“When I first read the description of Fr. Alexander Torik’s novel Flavian, I was skeptical,” says Rev. Gregory Jensen in this week’s Acton Commentary. “Recently translated from Russian, it is the story of “an unexpected turning point in the life of Aleksei, a quite ordinary city dweller.”

A chance meeting with a former classmate turned much in the life of this physics-major-turned-successful-manager upside down, setting Aleksei on a new path with many amazing discoveries along the way.” I couldn’t help wondering if this was going to be simply a diatribe against business, the free market and the West.

But read it I did. And what I discovered wasn’t an angry preacher heaping scorn on the unrepentant but a loving pastor offering spiritual guidance to his flock.

The full text of the essay can be found here. Subscribe to the free, weekly Acton News & Commentary and other publications here.