The Mountain of Silence

26th September 2005

The biggest advantage of transatlantic flights is that they provide opportunity to read books with minimal interruption.

Having just visited San Francisco for a 16types.com conference, my main reading was The Mountain of Silence by Kyriacos Markides and The Orthodox Way by Bishop Kallistos Ware.

If this were a competition (but it's not) then the former book by Markides would get all my votes. It covers at least the same amount of doctrinal ground as Bishop Ware's, but does so in a far more interesting and entertaining way.

'Fundamental Christianity' rediscovered?

Although the book is pitched as a search for Orthodox Spirituality, it could also be described as a search for Fundamental Christianity.

Fundamentalism is defined in the dictionary as a belief in the original form of a religion without accepting later ideas. If so, and if what this book says is true, then the beliefs of modern-day fundamental Christians aren't 'fundamental' because they did not emerge until hundreds of years after Christ.

The view of Christianity presented in this book is not a radically new interpretation of the Bible, but rather how scripture was understood in the first millenium before the gospel was distorted by translation and interpretation through the lens of emergent Western culture following the church schism of 1054.

Re-interpretation of scripture

The book tackles many issues that modern Christian believers find difficult by explaining the differences between premises used to interpret scripture in the early church and today.

For example, many people struggle with the concept of a 'God of love' consigning people to hell. In fact, the modern Christian 'gospel' is mostly one of bad news: unless you've 'joined the club', you are going to suffer damnation and torment for ever and ever. However, according to this book, such a belief is erroneous and stems partly from an interpretation that fails to recognise what it means for God to be above the constraints of time.

Although Markides doesn't put it in these terms, he shows how the orthodox gospel is truly good news, for ultimately all souls will achieve union with God ('heaven'). But if we are not prepared for that union through our worldly lives then our entry into eternity will initially be through the experience of God's presence as a refining fire. This will be a 'hellish experience' until we are transformed. This perhaps explains 1:Tim:4:10, where Paul says that Christ saves 'all' people, or the metaphor in Is:65:25, where the wolf and the lamb (having been separated before and at judgement day) ultimately feed together.

Your intelligence is respected

This book does not demand that you suspend your rational thought processes. Although the argument is put forward that one cannot perceive God through logical analysis (one has to Feel God's presence), this argument is treated rationally.

In fact, this book will be appreciated by intelligent readers who are aware of how different paradigms can affect how experience and scripture is interpreted.

By contrast, those 'embedded' within a Western culture paradigm may initially be tempted to reject this book out of hand. However, I would urge such readers to remember Peter's dream about eating unclean food: there are occasions when what God is actually saying is contrary to the traditional teaching or interpretation of scripture we have been given.

Conclusion

This is an excellent book, though I do not necessarily accept all of the interpretations of scripture it provides.

For example, there are some aspects of the Athonite Monks' teaching that seem very extreme and unworkable in daily living - such as blaming oneself for all problems that occur.

Nevertheless, it does offer a highly readable, entertaining and comprehensive view of an orthodox Christian paradigm so that you can investigate this perspective and make an informed choice about your own beliefs, whether you are interested in developing a closer relationship with God, or finding answers to some of life's most difficult religious questions.

© S P Myers.