The Book of Mystical Chapters: Meditations on the Soul's Ascent, from the Desert Fathers and Other Early Christian Contemplatives

by John Anthony McGuckin

The early Christian monks of Egypt, Syria, and Palestine were the spiritual heroes of their age—fleeing the security of civilization for the desert, where they sought God in lives of prayer, contemplation, and radical simplicity. This book is a portable collection of their teachings, and those of their contemplative contemporaries, ranging from the fourth through the eleventh centuries. It is arranged to the traditional model of three ascending "books": Praktikos (practice), Theoretikos (theory), and Gnosis (knowledge). Each book consists of 100 "sentences"—aphorisms or thoughts. Each sentence is intended to be read and meditated upon for an entire day—just as the monks themselves might have done as they went about their work.

Genres: Mysticism, Religion, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Christian, Christianity, Theology

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

John Anthony McGuckin is the Nielsen Emeritus Professor of Byzantine Christian Studies at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, and currently professor of early Christianity in the Theological Faculty of Oxford University. An archpriest of the Romanian Orthodox Church and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he has written more than thirty scholarly books. He lives in the UK.

Reviews

[Maughn Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

My research on contemplative traditions reveals a surprising consistency of themes common to those traditions, including simplicity (asceticism), compassion, non-distracted concentration, and insight.

[Logan Streondj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very profound excellent quotations from early Christian mystics really showing a strong continuity with modern mysticism. Also a kudos to the editor for picking out such good verses. This is definitely worth archiving next to the Bible.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Whatever path you find your soul longs after in the quest for God, do that, and always watch over your heart's integrity."

[Jeanette Beland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reading it again in 2019. Beautiful and thoughtful writings.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the Introduction: "This book is a portable collection of ... Christian monastic wisdom, a very small edition of the vast amount of teachings that exist and are still used in the monasteries of the Eastern Christian world to this day. It has been arranged, in the manner of an ancient manual of instruction, in three ascending books: Praktikos, Theoretikos, and Gnostikos. The 'sentences' (which in ancient Greek meant a unit of thought, or paragraph) have been edited, again in the ancient manner, in the form of three 'centuries,' or groups of one hundred aphorisms. Each single sentence is meant to be taken as a day's reflection. It was first supposed to be learned by heart, at the beginning of the day, and then repeated as the daily text in every spare moment of quiet. Such moments of hesychia (quietness of soul) were structured by the early monks around the simple repetitive tasks that made up daily life in remote deserts. The regular monotony of basket weaving (a favored monastic employment) was interspersed with the repetition of prayers and the musing on the 'sentence' of the day. Today life is busier and more demanding, but even the busiest of us have moments of hesychia, in those times spent waiting for buses or trains to arrive or depart, or when we are driving or walking or simply sitting idly for a moment. Such times are ideally suited for the recitation of the sentence and its dialectic - teasing out the implications of what such an aphorism could mean: how have we already experienced it; how could it illuminate a truth about our own heart or the troubles of our friends' hearts or the secret ways that God wishes to develop our seeking soul?"

[Ivan Granger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the book that, years ago, introduced me to the stunning poetry of Symeon the New Theologian, igniting my passion for his visionary poetry of light and transformation. You’ll also find poems and poetic renditions of writings from many other saints and mystics of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Still a favorite of mine.

[Cindy]

Desert Fathers \Essesnes have always interested me ......

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of teachings of the desert fathers, be careful with the introduction and remember the context the fathers of the desert where writing, that of orthodox Christianity.

[Mark Lacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would've gotten more out of this, I think, if I'd been disciplined enough (like a desert monk!) to read just one selection a day, and spend 15 minutes meditating on it.

[elbren · Rating 3 out of 5]

well, I copied 3 of the sayings into my notebook and put aphrahat and sahdona on my reading list, so I guess it was ok

[Y.R.M. Breemes · Rating 2 out of 5]

not really my thing, i am (i think) a to down to earth christian,