tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post6999331716934375922..comments2024-01-07T04:57:21.347-07:00Comments on Pithless Thoughts: Reading LosskySteve Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04319784922747041297noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post-74478756760220324392008-03-15T10:42:00.000-07:002008-03-15T10:42:00.000-07:00Well, this is funny- i just ordered this book tota...Well, this is funny- i just ordered this book totally on impulse from amazon and now I'm already discouraged :(<BR/>~DianaDianahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07693588127080345781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post-3904717368042114292008-02-26T06:58:00.000-07:002008-02-26T06:58:00.000-07:00I kind of lost interest in Lossky when the author ...I kind of lost interest in Lossky when the author of the introduction to the book I was reading by him said that reading Lossky had helped him to become Hindu. This short book was entitled "An Introduction To Orthodox Theology" (or something like that); it seemed lucid enough to me, so maybe that's a better place to start than his Magnus Opus. I never got to read "The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church" because a lady had done the same thing s-p did; borrowed the book from the church library 5 years previously, and still had it. Florensky is the guy I have problems with; you seem to enter a very intricately complicated, Enlightened, German atmosphere. Soon Hegel begins to make sense to you, and the question arises, "What has all this to do with Orthodoxy?".<BR/><BR/>On the subject of Nous and Homoousios, check out the post of 6-15-2007 on "Orrologion" called "Superchristological and Homoousiosis", if you haven't already.<BR/><BR/>S-P, I don't know if, being in Arizona, you ever get over to St. Paisius Monastery in Safford, but if you do, say Hi to my daughter for me; she goes by Sr. Magdalena these days. I myself will be at St. Anthony's March 19, and hope to stay through Pascha; if any of you are down that direction during that time, I would be delighted to meet you.Maximhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16468320653963910828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post-33194055460983058032008-02-18T21:43:00.000-07:002008-02-18T21:43:00.000-07:00I agree that Lossky is tough reading for first tim...I agree that Lossky is tough reading for first timers. The problem is that his work really assumes a working knowledge of a BUNCH of philosophy as well as knowledge of how Catholics have understood these same sources, specifically Ps. D. It really does help to read the works of Plato. And besides, Plato is really fun to read.<BR/><BR/>Something LIKE an accessible text on middle and late platonism, that will illuminate what Lossky is talking about is Wallis, Neoplatonism. Its short and fairly direct.Acolyte4236https://www.blogger.com/profile/06247421363309732839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post-1013211967026134152008-02-10T10:31:00.000-07:002008-02-10T10:31:00.000-07:00I made the mistake of borrowing "Being As Communio...I made the mistake of borrowing "Being As Communion" by Zizoulas last year and cried Uncle before the end of the first chapter! <BR/><BR/>I'm always thinking about the next book, but this post confirms something I've come to realize recently - that I race through my reading far too often. <BR/><BR/>Just reading something for beginner's such as "The Orthodox Way" is so loaded with profound sentences that my head spins. <BR/><BR/>Exploring the OC compels me to slow down, and I'm starting to like it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post-85559436546297855162008-02-08T22:35:00.000-07:002008-02-08T22:35:00.000-07:00Given the major heft of this book, you'll get a ki...Given the major heft of this book, you'll get a kick out of the fact that I just picked it up for a light read a while back because, you know, I was just SO smart. <BR/><BR/>Well ... several hundred "huh?s" later, I quietly retired the book back to a box somewhere. I think I did actually pick up one or two ideas from it, and they were good ones. But yes, I wouldn't approach it again without a paid staff of translators. <BR/><BR/>Or maybe, as you're saying, you keep another book around to give you a breather. In my case, I'm thinking it might be Winnie-the-Pooh.Gracehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16416590497722413818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post-40657884451843178472008-02-05T21:26:00.000-07:002008-02-05T21:26:00.000-07:00James TTH,ROTFL! Uhuru...wasn't she in "The Kiss"?...James TTH,<BR/>ROTFL! Uhuru...wasn't she in "The Kiss"? Nous, homousios, being/non-being...the beauty of all this really is, if someone just lives properly within an Orthodox framework you never need to