Customer Reviews

The Inner Kingdom: Volume 1 of the Collected Works

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Like his other books, especially The Orthodox Way, Bishop Kallistos invites the reader to partake of the life-giving Water of Christ as found in the living Eastern Orthodox Tradition. I have waited for this series of six volumes to begin and here's number one! You will be moved both intellectually and spiritually by this work, guided by one of the leading Eastern Orthodox theologians in the English-speaking world.

"This is a revised and expanded version of a book that has already appeared in French, Italian and Greek. It focuses on themes central to Eastern Christian worship and spiritual life and serves as an introduction to the series of six volumes of Bishop Kallistos collected works.

"The opening chapter recounts the author's journey to Orthodoxy. The next two chapters provide profound and illuminating insights on death, bereavement and resurrection in Christ, and on repentance. Chapters four through seven invite us into the world of the desert ascetics and hesychast monks. Combining scholarly rigor with practical counsels on prayers, Bishop Kallistos makes the wealth of the Orthodox tradition accessible to today's Christians. The next three chapters concern personal vocation, martyrdom, spiritual guidance, and the strange path of the fool for Christ's sake. There follows a brief essay on time and eternity. The final chapter is a challenging discussion of Origen and Ss Gregory of Nyssa, Isaac the Syrian and Silouan the Anthonite, and in conversation with them Bishop Kallistos asks, 'Dare we hope for the salvation of all?' "The Inner Kingdom is the first of a planned six-volume collection of works by Bishop Kallistos. His thought combines depth and honesty with judicious wisdom and balance, expressed in a clear and direct style. A teacher at the University of Oxford who lectures around the world, Bishop Kallistos speaks equally to laypeople and specialists, on both timeless mysteries and urgent contemporary concerns."

Other books of interest may include: The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church and In the Image and Likeness of God, both by Vladimir Lossky; A Different Christianity by Robin Amis; and, perhaps, Exploring the Inner Universe by Archimandrite Roman Braga. Ware's Orthodox Way and Orthodox Church, and his newly published In The Image of the Trinity are also fantastic. Enjoy!

Bishop Ware has put together a wonderful collection of his writings that cover numerous topics in Orthodoxy. He writes simply, clearly, kindly and profoundly. He is consistently able to deal with complex subjects in a succinct, uncluttered fashion. But don't think for a minute that he is simplifying or streamlining important issues. He is just very skilled at using an economy of words to make his point. This book provides some real insights in to issues such as the relationship between the "spiritual father " and his children, and the role of the Holy Fool ", or " Fool for Christ ", in the Orthodox tradition. This is a terrific book!

Bishop Kallistos Ware has done it again wth a fresh and lively book on Orthodox spirituality. He brings up some valuable insights about certain mysteries in the Church. What is also good about this book are chapters and points that not all Orthodox Chrsitains agree on, but that the Church has allowed room for discussion like 'universial salvation' (or rather, the mystery and hope that all may be saved).

The slowest chapter is the first one, where Bishop Ware writes about his conversion into the Church. Though it is interesting, his other chapters are just that much better that his first one pales in comparision. His chapter on repentance is a must as the role of the priest, the sinner, and God are explained as well as "the gift of tears."

Bishop Ware's writing style is formal and yet, pastoral. This is very evident in the chapetrs "Silence in Prayer: the Meaning of Hesychia" and "A Sense of Wonder." Here he takes both theological ideas and explains their importance where the reader can instantly grasp and begin to immediately live these important concepts. In a "Sense of Wonder" he briefly discusses the Orthodox view on a college education (one could say an education in general); this topic is rarely discussed in Orthodoox texts and it is needed and appropiate in this chapter.

His chapter on spiritual guides is both important for the Lay person and it is good advice for a priest (more than likely, a priest has already been given such advice in seminary). This book is wonderful and should be read by all Orthodox Christains, with a special focus on new converts or cradle Orthodox who have never really studied the writings of Orthodox academics.

In the English-speaking world, Bishop Kallistos (Timothy) Ware is well-known as the author of _The Orthodox Way_, a justly famous overview of the history and doctrines of Eastern Orthodoxy. Now, in _The Inner Kingdom_, the first of a projected six-volume collection of his writings, Bishop Kallistos' occasional essays are collected for English readers. They're really magnificent.

This first volume reprints 12 essays. Prefaced by an autobiographical account of his conversion, the essays explore death and resurrection, repentance, worship, wonderment in education, ceaseless prayer, hesychia, martyrdom, spiritual guidance, the fool in Christ, the metaphysics of time, and salvation. They're written with an easy fluidity that reminds one of C.S. Lewis's style: they're simply enjoyable to read. Yet they're also sophisticated in argument and informative. Reading them is an excellent introduction to Orthodoxy for the neophyte, and an equally excellent opportunity for reflection and renewal for those already familiar with or immersed in Orthodoxy.

For my money, the best essay in the collection (and it was difficult for me to make this choice, since all the essays are so interesting) is also the longest: "The Fool in Christ as Prophet and Apostle" (pp. 153-180). Fools in Christ are "living icons" who proclaim the Gospel in such drastic--that is, with thoroughgoing loyalty to Jesus' teachings--ways that they appear mad or insane to the rest of the world (God's foolishness opposed to human wisdom, as St. Paul put it). But in choosing to live on the margins of respectability, holy fools liberate themselves to lead lives which rebuke the powerful, chastise the wicked, and inspire by their good deeds the faithful. Read in conjunction with his essays on ceaseless prayer and hesychia, Ware's reflections on holy foolishness constitute a complete course in godly living.

All in all, a wonderful anthology, one that encouraged me to go back and reread Ware's _The Orthodox Church_ and his lesser known _The Orthodox Way_. I look forward to reading subsequent volumes in his collected works.

