Life Sentences

Welcome to Life Sentences, an exploration into the wisdom of the ancient Church Fathers, presented by me, Thomas Small.

In this episode, Evagrius Ponticus guides us further into the inner workings of the rational soul, revealing the eight basic demonic temptations which subvert our minds and plunge us into irrational and spiritually lethal passion.

Welcome to Life Sentences, an exploration into the wisdom of the ancient Church Fathers, presented by me, Thomas Small.

In this episode, we meet John Cassian’s teacher, Evagrius Ponticus, whose penetrating intellectual vision illuminates the narrow path to purity of heart, and who provides us a detailed analysis of the three stages of the spiritual life.

Welcome to Life Sentences, an exploration into the wisdom of the ancient Church Fathers presented by me, Thomas Small.

In this episode, Abba Moses tells us more about what contemplation actually is, explaining its different modes, and also teaching us where our thoughts come from and what we’re supposed to do with them.

Welcome to Life Sentences, an exploration into the wisdom of the ancient Church Fathers presented by me, Thomas Small.

In this episode, we continue our way through St John Cassian’s interview with the great Egyptian ascetic Abba Moses the Black, who shifts his focus from the goal of purity of heart to the ultimate end: the kingdom of God.

Welcome to Life Sentences, an exploration into the wisdom of the ancient Church Fathers presented by me, Thomas Small.

In this episode, St John Cassian, a great master of the contemplative life, introduces us to the man he considered to be the greatest of all the desert fathers, Abba Moses the Black—who reveals the true goal and the final end of all our spiritual striving.

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Welcome to Life Sentences, an exploration into the wisdom of the ancient Church Fathers, presented by me, Thomas Small.

In this episode, St Basil the Great continues urging us to be attentive to ourselves, and explains how, because he is made in the divine image, by knowing himself, man can know God.

Welcome to Life Sentences, an exploration into the wisdom of the ancient Church Fathers presented by me, Thomas Small.

In this episode we meet St Basil the Great, a 4th-century Father of the Church who, taking us into the mind, teaches us where our focus of attention should be and that we must strive for purity of heart.

In this episode, St Leo the Great, Pope of Rome, takes us even deeper into the spirituality of asceticism, and we learn how behind the practice of fasting lies a sophisticated doctrine about the nature of the human mind.

Welcome to Life Sentences, a new Substack podcast presented by me, Thomas Small.

In Life Sentences, I’m going to be reading through ancient spiritual texts by the greatest minds of Christian history, the Church Fathers. I'll add commentary as I go which will, I hope, convince you that ancient Christian wisdom speaks to our human condition just as well now as it did back in the first millennium.

In this inaugural episode, we launch with our very first Church Father, St Leo the Great, Pope of Rome.

A brief audio message, letting you know what you can expect from Life Sentences, a new Substack podcast presented by Thomas Small.