What We're Reading
Steve's Corner
The Unseen Warfare, Lorenzo Scupoli, Ed. By Theophan the Recluse
There are tons of books out there on the spiritual life. Some are great if you plan on being a monk or have been for 30 years (like the Philokalia, the common advice is: consult your spiritual Father or director before and during tackling it). Unfortunately these are the kinds of books most of we converts are drawn to frankly because we usually have an inflated view of our spiritual selves. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov says in “The Arena”, (his excellent book on the spiritual life written for beginner monks that I recommend highly), that novices should not read many books, especially the advanced books on the monastic life, because novices can never adapt books (on monasticism and ascetical practices) to their own situations. The beginner invariably gets drawn into ...pursuing an impossible dream of a perfect spiritual life vividly and alluringly in his own imagination. If a book speaks of unconditional obedience the beginner will inevitably develop a desire for the strictest life in complete submission to a clairvoyant elder. St. John Climacus says, "Scan the mind of the inexperienced novice and you will find the desire for solitude, the strictest fasts, uninterrupted prayer, absolute freedom from vanity, continual compunction, perfect passionlessness, and virtue. Satan deceives the novice not only through sin, but also through the most exalted virtues unsuited to their spiritual condition and experience. Do not trust your own thoughts, opinions, dreams, self-assessments, or inclinations even if they put before you an exalted holy life." (p. 23-25, The Arena).
With those warnings in mind, the Unseen Warfare has a lot of good solid spiritual advice that can be generalized by the thoughtful and discerning to the “normal Christian life”. It will force you to look at your motivations (or lack of motivation), your passions and temptations, and your inner and outer life. Yes, there are sections that I found hard to wade through, the language is often dry, some of the sections seemed repetitive (probably to my untrained eye and spirit), but on the other hand there are parts that I have entire chapters virtually underlined. It is a good “Lenten read” if you divide the pages up by “40” and tackle it a few pages at a time as devotional reading, but there will be parts you’ll have to force yourself to read carefully and actually finish and others you’ll have to force yourself to stop at the appointed page.
EXCERPTS
p. 143 On the control of the tongue
Good feelings are silent. The feelings which seek expression in words are mostly egotistical, since they seek to express what flatters our self-love, and (shows us) as we imagine, in the best light. (Verbosity) mostly comes from a certain vain-glory, which makes us think that we know a great deal and imagine our opinion on the subject of conversation to be the most satisfactory of all. So we experience an irresistible urge to speak out, and in a stream of words with many repetitions to impress the same opinion in the hearts of others, and thus foisting ourselves upon them as unbidden teachers and sometimes even dreaming of making pupils of men, who understand the subject much better than the teacher.
p.195 Warnings against evil counsels of the devil in relation to good actions.
(The deceitful devil) transforms himself into an angel of light, and by seemingly good thoughts,… with the texts of the holy Scriptures, and by the examples of the Saints, he urges us to undertake excessive and untimely efforts for spiritual perfection in order to cast us down into the abyss. Thus he teaches some to… mortify their flesh by fasting, sleeping on bare earth and other similar bodily hardships in order to make them fall into pride and imagine that they are achieving great things or to make them fall ill from extreme exhaustion and become incapable of performing even the smallest righteous deeds,… or to make them so wearied by the burden of their efforts that they become indifferent to all spiritual endeavor and even to salvation itself, and thus they throw themselves into carnal lusts and worldly comforts with even more zest than before. … Do not launch out with lofty standards, but begin at the bottom for it is better to climb upwards gradually than suddenly to undertake something lofty and be forced to climb down to your shame.
p.119 “Never trust thine enemy,” Ecclesiasticus 12:10, says the wise Sirach.
So, never trust your body for as iron produces rust by itself so the corrupted nature of the body produces evil stirrings of lust. … Even if you no longer feel and have not felt for some time to sting of your flesh, do not trust yourself. For this thrice-cursed wickedness sometimes achieves in one hour, or one moment, what it has not done for many years and always makes its preparations for attacks silently. Note that the more the flesh pretends to be your friend and gives no cause for suspicion, the greater the harm it inflicts later, and often strikes to death.
I give it 8 out of 10 candles
Click here to buy this book
Reviewed by Steve