For those who have encountered only dry discussions of theology or a statement of Christian views that is narrow or fanatical, finding someone like Bishop Ware is a relief. His articulation of various topics is both wise and warm, filled with the love of Christ and always intellectually rigorous as well. Ware has chapters on worship, prayer, silence, the nature of time and salvation. The last two sound particularly dull, but are in fact among the best of the sections. In particular, the chapter on salvation deals with the question of universal salvation, which leads into a discussion of hell. Anyone troubled by the way most churches present hell, predestination and the concept of eternal damnation (as you should be) would do well to see how Ware situates these ideas in the context of God's unending love and God's desire for all to be saved. If only most pastors taught this way about Christianity, many would not have left the church.

The chapter on worship is also particularly valuable. Most discussions of worship theology are hopelessly dull, or debate arcane points of the tradition or treat worship choices as etiquette decisions. Ware articulates worship as being intended to express God's beauty and bring us into the presence of God. By that standard, most worship falls horribly short.

This was to be the first of six volumes of his collected works, but subsequent volumes seem not to have appeared as yet.

"Tradition is not static but dynamic, not defensive but exploratory, not closed and backward facing but open to the future." Kallistos of Diokleia



Khomiakov's Orthodoxy:
'A new and unknown world': (Russian theologian Alexis) Khomiakov was right to speak of orthodoxy in this way... Yet those who look more closely at this 'unknown world' will discover much in which, while different, is yet curiously familiar', writes Timothy Ware in the introduction to his first work, 'The Orthodox Church,' first published in 1963. This is why Kallistos Bishop Ware is an authentic interpretrer of the dynamic orthodoxy, exploratory like Origen, open to the future like inner martyrs, true disciples of the only teacher, the Christ.

A Scholar's Journey:
Bishop Kalistos of Diokleia, or Oxford's Dr. Timothy Ware, has put together a wonderful collection of his writings that spanned a journey of more than forty years between the two persona. He writes clearly, articulately, and profoundly, recalling personal memories, and dealing with current faith related subjects. Covering numerous topics of real concern, he provides insightful clues on issues relating early with present church tradition. This is a profoundly thought, and authentically written book that engages the reader in a silent dialogue in response to his pastoral care. Unlike some of his numerous 'spiritual way books,' Bp Ware invites the reader to participate into a revived Eastern Orthodox spiritual and intellectual discourse.

Ware's Inner Kingdom:
This expanded, revised version of a book that has been published in the continent in three languages, serves as an introduction to the planned series of collected works by Bishop Kallistos Ware, focusing on Eastern Christian faith, vocation, worship, and other central themes of spiritual life as silence, prayer, and hope. In the opening chapter he recounts his journey to the Orthodox Church, and starts his memories by his profound feeling about the joyful death of martyrs, the experience of repentance and "the gift of tears." He then delves into liturgical theology, a sense of wonder giving his views on education, unceasing prayer, and hesychia; quietness. In chapters eight and ten he takes us in a unique inner journey into church iconic characters: martyrs and their radical vocation, fools for Christ and their mission. Then, follows a brief spiritual guide, a novel definition of time as a path to eternity. His final discussion of Origen and his hope for universal salvation, is evoked in the writings of his disciple St. Gregory of Nyssa, supported by the great mystic St. Isaac the Syrian. During the conversation Bishop Ware asks, with Hans von Balthasar 'Dare we hope for the salvation of all?'

Bp Kallistos Ware
Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia was born, Timothy Ware, in Bath, Somerset, in 1934 and was educated in Classics, at Magdalen College, Oxford, as well as reading Theology. He became a Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford in 1970. After joining the Orthodox Church in 1958, he traveled in Greece, staying at the monastery of St John, Patmos. He became a monk and was ordained a priest. Since 1966 he returned to Oxford University as Spalding Lecturer in Eastern Orthodox Studies, with pastoral charge of the Greek parish in Oxford. In 1982 he was consecrated titular Bishop of Diokleia, assisting in the Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain.

The Inner Kingom is a collection of works by eminent Eastern Orthodox writer Bishop Kallistos Ware.
I am not Eastern Orthodox. I am protestant. However, I find many of the great Orthodox writers shed invaluable light on many of my own beliefs and their origins. The Orthodox connectedness to the history of the faith is an important reason for this.
I purchased The Inner Kingdom to learn more on the Orthodox understanding (and Bishop Ware's understanding in particular) of the mystical (supernatural - spiritual) theology of christianity. Once again I was not disappointed.
While do not agree with all of the Orthodox dogma, I find much that I do share. Bishop Ware is a wonderful communicator who presents the explict teachings of tradition and the fathers with conviction and the implicit hopes of the Orthodox faith with humility and latitude.
A good book for anyone wanting additional insight into christian theology.

I haven't read anything by Metropolitan Kallistos that wasn't excellent and enlightening. Some of the topics that this book covers, and covers very well, are spiritual elders, fools for Christ, death, and universal salvation. This book seems to focus especially on the charismatic gifts within the Orthodox Church, which makes an excellent resource for those who want to know more about these are they are lived in the Orthodox Church. His personal conversion story, which opens the book, is also wonderful to read.

Bp Kallistos Ware evinces one living Saint Gregory of Nazianzus' admonition...

In that the Orthodox, the Church universal, and those not (yet) a part of either will now have available the collected works of Bp Kallistos Ware (please GOD, allow this project to be completed) all will be the richer for it.

The scope and span of the written work accomplished thus far by this devoted soul are invaluable to efforts of apologetic, polemic, conciliatory and restorative nature entirely appropriate to the Body of Christ.

Having just completed this first volume, I am no doubt merely one among countless others anxious for volume two!

May the Bishop know his efforts' effect upon this reader to be invaluable!

J Patrick Wilkens