Ebook
What role do the church fathers play in the life of a modern Christian? How do they define the experience of holiness? And how can they help us appreciate our current culture while maintaining our traditional values? Wondrous in His Saints posits answers to these and other crucial questions while drawing upon the Eastern Orthodox patristic tradition from Late Antiquity to the early modern era. Its chapters vary in scope, theme, and content, focusing especially on the church fathers' insights into intimate aspects of the spiritual life (including prayer, repentance, and love), as well as their engagement with the artistic and scientific achievements of their wider contexts. Exploring the lives and writings of numerous titans of Orthodoxy (including St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Maximus the Confessor, and St. Gregory Palamas), as well as lesser-known figures (such as St. Guthlac of Crowland and the Chinese Martyrs of the Boxer Rebellion), the author brings to the fore its egalitarian nature; the fact that deification has never been restricted to any time, place, social class, or clerical rank according to the church fathers, but always attainable for men and women seeking communion with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“The saints show us what it means to be a Christian, especially during hardship, temptation, and persecution. Chris Baghos here serves up a banquet of the lives and teachings of saints from St. Peter the Apostle to St. Mitrophan the Martyr of the Boxer Rebellion. Anyone who wishes to know the saints as friends and companions will find here an excellent guide.”
—David Bradshaw, professor of philosophy, University of Kentucky
“Wondrous in His Saints addresses the patristic legacy in a multicultural perspective, as well as through a modern lens. It traces the development of the experience of the church fathers and mothers and engages the reader in a relevant manner by relating them to contemporary concerns regarding science, technology, and the environment. Well-researched, informed, comprehensive, and original, Wondrous in His Saints makes an excellent introduction to the one and common Orthodoxy of the Christian world.
—Vassilis Adrahtas, lecturer in humanities and communication arts, Western Sydney University
Chris Baghos is an independent scholar whose research interests include patristic theology, church history, and Greek, Latin, and Insular hagiographies from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages. He holds multiple degrees in the field of humanities, including a DPhil from the University of Sydney, and has extensively explored the topic of sainthood and its relation to the environment and the development of technology, as well as that of Christian identity in the Byzantine patristic tradition.