The Heart of Salvation: The Life & Teachings of St Theophan the Recluse

First a schoolteacher, then a bishop, then a hermit, Theophan the Recluse was one of the Russian holy men canonised in 1988 and one of the greatest of the 'Startzi' - teachers of spirituality and of the prayer of the heart - who have played such an important role in keeping the spiritual doctrines of the early fathers alive in the Russian Orthodox Church. From his hermit's cell Theophan aided thousands in their spiritual quest. When he died, the great Russian monastery of Saint Panteleimon on Mount Athos published his voluminous works and a book about his life. This book is based on that with additional commentary relating his ideas to the contemporary religious situation, as his work was of great importance in place, in time and in its cogency to the whole question of the relation of early Christian thought to the modern situation.

In addition to the contemporary relevance of his spiritual teachings, Theophan's protest against Russia's departure from the old theistic Christian world-view for one based on the physical sciences...is all the more meaningful now that this process is beginning to reverse.