1. […] I love to see this spreading, and this was mentioned over on the Speculative Faith website.  […]

  2. notleia says:

    Gasp, promoting a book by not only a Papist, but one that lives in a communist enclave??!? Fetch me my clutchin’ pearls!

  3. […] I love to see this spreading, and this was mentioned over on the Speculative Faith website.  […]

  4. Travis Perry says:

    Hello Brother Dyar. It’s nice to meet you, virtually speaking. I’m not at all surprised that you’d find an interest in expressing your faith in a fantasy tale. Good for you–I wish you well.

    I am on the other hand a bit surprised about your comment on Gnosticism. Is Gnosticism actually common in Christianity today? Aren’t we more all about the pleasures of the flesh in a way somewhat parallel to Epicurean thought? I mean, yes, there are modern Gnostics, that’s for sure, but I don’t see they are anywhere close to taking over Christian thought and practice. Am I missing something? Please explain.

    Thank you!

    • Benedict Dyar says:

      Travis,
      I agree. Gnosticism is not as prevalent today as it was in early Christianity. However, I had to have a villain in my book. The “bad guys” in my novel, if one wants to call them that, were Gnostic in their thinking.

      Also, I think some persons today have a general misunderstanding about monasticism. Many think that we think the flesh is evil or a prison. That is not so. The radical commitments of the monk are the evangelical counsels (for us: communal poverty, voluntary celibacy, obedience, stability, and conversion of life), freely chosen. As you know, certain Gnostics thought the flesh was evil. Monks, like other Christians, believe that the body is sacred since we as Christians indeed believe in the resurrection of the body. But my main point above is that I had to have a villain in the book.

      I’d like to continue our conversation. Thank you!

      Br. Benedict

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