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tim_michiemo's review against another edition
4.0
3.9 Stars
Christopher Halls Living Wisely with the Church Fathers is a valuable addition to his series of books on the Church Fathers. In this book, he answers the question "How does one live a good life?" from the perspectives of early church fathers like Origen, Chrysostom, Cyprian, and Augustine. Hall explains that the fathers viewed a good life as consisting of love for God and neighbor. As well, the fathers acknowledge that because of sin Christian's desires are "disordered" and are reordered by "askesis" or "spiritual disciplines" fueled by God's sovereign grace. In each chapter, Hall covers a separate issue within Christian living; (1) martyrdom, (2) wealth & poverty, (3) war, (4) sex, (5) marriage, (6) life and death, and (7) entertainment. Hall covers a wide breadth of the fathers' views on each of these subjects, and how they viewed the good life in comparison to the pagan idolatry of the Roman world.
The strengths of Hall's book are the absolute breadth of fathers that he covers. He does not go deep, but he most definitely goes wide. Hall’s book proves itself and an extremely helpful entry point for understanding how the church fathers viewed the good life. One major weakness of this book is that Hall does not sufficiently develop the concept of "askesis.” Hall does a good job of showing what the good life looks like, according to the church fathers, but spends a measly 2 pages discussing what "askesis" or "spiritual practices" should look like considering the life of Antony of Egypt (an extreme ascetic). I think it would have helped if Hall spent a bit more time at the end of each chapter explaining a practical spiritual discipline that corresponds to each chapter's topic.
But overall, this is a good book and a good entry point to learning about the church fathers, with a specific emphasis on Christian living. For anyone well-versed in the church fathers, many of the topics will be familiar, but Hall gives many of the familiar topics in Patristics fresh new eyes. Anyone eager to learn more about living well and learning from the fathers would do well to start here.
Christopher Halls Living Wisely with the Church Fathers is a valuable addition to his series of books on the Church Fathers. In this book, he answers the question "How does one live a good life?" from the perspectives of early church fathers like Origen, Chrysostom, Cyprian, and Augustine. Hall explains that the fathers viewed a good life as consisting of love for God and neighbor. As well, the fathers acknowledge that because of sin Christian's desires are "disordered" and are reordered by "askesis" or "spiritual disciplines" fueled by God's sovereign grace. In each chapter, Hall covers a separate issue within Christian living; (1) martyrdom, (2) wealth & poverty, (3) war, (4) sex, (5) marriage, (6) life and death, and (7) entertainment. Hall covers a wide breadth of the fathers' views on each of these subjects, and how they viewed the good life in comparison to the pagan idolatry of the Roman world.
The strengths of Hall's book are the absolute breadth of fathers that he covers. He does not go deep, but he most definitely goes wide. Hall’s book proves itself and an extremely helpful entry point for understanding how the church fathers viewed the good life. One major weakness of this book is that Hall does not sufficiently develop the concept of "askesis.” Hall does a good job of showing what the good life looks like, according to the church fathers, but spends a measly 2 pages discussing what "askesis" or "spiritual practices" should look like considering the life of Antony of Egypt (an extreme ascetic). I think it would have helped if Hall spent a bit more time at the end of each chapter explaining a practical spiritual discipline that corresponds to each chapter's topic.
But overall, this is a good book and a good entry point to learning about the church fathers, with a specific emphasis on Christian living. For anyone well-versed in the church fathers, many of the topics will be familiar, but Hall gives many of the familiar topics in Patristics fresh new eyes. Anyone eager to learn more about living well and learning from the fathers would do well to start here.
phoebefaragmikhail's review
5.0
This book was on my Lenten Reading List in 2018: https://beingincommunity.com/what-im-reading-this-lent-2018-edition/
This book is a treasure that I will be returning to on many, many occasions. I've made notes and highlights on almost every page. What a great source of wisdom for the ages!
This book is a treasure that I will be returning to on many, many occasions. I've made notes and highlights on almost every page. What a great source of wisdom for the ages!
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