Orthodox Spiritual Life According to Saint Silouan the Athonite


St. Silouan is a man of our times. He was Russian by birth, but spent the majority of his life on Mount Athos. St. Silouan's teachings are radical, but totally Christ-centered. His treatises on love of fellow man, love for one's enemies and love for all of creation are awe-inspiring. While thoroughly Christian and well grounded in the Fathers, his teachings seem quite radical at times to both Orthodox Christians as well as non-Orthodox Christians and non-Christians. Not radical in a right wing sense, but radical in his all encompassing love for all of God's creation. His views would inspire ecologists and those in the modern environmental movement. These ideas are totally in line with those of older saints like St. Isaac of Syria.

Dr. Boosalis has put together a wonderful summation of the major tenents of St. Silouan's teachings. There are countless splended quotes from the saint on prayer, love, repentance, grace and countless other topics. The only problem I had with the book is that the copious amount of footnotes is sometimes cumbersome and breaks the flow of the reading. All that aside, this is still an excellent primer into the world of St. Silouan. The primary source for this book is "St. Silouan the Athonite" by Elder Sophrony (still in print) which should also be read.
- Review from Amazon.com by Moses Alexander