Strength in Weakness

by Matthew C. Steenberg, Archimandrite Irenei

From the richness of his work as a Professor of Patristics and Early Church History, His Grace, Bishop Irenei offers us in this small but timely volume, as balm for the soul’s wounds, his reflections on the spiritual strength our Lord unfailingly gives us in times of struggle. “It is easy,” he writes, “to hear God’s words—My strength is made perfect in weakness—and take them to mean simply that when our strength is depleted, His manifests itself. That when we have no more power to carry on, God sustains us. These things are, of course, true, and they are beautiful and important; but they are not the real message of the Lord’s words to His Apostle. What the Lord opens to St. Paul is a deeper revelation: that in order for God’s power to be made perfect in a man, that man must become weak.... Then, in a life that is weakened of all its self-possessive fortitude, broken down into spiritual emptiness (often, precisely through physical trials), the Lord fills the heart with a strength that at last has room to reside there.”

54 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

Archimandrite Irenei (née Matthew Steenberg) is an established scholar of patristics and the early Church, and an Archimandrite of the Russian Orthodox Church. Formerly a don in patristics and early Church history at the University of Oxford and sometime Chair of Theology at Leeds Trinity University College in the United Kingdom, he is an active speaker and lecturer around the world on Orthodox theology and practice, and has also been heavily involved in bringing patristic study into wider access through the internet. He is currently visiting professor in Orthodox theology at Santa Clara University, Professorial Research Fellow of Leeds Trinity (UK), and the Superintendent of the St John of San Francisco Orthodox Academy - North America's only fully-accredited Orthodox K-12 college preparatory school.

Professor Fr Irenei’s scholarly work centres on patristic theology, especially anthropology (doctrines of the human person) in the Orthodox patristic tradition—specifically of the early period (ad 33-451)—and its relationship to soteriology in a Christological and Trinitarian context. His work is marked out by a strong emphasis on historical development (especially Eastern) and its relationship to modern theological discussions. He has authored numerous books and published extensively on patristic and Orthodox topics (many of his works were published before his monastic tonsure and are found under his old name: Revd Prof. M.C. Steenberg).

He is widely known beyond academic circles through his work to bring Orthodox patristic and monastic study to a wider audience. He founded the Monachos.net web site on Orthodoxy through patristic and monastic study in 1999, which is today the largest resource for such materials on the internet. The website’s message forum, known as the Discussion Community, is one of the only forums on the internet dedicated to patristic and monastic discussions. In 2008 he began weekly internet radio broadcasts for Ancient Faith Radio, in a series called A Word From the Holy Fathers. These broadcasts, which focus each week on a patristic writing and its pastoral impact, are among the most listened-to podcasts on the station. Fr Irenei served as deacon of the Russian Orthodox Parish of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Oxford from 2007-2010, and in January 2010 moved to San Francisco. He was ordained hieromonk in March 2010 and elevated to the rank of Archimandrite in 2011.

Reviews

[Emiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a small volume, but it packs a powerful and rich message that perhaps requires brevity to have the impact it does. Bishop Irenei writes in a direct yet loving way. His words, the Scripture, and Holy Fathers he brings together, to illustrate his thesis, all touched my heart.

[Gregory Korbut · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonder text for those who desire to understand suffering and trials and our relationship with God.

Less than an hour investment for great consolation.