“Read these seven books and you will have a rich and nuanced overview of the history, wisdom, and spirituality of the Desert. Enjoy!” Carl McColman
in Logos/Verbum
Thanks for this list MJ. I've done some reading of this topic over the years and have appreciated it.
I'd be interested to know what you think are the top resources that Logos currently carries and why you would make those recommendations. Thanks.
That's hard because none of my favorites are in Logos. I always have people start with Bondi's To Love as God Loves because that is what taught me how to understand the Desert Fathers. Before that I read them but missed most the wisdom in them. And I have a fondness for Ward's translations although I don't know why.
However, I do like Whortley's translations as well - very readable; he gives you the sense that he's lived with the texts rather than engaged in a purely academic exercise:
I like the structure of this book
as it makes the sayings seem less fragmentary, less like Zen tales and more like a teacher/pupil relationship.
This is a better than average study guide:
But Logos lacks the text it is organized around.
