Description
Book SynopsisWhilst serving in the Soviet army in 1973, Sergei Ovsiannikov was arrested and imprisoned for acts of disobedience under military command. It was while in prison, like Solzhenitsyn and Dostoevsky, that he began to ponder deeper issues and on release trained to be a Russian orthodox priest.
This extraordinary but short book is about his search for true freedom. The issues he wrestles with are profound and, like any confrontation with truth, it caused him great anguish and pain. As Ovsiannikov wrote:
''It was in my prison cell that I lost fear. I realised that if they sent me to a labour camp with a long sentence, it did not matter because I was free. Of course subsequently I came to realise that freedom is not given, you have to take responsibility for it.''
It was during this time that he discovered Christianity and decided that this was the real meaning of his life.
Later, after a period spent with the Russian Orthodox community in London, Ovsiannikov
Trade Review
This is an ideal book for our current Covid-19 world where so many of us have been forced to lead lives of solitude. * The Pastoral Review *
Table of Contents
Foreword by Dr Rowan Williams From the Author Instead of a Preface PART ONE: LOST FREEDOM 1 How Man Was Left Without Freedom 2 Freedom, Fear and Slavery PART TWO: FINDING YOURSELF 3 What is Being Yourself? 4 Sick Soul and Healthy Soul 5 On the New Man 6 IF You Prefer Unfreedom, Come Here, or, About Passions Simply Explained PART THREE: THROUGH THE PRISM OF FREEDOM 7 Freedom and Politics, or, Does Revolution Equal Freedom 8 Religion and Tradition - the End of Freedom? 9 Love 10 Fear PART FOUR: COMING OUT INTO LIBERTY 11 From Space to Time 12 Creativity as the Method for Coming Home 13 The Gospel: Come Out into Liberty! Epilogue: The Work is Only the Beginning
