The Divine Name: The Jesus Prayer from the Desert to the Modern World: Volume 1

Volume IFoundations of the Name (4th–14th Century)Volume I establishes the biblical and theological foundations of the Divine Name and traces the emergence of the Jesus Prayer within the early Christian ascetical tradition.The opening section examines the Scriptural roots of the Divine Name, beginning with the revelation of God’s Name at the burning bush in Exodus and continuing through the theology of invocation in the Psalms, the prophetic tradition, and the New Testament proclamation of Jesus as Lord. It explores how the invocation of the divine Name became central to early Christian prayer and spiritual life.The Fire of the Divine NameThe volume then turns to the desert fathers and early monastic spirituality, examining the teachings of:Saint Anthony the Great – the warfare of thoughts and the early practice of invocationSaint Macarius of Egypt – the heart as the dwelling place of divine graceEvagrius Ponticus – the psychology of thoughts and the discipline of pure prayerSaint Isaac the Syrian – compunction, humility, and the interior lifeSaint Symeon the New Theologian – the experiential knowledge of GodSaint Gregory of Sinai – the method of the Jesus PrayerSaint Gregory Palamas – the theological synthesis of hesychasm and the doctrine of divine energiesThe volume culminates in the fourteenth-century hesychast synthesis, where the theology of interior prayer and participation in divine life receives its most mature expression in Byzantine spirituality. Read more