This is a series of lectures that Soloviev gave that read like Scripture. Tolstoy and Dostevyesky attended the lectures. They are amazing!
Essentially a work of moral theology/philosophy packed with great insights. I quote from this work in my Lenten Meditation for the First Sunday of Lent here:
Solovyov posits two rules in this regard:
"Have God in you." (God wants to be in communion with us. He wants to fulfill the desire He has placed in our hearts for Him.)
"Regard everything in God's way."(And here Solovyov means "everything," even evil, of which he says:"We must regard evil in God's way, i.e. without being indifferent to it, we must rise above absolute opposition to it and allow it--when it does not proceed from us--as means of perfection, in so far as a greater good can be derived from it. (The Justification of the Good" )
I've read about half of this so far, which actually is great Lented reading because the first half deals with Prayer, Alsmgiving and Fasting--the prayer chapter is masterfully done using the Lord's prayer which I think shows the genius of Soloviev--for when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray that is what he did and Soloviev shows how each petition of the Our Father teaches us how to pray to God.
All of Soloviev's writings make a great supplement to a modern writer who I've mentioned before on this blog, Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer. His:
