/lit/ - Literature

>tfw the struggle against the passions never ends

Embrace Nietzschean Christianity, weakling.

>>19483130
A proud monk has no need for a demon; he himself became a demon and an adversary to himself.
St. John of the Ladder.

Who was in the right? Issues to discuss: grace, deification, and essence-energy

John of the Ladder

I don't have to.

Hey /lit/,

So last night on /pol/ I talked to someone about how The Ladder of Divine Ascent by John Climacus basically blew his mind and turned his entire world upside down, etc. etc. He also mentioned that he shouldn't have read it and does not recommend that I read it because you have to really be "ready for it."

I did some research and it turns out that this book was written for monks and monks alone. So it got me thinking, what is it about this book that only monks would understand/be ready for? This concept is not an unfamiliar one; I can see why a layman shouldn't delve right into a book on quantum mechanics or something as equally complicated for a layman, but the case of The Ladder of Divine Ascent seems less obvious to me why the layman wouldn't be able to understand it.

Is /lit/ familiar with this book? Do any of you know what goes into a monastic education that I am not currently getting in my modern one? Why would I not be ready for this book?

>>7950456
I just happen to prefer byzantine and slavonic styles 2bh

>>7934530
Well you see, the problem is that once you've read the gospels, you realize that you never need to read anything ever again.