Title: The Best of Jonathan’s Corner
Author: CJS Hayward
Genre: Creative non-fiction / many genres / religion and spirituality / Eastern Orthodox
Rating: 4,5 out of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

The Best of Jonathan’s Corner, newly expanded ​ after getting five star reviews​, is a collection of varied works of Eastern Orthodox mystical theology. It spans many topics and many different genres of writing, but it keeps coming back to the biggest questions of all. It is inexhaustible: the works are independent, and you can read a few, many, or all of them to suit your taste. Fans of CS Lewis and GK Chesterton will love it.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I started reading The Best of Jonathan’s Corner. I’m not Eastern Orthodox myself, barely religious even, although I do like reading about spiritual matters, and I like finding out more about other people’s perspectives.

Let me start by saying that Mr. Hayward is an intelligent human being who researches his writing material, and does so thoroughly. He knows what he’s talking about. The book consists of several essays, all differing in length. It’s easy to just read one, put the book away, and pick it up at a later time, like I did – not because I needed a break from the reading material, but because I wanted some time to think about what I’d just read. He also offers some commentaries, referring to other theologists, authors and lecturers.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, particularly because of the author’s down to earth approach. While he makes some excellent points, he does so in a way that’s easily understandable, even with minimal prior knowledge. Some poems are included as well, and they can serve as prayers too, so the book covers a lot of ground.

I found the essays the most interesting, one about religion vs. science one of my particular favorites. “The Angelic Letters” was interesting too, as was ‘God the Spiritual Father’. This is certainly a ‘the best of’ collection, as all articles had a solid level of quality. I look forward to reading more books by this author, and exploring more topics.