Christian Morality

Publication Data: Belmont, MA: Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 2011
Format: softcover
Number of Pages: liv + 616
Dimensions (l × w × h): 23.8 cm × 16.0 cm × 3.9 cm
Additional Information: two-color printing
ISBN: 978‒1‒884729‒97‒3

   
by St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite
Translated and Edited by Hieromonk Patapios with Monk Chrysostomos and Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna
Introduction by Archbishop Chrysostomos

“St. Nicodemos’ magnificent and lofty essay on Christian morality is his magnum opus and a summa, in many ways, of the Scriptural and Patristic traditions of the Eastern Orthodox Church applied to Christian life and comportment. In the contrast between Orthodoxy and orthopraxy, it is a guide, as it were, to how a Christian should order his or her life so as to make doctrine and practice harmonious. This is one of the more important of the Saint’s works and perhaps his best. In it, we find his own teachings on behavior as they were directly informed by the writings of the Church Fathers and conceived through the prism of Hesychasm and its spiritual goals and ends. Indeed, one could equate the conceptual concerns and precepts of the Kollyvades movement with those of this work, capturing, as it does, St. Nicodemos’ paramount regard for the unity of symbol and action in the oneness of rightness or orthodoxy of belief with propriety in behavior.”
—“INTRODUCTION: The Person and Writings of St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite1 and a Critical Assessment of His Essay on Christian Morality”

   ABOUT THE TRANSLATORS
   DEDICATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
   INTRODUCTION
      The Person and Writings of St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite and a Critical Assessment of His Essay on Christian Morality
         Archbishop Chrysostomos
Christian Morality
St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite
   PREFACE
      To the Readers of This Book
   FROM HIS ALL-HOLINESS, THE MOST WISE AND DIVINE ERSTWHILE ŒCUMENICAL PATRIARCH GREGORY
      An Epistle in Which He Confirms the Beneficial Nature of the Present Discourses, and Which He Sent to the One Who Diligently Labored in the Writing Thereof, When He Was Residing oN the Holy Mountain of Athos, at the Holy and Venerable Monastery of Iveron
   EPIGRAM
      To the Present Book, in Political Verse
   DISCOURSE I
      Concerning the Fact That Christians Should Abhor Evil Customs and Embrace Good Customs
   DISCOURSE II
      Concerning the Fact That Christians Should in General Not Play Instruments, Dance, or Sing
   DISCOURSE III
      Concerning the Fact That Christians Should Not Play Instruments, Dance, or Sing at Weddings
   DISCOURSE IV
      Concerning the Fact That Christians Should Not Be Slanderers, Betrayers, or Calumniators, or Bear False Witness
   DISCOURSE V
      Concerning the Fact (1) That Christians Should Not Beautify Themselves, (2) That They Should Not Wear Fragrances, (3) That They Should Not Use Cosmetics, and (4) That They Should Not Gaze About with Curiosity
   DISCOURSE VI
      Concerning the Fact That Christians Should Not Play Checkers, Games of Chance, Cards, Attend Sporting Events and Races, or Other Such Amusements, and Should Not Observe These and Other, Similar Spectacles
   DISCOURSE VII
      Concerning the Fact That Christians Should Not (1) Engage in Ribaldry, (2) That They Should Not Tell Fables, and (3) That They Should Not Tell Jokes or Laugh
   DISCOURSE VIII
      Concerning the Fact That All Christian Tradesmen Should Ply Their Trades in a Godly Manner and Without Any Vice
   DISCOURSE IX
      Concerning the Fact That Christians Should Not Become Magicians or Employ Any Kind of Magic
   DISCOURSE X
      Concerning (1) the Fact That Christians Should Not Cause Scandal to One Another, (2) What Sort of Scandal They Should Disregard, and (3) the Fact That They Should Not Be Easily Scandalized
   DISCOURSE XI
      Concerning (1) the Fact That Every Christian Should Assist in the Correction and Salvation of His Brother, (2) How Every Christian Should Reprove His Brother in Order to Correct Him, and (3) the Fact That Christians Should Accept with Joy the Reproofs of Their Brethren for Correction
   DISCOURSE XII
      Concerning (1) the Manner in Which Christians Should Go to the Church of God, (2) the Manner in Which They Should Stand Therein, and (3) What They Should Do After They Depart from Church
   DISCOURSE XIII
      Concerning the Fact That (1) All Christians Are Obligated to Keep All of the Commandments of Christ, (2) What Kind of Good Things They Receive Who Keep the Commandments, and (3) the Fact That All Christians Who Transgress the Commandments of Christ Incur Great Losses and Misfortunes
   INDEX