The Saviors of God

Ascesis: The Saviors of God is a series of spiritual exercises written by Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis in 1926, published one year later in the Athenian magazine, Renaissance. The text was later revised and edited by its author to become a book in 1945.

The author first presents an introduction. Given the sacred tone of the book, beyond philosophy and metaphysics, this introduction is better understood as an admonition. The first words summarize the undercurrent of The Saviors of God: 'We came from an abyss of darkness; we end in an abyss of darkness: the interval of light between one and another we name life.'

Kazantzakis thought that there are two streams in life. The first one runs toward ascesis, synthesis, life and immortality. The second one runs downwards, to dissolution, matter, death. However, both streams are part of the universe, and being so, sacred. One of the main Kazantzakis' concerns was what force drives the uncreated to the created. As oppositions seems to be intrinsic to life and infinite, human beings should strive to ascend to a harmonic view of these oppositions, to be a guide for thought and action.

References

*"Ascese: Os Salvadores de Deus", translated by José Paulo Paes from the original Greek text to Portuguese. Editor: Editora Ática - First Edition, 1997. ISBN 85 08 0622557.