Wisdom of the Divine Philosophers

“A divine philosopher is he who through ascetic purification and noetic contemplation has achieved a direct union with God, and is a true friend of God…”

~ St. Gregory of Sinai

Wisdom of the Divine Philosophers is a collection of inspired thoughts from the ancient and contemporary Saints and Church fathers to help us on our path to salvation.

These short quotations are arranged by various topics for guidance on subjects such as forgiveness, humility, marriage, repentance, and many others.

Revised Edition – Volume One includes teachings on 76 subjects. Changes that have been made since the first edition in 2012 include stories of the desert fathers, many new pearls of wisdom, and an index of each saint and elder. Featured is the life of St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, who is shown on the front cover.



EXAMPLES:

On repentance by St. John Chrysostom

This is the loving-kindness of God: He never turns His face away from a sincere repentance. God accepts and welcomes anyone who has become wicked to the greatest extreme and chooses to return towards the path of holiness. He does everything to restore such people to their former position. But God shows an even greater mercy: For those who demonstrate incomplete repentance, He still won’t pass by their small and insignificant turn. Instead, He even gives these people a great reward.

On God by St. John of Kronstadt

Look upon everything in this world as upon a fleeting shadow, and do not cling with your heart to anything; do not consider anything in this world great, and do not lay your hopes upon anything earthly. Cling to the One imperishable invisible, most wise God. “We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).

On Love by St. Maximos the Confessor

But I say to you, the Lord says, love your enemies; do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute you. Why did He command these things? So that he might free you from hatred, sadness, anger and grudges, and might grant you the greatest possession of all, perfect love, which is impossible to possess except by the one who loves all equally in imitation of God.