Philokalia Vol 2

The second volume of The Philokalia - here translated and edited by G. E. H. Palmer - the most influential book besides the bible in the recent history of the Orthodox church.

The Philokalia is a collection of texts written between the fourth and the fifteenth centuries by spiritual masters of the Orthodox Christian tradition. First published in Greek in 1782, translated into Slavonic and later into Russian, The Philokalia has exercised an influence far greater than that of any book other than the Bible in the recent history of the Orthodox Church. It is concerned with themes of universal importance: how man may develop his inner powers and awake from illusion; how he may overcome fragmentation and achieve spiritual wholeness; how he may attain the life of contemplative stillness and union with God.

Only a selection of texts from The Philokalia has been available hitherto in English. The present rendering, which is a completely new translation, is designed to appear in five volumes. The first of these was published by Faber & Faber in 1979. The second volume consists mainly of writings from the seventh century, in particular by St Maximus the Confessor, the greater part of which has never before been translated into English. As in the first volume, the editors have provided introductory notes to each of the writers, a glossary of key terms, and a detailed index.

Other volumes available from Faber:
The Philokalia Vol 1
The Philokalia Vol 3
The Philokalia Vol 4
The Philokalia Vol 5
Writings from the Philokalia

Gerald Eustace Howell Palmer (1904-84) studied at Oxford and was the MP for Winchester from 1935 until 1945. He collaborated in many translations, including The Philokalia. Gerald Eustace Howell Palmer (1904-84) studied at Oxford and was the MP for Winchester from 1935 until 1945. He collaborated in many translations, including The Philokalia. The Most Reverend Kallistos (Ware), Metropolitan of Diokleia was born in England in 1934 and studied at Oxford. He embraced the Orthodox faith in 1954 and was ordained in 1966, in the same year he became a lecturer at Oxford. He was appointed to a Fellowship at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1979 and was consecrated as auxiliary bishop in 1982. He retired in 2001 and was elevated to Metropolitan in 2007. He is the author of The Orthodox Church and The Orthodox Way. Philip Sherrard (1922-1995) was educated at Cambridge and lectured at Kings College, London and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies from 1970 to 1977. He translated the works of George Seferis and Odysseus Elytis, making their work available to the English-speaking world. He was baptised into the Orthodox Church in 1956.