Christian Ethics

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’” (John 14:23)



It was with the hope of helping every Christian to keep the Lord’s words that Saint Nektarios penned this book on the ethical life.



The first edition of Christian Ethics was published in 1897 as a textbook Saint Nektarios used in the course on Christian Ethics he taught at the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School. Upon retiring from his post as Director of the Rizarios School, he devoted his time to editing and supplementing the book to make it accessible for a much wider audience. Saint Nektarios recognised, with great clarity, the indissoluble connection between one’s faith and love for God and his behaviour towards God and to his neighbor, and how both would affect his immortal soul and ultimate destiny. It is for this reason that he took great efforts to pass on this understanding, not only to future leaders of the Church, but also to the common man. With this translation, we humbly seek to continue his effort by making his work available to the greater English-speaking world.



Saint Nektarios lays down the basics of Ethics from an Orthodox Christian perspective. Here he covers a wide range of topics such as the goodness of God and His qualities; man, his creation, his purpose, his freedom, and the powers of his soul; sin, virtue, and the ultimate good; and laws, nature, reason, and duties.