spell homousios or know how to tie a nous. These things are manifest as realities in your life as it is conformed to the image of Christ. The Church says a theologian is one who prays, not the one with the most footnotes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post-18523147250082392642008-02-05T21:15:00.000-07:002008-02-05T21:15:00.000-07:00Reading Lossky... I find if I just blast by the Gr...Reading Lossky... I find if I just blast by the Greek words.. the teeny tiny little print things that look like someone's font changed to dingbats in the middle of a sentence... I have no problem. Then I read it again... slower. The further you go... the more you misunderstand, and the simpler things seemed 10 pages ago. So you turn back 10 pages, and hey... you keep working this thing to about page 100 and the title page becomes absolutely clear. It is indeed mystical.<BR/><BR/>Now in Russian.. this is a snap. Hot lights, rubber hoses, and you'll understand EVERYTHING. That's right comrade. Maybe the brown Vodka will taste better than the liquid shoe polish, too.<BR/><BR/>As for me, whenever the start with that Nous thing, the Homousias are surely right behind. And from there.. it goes downhill from there. I mean, you get this guy putting the Nous thing around somebody's neck, the lights go off, and... well it isn't pretty.<BR/><BR/>You see the way I figure it, Checkov must have beamed down from the Starship Enterprise when he saw that "Bones" was going to start reading Lossky to O'Huru... and that's when he wrote "The Cherry Orchard". <BR/><BR/>On the whole, I'd recommend Mother Raphaella's book, "Living in Christ" as a spacer.James the Thickheadedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15057723919062535244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post-56672582342867645222008-02-05T20:57:00.000-07:002008-02-05T20:57:00.000-07:00Hi Anastasia,"Cevout" friends are hard to find, so...Hi Anastasia,<BR/>"Cevout" friends are hard to find, so I usually settle for a devout one...they're not quite as diritual as a cevout one but, if they are brainy too it offsets their lack of dirituality and cevotion. :)<BR/><BR/>Seriously, Lossky as a first read is extremely tough sledding. I've revisited it about every 4- 5 years and it makes more sense each time, but even now there are still parts my brain just turns to Jello.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post-62677303091262879392008-02-05T20:44:00.000-07:002008-02-05T20:44:00.000-07:00Further instruction: read Lossky with a cevout an...Further instruction: read Lossky with a cevout and brainy friend and discuss, page by page or even sentence by sentence, until you both feel satisfied either that (a) you both "get it" or (b) you both think you'd better read a little further to see if THAT sheds some light on the matter.Anastasia Theodoridishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16092531121989260111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post-50959903217923215592008-02-05T18:09:00.000-07:002008-02-05T18:09:00.000-07:00Mabe the problem is that we are not reading it in ...Mabe the problem is that we are not reading it in Russian. I bet the translator was put off by the task assigned to him and in order to gain the respect of his peers he added the mumbo to the jumbo. I wonder if the whole thing is some theological inside joke :) You know If you ask a stupid question like explain the mysteries of God then I will give you a answer you can not possibly understandAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post-12557719608294200282008-02-05T13:14:00.000-07:002008-02-05T13:14:00.000-07:00Ah yes...I read small portions of this for the his...Ah yes...I read small portions of this for the history class I took on Eastern Orthodox Theology. Wish I had 3 motrin back then. But I do have a spiritual father now! :O)Athanasiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13107488973500025470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post-20508993699425819832008-02-05T09:13:00.000-07:002008-02-05T09:13:00.000-07:00Yikes, Lossky is coming up soon in my queue. Thank...Yikes, Lossky is coming up soon in my queue. Thanks for the warning. Maybe I'll spend some time with Fr. Schmemann first...Cameron Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10266534691791569337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7656667.post-222848834336886122008-02-05T06:53:00.000-07:002008-02-05T06:53:00.000-07:00I find that I get much more from Fr. Lossky when I...I find that I get much more from Fr. Lossky when I ask St. Gregory the Theologian to help me understand what he's talking about. I even have an 'icon card' of St. Gregory that I use as a bookmark for Lossky's "Mystical Theology."Justinianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18207103546838127832noreply@blogger.com