'This well-documented, reliable book fulfils a need and provides a wholesome background for Reading John's ascetic doctrine. Puzzled by the paradox of John, Professor Hardy sets out to find his own answer, which is fresh, winning and convincing. His main "find" is . . . a human being who had fallen in love with God in the world.
'An older hagiography started with an assumption of what a saint was like and stretched or squeezed their human subject to fit the mould. In fact, there can be no genuine holiness that is not thoroughly human. Hardy shows us a man of fine sensibilities and deep, lively emotions who was afraid of neither: a man who was a saint and who had surrendered his whole, human person to God. Perhaps this is nowhere better illustrated than in the famous incident of the beautiful young woman, intruding into John's solitude and declaring her passionate love for him. A classic "temptation" of the whole ascetic! John's reaction is astounding and in no way classic. No burning brands flung at the fiend incarnate, no execrations, only courtesy and gentleness, leaving the woman with her dignity intact. We might conclude that John, saint that he was, found such a response second nature. He did not. He admitted shortly before his death that he was attracted in every way to this young woman; he felt all her allure. What truly Christ-like love this reveals: a human being who was a saint.'