This second volume on Eastern Christian spirituality amplifies in depth the final two chapters of the earlier The Spirituality of the Christian East: A Systematic Handbook (1986). Like Cassian in writing his Conferences, Fr. Spidlik does not advocate any particular pattern of prayer, but sets out faithfully to collect and share the teachings of generations of eastern monks and spiritual writers. While adapting his work to the standards of modern research and treating subjects systematically, he remains within the eastern Christian tradition of 'positive' theology, aware that Eastern Christians have never tired of pointing out the great danger that rational concepts, the products of aristotelian logic, may all too easily replace the spiritual vision which is given only to those who are pure of heart.
