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Tantalus and the Pelican: Exploring Monastic Spirituality Today

Tantalus and the Pelican: Exploring Monastic Spirituality Today

by NicholasBuxton (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2009

    $4.20
Synopsis

This is an informative and engaging book about monasticism, its history, practice, and relevance to contemporary life, combining personal insights with sound scholarship.This book combines a detailed and informative exposition of the Christian monastic tradition with the engaging story of a spiritual journey from despair and alcoholism to faith and redemption, via an ashram in India, Buddhism, academia and reality TV. Beginning with the origins of monasticism in the deserts of Egypt during the 4th century, the book considers some of the essential features of early monastic spirituality, before going on to explore key elements of the Benedictine tradition, drawing out its profoundly counter-cultural message for our times. In the final section, the narrative turns inwards to focus on the more interior aspects of spirituality - such as prayer and silence - concluding with some reflections on the author's own vocation to the priesthood.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 188
 Edition: First Edition
 Publisher: Continuum
Published: 20 Jan 2009
ISBN 10: 1847061117
ISBN 13: 9781847061119

Media Reviews
As a reader might imagine, this book can be compelling. Buxton's trajectory is dramatic, and he writes about it with clarity and candor. He's well-read and well-versed in the early monastic heavy hitters, quoting the abbas, Evagrius, and Benedict extensively and easily. - American Benedictine Review
Mention in Church Times, February 2009
... one of the things that gives Tantalus and the Pelican its interest is its account of a spiritual development so characteristic of our times... This is a carefully crafted and intelligent book, weaving together a number of themes... Buxton now possesses a language in which to articulate some of his deepest insights into monasticism and to argue not simply for its value but for its necessity... He writes with sensitivity, understanding and a kind of yearning about its appeal. - Gillian Leslie, The Tablet, March 2009--Sanford Lakoff The American Spectator
2I can warmly commend the book as 'spiritual reading' in itself, as it is thoughtful, interesting, researched, well-written, original and accessible. I had a sudden desire to place a welcoming copy of this particular book in each unit of guest accomodation here at Fairacres! As an introduction to monastic history, it is also a good book for a novitiate library I hope some readers will feel moved to obtain the book and that they will find it helpful, as I have done. It would be a good boom to take away for retreat reading! Fairacres Chronicle, summer 2009--Sanford Lakoff Face The Nation
Sensitive and perceptive...Stretching out to what is of ultimate value is tantalising; a book about it must inevitably be incomplete, leaving us wanting more. Good books do that. --Sanford Lakoff Church Times
'This wide-ranging book is also an engagement with the early Christian desert fathers whose spirituality fed Buxton in his discovery of the meaning of monasticism.'--Sanford Lakoff
Author Bio
Nicholas Buxton was one of the participants in the BBC series The Monastery. He subsequently trained in Oxford for ordination to the priesthood of the Church of England, and is now curate and minor canon of Ripon cathedral. He has lectured widely on spirituality, and written for the national press - including the Guardian, Tablet and the Church Times. Other publications include chapters in The Oblate Life (SCM-Canterbury Press), and Exploring Religion and the Sacred in a Media Age (Ashgate). He has also been featured on Radio 4 Sunday Worship.