Book Fridays: Orthodoxy And The Religion Of The Future
I have a soft spot for ascetics. I once visited a monastery (though not an Orthodox one) and stayed for a while. I talked to some of the monks and enjoyed the pervasive silence. The whole place felt very special, some some place outside of time. If you live a life of silence, you're on eternity's doorstep. But Fr. Seraphim Rose is anything but peaceful. If you've read other ascetics, such as Merton and Eckhart, you'll notice a sense of peace and quietude. And while Rose does give the impression of gentleness and otherworldliness, he also writes with a kind of passion, even a little aggression. This is the monastic equivalent of a Baptist preacher's fire-and-brimstone sermon. Rose writes with verve and holds your attention. The essays at the beginning of the book, by other writers, are interesting, but the thing really takes off when Rose's own contributions come in.
This is an orthodox (and Orthodox) religious perspective on many 20th century phenomena. This is significant, whether you're religious or not, because it is often thought that devout, orthodox pre-modern religion can't cope with certain modern realities. You frequently hear people say things like, "Well, if we ever ran into aliens, then all the religions would collapse because, like, they've never thought of it." The presumption is that religious people are all so cloistered (pun intended) and sheltered that they simply wouldn't be able to cope with things not explicitly set out in their holy texts. While this may apply to your staid Catholic granny, it doesn't apply to religious people tout court. Indeed, this books was written nearly half a century ago, and it gives an Orthodox look at everything from cryptids and UFOs to Vedanta and faith healing. These phenomena are not judged piece-meal, but placed into a unifying context that is consistent with Rose's Orthodox faith.
Moreover, this book was published in 1975, nearly half a century ago! Not only have the devoutly religious grappled with these issues, this grappling took place when such things were still considered fringe phenomena. Perhaps the most convincing thing about this text is Rose's prescience: he made the daring – and, at the time, outlandish – prediction that certain fringe phenomena would gain mainstream recognition. Whether you're religious or Orthodox or not, this is a book worth picking up. Rose frequently defers to scholars both religious and secular, including religious scholars with whom he has deep theological differences (e.g. Kurt Koch) and secular scientists who have studied the phenomena under discussion.
It's no wonder that Seraphim Rose has some fiercely devoted followers. Where Protestants have C.S. Lewis and Catholics have G.K. Chesterton, Orthodox believers can turn to Seraphim Rose. I have little else to say, except that I am sorely tempted to make a lame Trinitarian analogy there.