The Spiritual Wisdom and Practices of Early Christianity

Download or read book The Spiritual Wisdom and Practices of Early Christianity written by Alphonse and Rachel Goettmann and published by Theosis Books. This book was released on 2010-06-15 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, we will consider the fundamental practices of the Christian experience. They are backed by two thousand years of history and a sea of witnesses who, down through the ages, have journeyed on this path that has led them to the summits of wisdom and holiness. The difficulty in the presentation of these "methods" is their inevitable and artificial juxtaposition when they only find their internal and organic coherence in the living Tradition. They are all held together as in a living organism; each element comes at a particular stage in a life that gravitates around its axis: the Christ. That is why we will use a method which will make it possible for the reader not to remain on the exterior as a spectator: the repetition of key ideas. This is a teaching in the form of a spiral, an "eating of the word" where, as in liturgical chants and the experiential method of Scripture, we become that which we "eat" continually, we "are" what we have just read rather than merely "knowing" it. Each chapter is a new approach to the unique Reality. Rather than addressing the intellect, it speaks to the heart.