The Secret Seminary: Prayer and the Study of Theology

Outside the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church, theological schools and seminaries in the West today frequently bear little resemblance to their ancient Christian predecessors. The ancient way of spiritual formation aimed at producing men and women of prayer, with the idea that to pray well meant to be a theologian and the true theologian was one who could pray well. Theological training was intended to cultivate the practice of continual prayer, humility and kindness. In some ways similar to the preparation of Hindu and Buddhist adepts, it involved personal asceticism, the practice of continual prayer centered around the Divine Liturgy, hand-work, obedience, the practice of interior and exterior silence, the cultivation of humor, and charity for the poor, along with study of the Scriptures and the teaching of the Apostles and saints. This book was written as a reminder that the ancient Way still exists in "secret seminaries" where ascetics model for their students their way of prayer and spiritual life. The author was privileged to know several such ascetical teachers in different parts of the world, beginning with the priest-hermit Roland Walls in Roslin, Scotland. Much of this volume derives from notes from his classes at New College, the University of Edinburgh, and from conversations with him at his skete in Roslin, originally known as the Community of the Transfiguration and in later times as the Hermitage of St. Francis. The wisdom presented here derives from the earliest ascetics, hermits and spiritual directors of the Christian Church, especially from the 3rd to 5th centuries in the great deserts of Egypt, the Sinai and Palestine. The book also cites modern teachers of this ancient Way, especially in the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is hoped that these reflections will help to encourage present-day Christians-bishops, seminary professors, theological students and families interested in Christian spiritual life-to recover an ancient Christian way of teaching and learning theology. The goal is that Christian schools of theology might not simply graduate "clever once-born fellows" (as Fr. Roland called them) but humble and willing servants of the Crucified One whose lives reflect the joy, simplicity, and compassion of the Holy Gospel.

Fr. Brendan Pelphrey, PhD, is a priest of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh and of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, he has taught Orthodox Christian spirituality, medieval mysticism, western civilization, world religions and missiology in a seminaries, colleges and universities in America and abroad, and has engaged extensively in interfaith dialogue in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Fr. Roland Walls founded the Community of the Transfiguration in Roslin, Scotland and became internationally known as a Christian contemplative theologian and advocate for the poor. As a professor of theology and spirituality at New College, Edinburgh he influenced the lives of students from around the world. In later life he became a member of the Little Brothers of Jesus and lived more reclusively at the Hermitage of St. Francis in Roslin until his death in 2011.