Instruction on Progress in the Christian Life
19th c. · Spiritual instruction · English translation, 2026
Source edition: Творения иже во святых отца нашего Феофана Затворника. — М.: Изд. Афонского Русского Пантелеимонова монастыря (дореволюционное издание, переизд.).
Cover art: The Harvest — Mowers (Страдная пора. Косцы, 1887) — Grigoriy Myasoedov (Russian, 1834–1911) (Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
What is virtue, precisely — and what is sin? Saint Theophan the Recluse answers both with a physician's exactness, setting out the whole moral life of the Christian in two symmetrical parts. The first defines virtue: its three senses, its degrees, the graces that root it in the heart. The second dissects sin — its kinds, the passions that breed it, the ruinous states of soul it hardens into, and the three enemies who drive a man toward it. A working map for anyone in earnest about making progress.
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Contents
- Introduction
- 1. On Virtue
- 2. Virtue as the Foundation of Virtuous Life
- 3. The Various Degrees of Christian Virtue
- 4. Rules for Determining Degrees of Christian Virtue
- 5. Virtues as Good Dispositions of Heart and Will
- 6. Types
- 7. Virtue as Good Work
- 8. Seemingly Good Works
- 9. Divine Grace in Performing Good Works
- 10. The Harmony of God’s Grace With Human Freedom
- 11. On Sin
- 12. Sin as Sinful Work
- 13. The Classification of Sins
- 14. Rules for Determining the Gravity of Sins
- 15. Sin as Sinful Disposition
- 16. Sinful States
- 17. The State of Moral Negligence
- 18. The State of Hardening
- 19. Moral Slavery
- 20. The State of Hypocrisy
- 21. The State of Spiritual Delusion
- 22. Causes That Impel Toward Sin and Keep One in It
- The Author: Saint Theophan the Recluse