The author was a convert to Eastern Orthodox Church and had been trying to make sense of the 1970s as well as the after-life in the same time. This book is an opinionated response by an Eastern Orthodox to the lure of non-revelatory religions of South and East Asia. It also posits an explanation of the UFO phenomenon which is rooted in Christian Tradition – psycho-physical framework, if you will.
I think his Ontology includes "spiritual" creatures, including angels and demons. Aquinas discussed such creatures but noted that a purely spiritual creature was impossible and that demons and angels were to be understood as creatures that are at various gradations of material and spiritual content, less matter than man but with more spiritual content.
[This is consistent with Spinoza's doctrine of substance and his theory of Infinite Modes; 2 of them being Thought and Extension, of which we consist.
And in physics we have the example of the electromagnetic field: it is not solid but it has form and structure. Likely the analogue of God-as-Light in the universe (or a manifestation of the immanence of God in the universe.]
This ontology is the basis of his understanding the world – Magic, Spiritism, UFOs, and the Lure of East and South Asian religions are manifestations of the work of Demons who attempting nothing less than luring Man from (Christian) Truth with the aim of destroying men’s souls.
I agree, in general, with his remarks on Hinduism and Buddhism. His references to Magic, and its efficacy, I believe to be true as I have heard reliable testimony from others; i.e. Magical practices are real but not necessarily the ideas behind them; in the same manner as Babylonians who could predict the eclipses of the sun but attributed them to their gods in heaven.
He thinks UFOs are demonic manifestations and he refers to earlier Orthodox Saints who had witnessed analogous events. He relies heavily n the work of Jacque Vallee. He studied the UFO phenomenon for 20-30 years and concluded that there a phenomenon indigenous to Earth not well studied due to stigma associated to studying it. Some of the purportedly UFO sightings are indeed ball lightening and others military experiments in mass psychology or just in military equipment. However, some, like the Apparition of Virgin Mary at Fatima in Portugal, cannot be explained yet.
[Vallee has his own Wiki page and many books. He studied Mathematics at the Sorbonne and his Ph.D. was in Computer Science. The character Truffaut in the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was modeled after him.]
And, personally, from Pierre Duhem I learnt no to doubt the phenomena - however strange or inexplicable they might be.
I am not a Christian and certainly do not have a dog in disputations of various Christian sects and Churches. I never got the Hesiasm - the ascetic movement of 4th-6th century to go out in the desert like St. Anthony of Egypt and stay there alone till you die, (of boredom, I assume) and self-flagellate too a bit in the process. Nevertheless, even before reading this book, I mused at times that there seems to be a global effort by many to destroy, degrade, and defame Christianity - at times wondering if I was witnessing the machinations of Lord of Lies - the antithesis of the Wise Lord of Zoroaster.
I think the book is worth reading for its different and uncommon perspective. The key, in my opinion, is his ontology – without it, all his arguments fail.
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Laymin
A fascinating mix of wise timely warnings, conspiracy theory and pure invective.
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I’d give it six stars if possible.
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Vivian
Fr. Rose was ahead of his time.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2020LitsaTzanetis
An absolute brilliant insight into what is really happening in this world
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 22, 2017John
Even more valid than when it was written
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 22, 2021
