Discipleship - by Pope Shenouda (Paperback)

About the Book

H.H. Pope Shenouda III shows what it really means to follow Christ: discipleship as a lifelong way of life, learned from Scripture, the Desert Fathers, the saints, nature, the liturgy and a wise spiritual father.

Book Synopsis

What does it actually mean to be a disciple of Christ? In Discipleship, H.H. Pope Shenouda III, the 117th Pope of Alexandria, answers that question as a pastor speaking directly to his reader, showing that following Christ is not a course you complete but a way of life.

First given as lectures for the formation of church servants in 1972, this book has shaped generations of Coptic Orthodox Christians. Drawing on Holy Scripture, the Desert Fathers and the lives of the saints, Pope Shenouda shows how a person is spiritually formed. A teacher's silence can disciple you. So can a funeral, a sparrow, the roots of a tree or the way a candle burns. Someone with open eyes can learn from all of it.

The book covers:

The conditions of true discipleship and abiding in Christ's teaching.

Learning from the Desert Fathers and from the lives of others.

Lessons from nature, from history and from the events of our own lives.

Formation through the Church's liturgical rites.

The role of the father confessor in spiritual direction: what to look for, how to receive guidance well, and the danger of rejecting human teachers.

The writing is warm but demanding. Pope Shenouda is concerned not only with what a person knows, but with what they become over years of steady, humble practice. As Christ said, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35).

Part of Pope Shenouda's Ministry Series, alongside The Holy Zeal and The Spirituality of Ministry, it is written for church servants, Sunday school teachers, youth leaders and every Christian serious about growing in the spiritual life. Rooted in the Coptic Orthodox tradition yet drawing mainly on Scripture, it speaks to readers of any Christian background.