Inheriting Paradise: Meditations on Gardening [Paperback]

Vigen Guroian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

The garden is a personal place of retreat and delight and labor for many people. Gardening helps us collect ourselves, much as praying does. For rich and poor - it makes no difference - a garden is a place where body and soul are in harmony. In Inheriting Paradise Vigen Guroian offers an abundant vision of the spiritual life found in the cultivation of God's good creation. Capturing the earthiness and sacramental character of the Christian faith, these uplifting meditations bring together the experience of space and time through the cycle of the seasons in the garden and relate this fundamental human experience to the cycle of the church year and the Christian seasons of grace. The tilling of fresh earth; the sowing of seeds; the harvesting of rhubarb and roses, dillweed and daffodils - Guroian finds in the garden our most concrete connection with life and God's gracious giving. His personal reflections on this connection, complemented here by delicate woodcut illustrations, offer a compelling entry into Christian spirituality.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

I am a theologian and a college professor. I like being both. But what I really love to do - what I get exquisite pleasure from doing - is to garden. I think that gardening is nearer to godliness than theology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802845886
• ISBN-13: 978-0802845887
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #360,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Unity of Creation and Redemption, April 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Inheriting Paradise: Meditations on Gardening (Paperback)

In this remarkable little book, Guroian has exemplified the way in which Orthodox Christian theology/spirituality enables one to have spectacular insight into the nature of creaturely life in the created world. His reflections appropriate the heart of Orthodox thought to gardening: that redemption is the union of God with the whole cosmos. This is a done in a poetic and contemplative way that is a joy to read.