Acquiring the Mind of Christ

Embracing the Vision of the Orthodox Church

By: Sergius Bowyer

Narrated by: Jonah Martin

St. Paul clearly states: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus...” (Phil 2:5).

How do we acquire this mind of Christ and where is it to be found? For the Orthodox Christian, salvation is the acquisition of this mind of Christ which is to be found in the Church. This acquisition moves us from the image of God to the likeness of God; through our obedience to this call we begin to know God and this knowledge is eternal life (John 17:3).

This small book hopes to begin to answer how acquiring the mind of Christ is possible and why it is necessary in our lives today.

Fr. Archimandrite Sergius serves as the 16th Abbot of St. Tikhon’s Monastery. He teaches at St. Tikhon’s Seminary and has traveled extensively for the monastery and seminary giving talks and retreats.

©2015 Archimandrite Sergius Bowyer (P)2022 St. Tikhon's Monastery Press

Very good

If one wants to know simplicity and deepness of the Orthodox Faith, here you go. Basic yet profound. Thank the Lord!

Orthodoxy Presented with Clarity and Grace

This book provides clear, methodical, and concise guidance for following the true church, and her teachings that lead to salvation. Becoming a Christian, as established by the ancient and original church, sets us on a life path that involves daily actions. Every inquirer and catheceumen will benefit from this book, as would those who are ‘cradle’ Orthodox. The narrator has a wonderful voice and cadence.
I will enjoy listening again and again. Thank you!

Interesting, but not captivating

This book started off pretty good, but the middle 50% was not great. Aside from the strong introduction, the author spent much of the book using Catholicism to explain Orthodoxy. In my opinion, that’s not the way to approach evangelization. I’d prefer the Bishop Robert Barron approach of leading with everything that is beautiful about your faith.

Many of the author’s arguments were straw men arguments. And, several times he made criticisms against ideas that were not Catholic teaching. The chapter on Saint Augustine was strange. The author made many arguments against what he felt Saint Augustine implied. I had an open mind for his explanation of the differences between Catholic and Orthodox views of the Trinity, but he seemed to just keep repeating “they emphasize divine nature while we emphasize the three persons”. In Catholicism, there is absolutely a focus on the three persons. Is it “emphasized” as much as in Orthodoxy? I don’t know, and honestly I think most Catholics and Orthodox Christians could benefit from more pertinent discussions related to their salvation.

All that being said, I don’t regret reading the book. I enjoyed it actually. It was interesting, but a little bit unnecessarily tedious and drifted away from its purpose I think.

Easy to understand

I’m glad I chose this audiobook. It explains well how to live for God and deny oneself.

Enjoyable, and enlightening

As someone that recently found the Lord, and faith; I found this very helpful. I had several books recommended to me for questions I had. This certainly helped, and clarified quite a bit. The narration was calm, well done also. I’m grateful to it ending with a part on prayer rules, and prayers being read.