Animals and Man: A State of Blessedness

By Joanne Stefanatos and Joanne Stefanatos D.V.M

This book is a treasury of spirituality for all ages. A book that reveals the mysteries of God concerning man, animals and salvation. It features 52 historical accounts of the lives of holy men and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0937032905
• ISBN13: 9780937032909
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Light & Life Pub Co
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 0.8" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Very Inspiring

This is a wonderful book! For those who are pro-environment or maybe vegetarian, this is a great read. It is also a good choice for those who love animals, and of course, those who are devout and looking for some inspiring reading. In the first several chapters the author discusses the Christian teachings on how humankind and animals fit in God's plan for the world - the remainder of the book is lives of various Saints who had inspiring and sometimes miraculous interactions with animals. For Christians, it is so helpful to have a book that is pro-animal, pro-environment, and pro-compassion and showing how that perspective is Christian in the truest sense. So often in the public arena we're given the wrong impression, that "dominion" means cruelty, and somehow it isn't Christian to be a "tree hugger" - but nothing could be further from the truth. This book corrects these misconceptions and does so from the pinnacle of Theological, Historical, and Biblical Orthodoxy - rather than compromising with other worldviews. The lives of the Saints here are especially inspiring - they don't take an artificially sentimentalized view of animals- not many cuddly stories here - but they have a realistic and historically accurate view of what really happened. What is truly wonderful is that the stories tell the entire life of the Saint - not just the animal-related part. The stories are uplifting and Spiritually beneficial for all. This would be a wonderful choice for someone who is looking to read one Saint's Life per day and for all Christians who want a clearer understanding of how the issues of the day are an intrinsic part of our Faith.

Man and Animals Before the Fall of Man

Before the fall of man, it is said that Adam named all the animals in the garden of Eden, and there was no fear or enmity between them. The Church Fathers teach us that Adam even had the ability to communicate with animals.Joanne has done a marvelous job assembling many of the Orthodox Church's most interesting stories and teachings from the lives of the saints, chronicling their kinship with the animal kindgom. I have read many of these stories to my children and they love hearing them, but, the book is written for adults as well. It is filled with miraculous stories of people who's transfigured spiritual lives enabled them to establish friendships and communicate with animals since the incarnation of Christ.The book is beneficial to one's soul in that it describes and provides compelling stories demonstrating the natural state of man, which is union with God and man, and to live in harmony with nature and all the created world, even the fiercest of animals. I heartily recommend this book to everyone who's heart longs for that unspoiled place - paradise. Read it and be blessed! In His name - Philemon.