/lit/ - Literature

Read The Life of Saint Anthony, written by Saint Athanasius the Great

>>18702014
The United States is just too big of an obstacle. You can trace the collapse of Christendom in the Western world almost entirely to the rise of the "American Idea." If you actually read the Declaration of Independence, read the writings of Americans over the years, you begin to realize that the United States isn't just some country, like France or South Korea or Nigeria. The United States is literally an ideology. And insofar as it's an ideology, it competes with Christianity. The collapse of Christianity around the world is due to people wanting "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." It's wanting blue jeans and rock and roll and rap music and all the things that America spreads through its cultural hegemony.

So America has to be eliminated, in some form or fashion, for the good of Christianity. Maybe that doesn't involve physical destruction. But definitely something at the heart of America needs to be destroyed. Something at the ideological heart, the metaphysical heart. The American Idea needs to be defeated because it competes with Christianity and other religions.

Actually, it's not fiction, but check out "The Life of Saint Anthony." It's a biography of Saint Anthony the Great, the founder of Christian monasticism. He was Egyptian, and spent much of his life in the desert, enduring temptation from the Devil.

As a bonus, the biography is written by Saint Athanasius the Great. So it's literally a biography of a saint, written by another saint.

>>17914086
No, I don't, but that's what OP asked for. I think it was a silly question. He should have asked 'which religion do you think is true, and why?', or 'what is the best way to arrive at belief in God?'

But he asked for arguments, so that's what I gave. I like to stay on topic.

>>16878063
No worries anon. If the big reading list seems daunting to you, I'd recommend listen to (soon to be Saint) Fulton Sheen's "Life is Worth Living" podcasts. They're all available for free online and each delves into a topic of theology or Philosophy in a really easily digestible manner. Each episode is like half an hour too. In terms of fiction I'd also recommend The Brothers Karamazov, as a novel whose protagonists symbolise Body, Intellect, and Spirit, and Diary of a Country Priest.

>If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.
>If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Based on these verses, is the monastic life the final conclusion of Christianity?