, but God in search of humanity.” This book turned what I thought to be Christianity on its head and sparked a new pursuit and understanding for me. It’s all about love. It’s deep and I’m taking a second slow dive into it with others at his Saturday morning meditations in the Peace Chapel at meditationchapel.org. Highly recommend this to any spiritual seeker.
June 17, 2019
Pizzuto explores Christ and contemplation, including the concept of deification. He clearly has done extensive research into writings on the topic, from the early years of Christianity to the present. He looks at contemplative life as part of the whole life of a Christian. Like other contemporary writers like Richard Rohr, he sees contemplation and the active life as complementing each other, not as opposing ways of being Christian. He talks about contemplative discipleship. The whole book is rooted in the reality of the incarnation.
In addition to extensive theological reflection being obvious, it is also clear that Pizzuto has sought to live out the life of a Christian contemplative. Pizzuto's natural bent is to write theology for theologians, but he seeks to balance that in this book to make it more accessible for non-theologians. But for non-theologians (including all of the group with whom I read it), the book seems unnecessarily verbose. For this non-professional audience, a better book would have been edited down to maybe a third of the length of this volume. That would have made the critical points stand out better, and not forced us to wade through way more explanation and justification in terms of Christian orthodoxy than we might want. That said, I think Pizzuto is mostly right on the mark, and some of the passages are really beautiful. I suspect theologians would like the book as is more than us amateurs.
In addition to extensive theological reflection being obvious, it is also clear that Pizzuto has sought to live out the life of a Christian contemplative. Pizzuto's natural bent is to write theology for theologians, but he seeks to balance that in this book to make it more accessible for non-theologians. But for non-theologians (including all of the group with whom I read it), the book seems unnecessarily verbose. For this non-professional audience, a better book would have been edited down to maybe a third of the length of this volume. That would have made the critical points stand out better, and not forced us to wade through way more explanation and justification in terms of Christian orthodoxy than we might want. That said, I think Pizzuto is mostly right on the mark, and some of the passages are really beautiful. I suspect theologians would like the book as is more than us amateurs.
January 31, 2022
Extraordinary
Within me, I am aware of all this but words of course affirm experience. We too often put the cart before the horse. Briefly, I was a Catholic deacon for 35 years. After several inner experiences including a near death -out of body experience, I began to homilize full and equal dignity, Presence, consciousness, awareness and wakefulness, unity and non dual. Four years ago I was told by my pastor that I was no longer needed. I told him I understood perfectly. I resigned and have not gone back. I forgave, transcend, and include. After my wife died 19 years ago, I fell deeply in love with Holy Sophia. She is my guide each day, each moment. I live alone and am a contemplative, I read spiritually and journal deeply by Her guidance daily. Centering Prayer is my form of meditation. Contemplation can not be taught, contemplation must be caught. I often tell people when I see them that I see Christo-Sophia totally is reflected back to me in their eyes and heart. What a beautiful way to tell them that we are inclusive in our love.
Dave
Within me, I am aware of all this but words of course affirm experience. We too often put the cart before the horse. Briefly, I was a Catholic deacon for 35 years. After several inner experiences including a near death -out of body experience, I began to homilize full and equal dignity, Presence, consciousness, awareness and wakefulness, unity and non dual. Four years ago I was told by my pastor that I was no longer needed. I told him I understood perfectly. I resigned and have not gone back. I forgave, transcend, and include. After my wife died 19 years ago, I fell deeply in love with Holy Sophia. She is my guide each day, each moment. I live alone and am a contemplative, I read spiritually and journal deeply by Her guidance daily. Centering Prayer is my form of meditation. Contemplation can not be taught, contemplation must be caught. I often tell people when I see them that I see Christo-Sophia totally is reflected back to me in their eyes and heart. What a beautiful way to tell them that we are inclusive in our love.
Dave
May 23, 2019
One of the best books on Christian contemplative life that argues we all are mystics due to the very nature of the incarnation. Redefined lots of themes in the context of inferiority and profoundly applies its teachings to modern life. The teachings on what asceticism means for us today were especially powerful.
January 8, 2019
Contemplative prayer is not the same as monastic prayer. This book enables the reader to obtain a new understanding of living a prayerful life.
December 30, 2020
This is one of the best spiritual books I have ever encountered. It makes the death of the false self more comprehensible than other books I have read. If you are interested in divine union, then read this book!
August 31, 2023
A solid text for the serious Christian contemplative. Pizzuto's depiction of Mary as the contemplative archetype is brief but brilliant.
October 6, 2024
Definitely requires multiple readings.
June 12, 2025
Wherein Vincent Pizzuyo further proves that I am actually a contemplative at heart.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews