Life Sentences – Details, episodes & analysis

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Life Sentences

Thomas Small

Religion & Spirituality

Society & Culture

Frequency: 1 episode/20d. Total Eps: 9

An exclusive Substack podcast presented by Thomas Small. In each episode, he walks you through an ancient spiritual text, revealing the history behind the text and, even more importantly, translating the text into modern terms. You'll be amazed by how relevant ancient Christian wisdom remains to your life today.

wisdomreadings.substack.com

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Data updated on 04/07/2026

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Score global : 49%

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Episode 8: Love, desire, pleasure, passion

Wednesday, December 18, 2024 • Duration 01:06:45

Welcome to Life Sentences, an exploration into the wisdom of the ancient Church Fathers, presented by me, Thomas Small.

In this episode, we meet John Cassian’s teacher, Evagrius Ponticus, whose penetrating intellectual vision illuminates the narrow path to purity of heart, and who provides us a detailed analysis of the three stages of the spiritual life.

Get full access to Life Sentences at wisdomreadings.substack.com/subscribe

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Episode 7: Know God in wonder

Sunday, November 3, 2024 • Duration 01:02:54

Welcome to Life Sentences, an exploration into the wisdom of the ancient Church Fathers presented by me, Thomas Small.

In this episode, Abba Moses tells us more about what contemplation actually is, explaining its different modes, and also teaching us where our thoughts come from and what we’re supposed to do with them.

Get full access to Life Sentences at wisdomreadings.substack.com/subscribe

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Episode 6: Take your soul seriously

Sunday, September 22, 2024 • Duration 01:04:01

Welcome to Life Sentences, an exploration into the wisdom of the ancient Church Fathers presented by me, Thomas Small.

In this episode, we continue our way through St John Cassian’s interview with the great Egyptian ascetic Abba Moses the Black, who shifts his focus from the goal of purity of heart to the ultimate end: the kingdom of God.

Get full access to Life Sentences at wisdomreadings.substack.com/subscribe

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Episode 5: Aim for purity of heart

Sunday, September 8, 2024 • Duration 01:02:58

Welcome to Life Sentences, an exploration into the wisdom of the ancient Church Fathers presented by me, Thomas Small.

In this episode, St John Cassian, a great master of the contemplative life, introduces us to the man he considered to be the greatest of all the desert fathers, Abba Moses the Black—who reveals the true goal and the final end of all our spiritual striving.

If you’re following the podcast on a podcast app like Spotify or Apple Podcasts or Pocket Casts but have not subscribed to the actual Substack, then I really encourage you to do so. Go to wisdomreadings.substack.com and subscribe.

Get full access to Life Sentences at wisdomreadings.substack.com/subscribe

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Episode 4: To know God, know yourself

Sunday, August 25, 2024 • Duration 57:05

Welcome to Life Sentences, an exploration into the wisdom of the ancient Church Fathers, presented by me, Thomas Small.

In this episode, St Basil the Great continues urging us to be attentive to ourselves, and explains how, because he is made in the divine image, by knowing himself, man can know God.

Get full access to Life Sentences at wisdomreadings.substack.com/subscribe

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Episode 3: Be attentive to yourself

Sunday, August 11, 2024 • Duration 01:01:04

Welcome to Life Sentences, an exploration into the wisdom of the ancient Church Fathers presented by me, Thomas Small.

In this episode we meet St Basil the Great, a 4th-century Father of the Church who, taking us into the mind, teaches us where our focus of attention should be and that we must strive for purity of heart.

Get full access to Life Sentences at wisdomreadings.substack.com/subscribe

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Episode 2: You are a mind

Sunday, July 28, 2024 • Duration 01:02:35

In this episode, St Leo the Great, Pope of Rome, takes us even deeper into the spirituality of asceticism, and we learn how behind the practice of fasting lies a sophisticated doctrine about the nature of the human mind.

Get full access to Life Sentences at wisdomreadings.substack.com/subscribe

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Episode 1: Starting with the basics

Sunday, July 14, 2024 • Duration 57:00

Welcome to Life Sentences, a new Substack podcast presented by me, Thomas Small.

In Life Sentences, I’m going to be reading through ancient spiritual texts by the greatest minds of Christian history, the Church Fathers. I'll add commentary as I go which will, I hope, convince you that ancient Christian wisdom speaks to our human condition just as well now as it did back in the first millennium.

In this inaugural episode, we launch with our very first Church Father, St Leo the Great, Pope of Rome.

Get full access to Life Sentences at wisdomreadings.substack.com/subscribe

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Three days to launch...

Thursday, July 11, 2024 • Duration 01:38

A brief audio message, letting you know what you can expect from Life Sentences, a new Substack podcast presented by Thomas Small.

Get full access to Life Sentences at wisdomreadings.substack.com/subscribe

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Life Sentences – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

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Life Sentences – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Substack2

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Substack2

Apple Podcasts

Spotify