The Path to Salvation: A Manual of Spiritual Transformation from Awakening Union with God

A complete new English translation of St. Theophan the Recluse's classic guide to the Christian life.Where does the path of salvation actually begin-and how does it lead from spiritual awakening to living communion with God?In The Path to Salvation, St. Theophan the Recluse offers one of the Orthodox tradition's clearest and most practical accounts of spiritual transformation. He does not present salvation as an abstract idea or a single moment, but as a life shaped by grace: awakened through repentance, strengthened through struggle, purified through watchfulness, and brought toward union with God.Following the work's complete three-part structure, St. Theophan explains: - how Christian life begins through Baptism and is preserved through a truly Christian upbringing;- how grace awakens the sinner, leads the soul to repentance, and forms a firm resolve to live for God;- how confession, Holy Communion, prayer, self-denial, and obedience establish the converted life;- how attention, watchfulness, and spiritual warfare expose and overcome the passions;- how the powers of body and soul are reordered through ascetic labor; and- how the life of grace matures toward purity of heart, dispassion, and communion with God. St. Theophan writes for those who have begun to seek God, those returning through repentance, and those who need a trustworthy map for the long interior struggle.This Rare Orthodox Books edition includes: - a new English translation made from the complete 1868-1869 Russian text;- the full work in its original three-part structure;- the author's original notes presented as page footnotes;- complete Scripture quotations conformed to the King James Version;- a glossary of important Orthodox and ascetical terms;- a detailed Scripture Index; and- an expanded General and Topical Index for study and reference. Essential reading for Orthodox Christians, clergy, seminarians, monastics, inquirers, and readers of the Church Fathers, The Path to Salvation is both a searching examination of the soul and an enduring guide to life in Christ.