The Mountain of Silence

[RyanJPII]

Has anyone read the book “The Mountain of Silence” by Kyriakos Markides?

Im fairly new to Eastern Christian spirituality and not as skilled at spotting hearesy (especially with all the new words and saints) and wanted to make sure what it says is orthodox.

(I am aware the book is Eastern Orthodox and not Eastern Catholic)

 

[RyanJPII]

I have found the book to be fascinating and would also like to know if it is an acurate description of eastern spirituality

 

[prodromos]

Pay attention not to Markrides opinions, but to the words of the Elder. Kyriakos, from memory, was a little bit messed up in his own beliefs, but you can rely on everything told him by the Elder.

 

[christofirst]

Pay attention not to Markrides opinions, but to the words of the Elder. Kyriakos, from memory, was a little bit messed up in his own beliefs, but you can rely on everything told him by the Elder.

I think I would agree with this. Its been a while since I read the book (and his next two, Gifts of the Desert and Inner River, also), but I enjoyed them all a lot. As a Catholic, I would be interested to hear what other members of the Orthodox faith think of his books. I tend to agree with a lot of Markides’ views too, but that’s just me.

 

[wynd]

Markides (the author) is an academically trained sociologist, so at times he has some non-traditional interpretations of things, but one can pretty much tell when he’s giving his own interpretation of things vs. when he’s communicating “orthodox” Orthodoxy. Overall I would not hesitate to recommend it.

 

[Phillip_Rolfes]

I read the book years ago, followed by one of his other books, Gifts of the Desert. He’s ok as an introduction. As others have said, some of his personal opinions are a little “off” if I remember correctly.

A better introduction would be Met. Kallistos Ware’s book The Inner Kingdom.