Podcast Summary: New Books Network

Nicolae Steinhardt, "The Journal of Joy" (SVS Press, 2025)

Date: October 9, 2025
Host: Adrian
Guests: Father Bogdan Bokur (St. Vladimir's Seminary, NY), Dr. Rizvan Porum (Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, Cambridge)

Episode Overview

This episode explores the life and work of Nicolae Steinhardt, focusing on the newly published English translation of his seminal spiritual memoir, The Journal of Joy. The host, Adrian, is joined by the book’s editor and foreword contributor, Dr. Rizvan Porum, and theologian Father Bogdan Bokur. Together, they discuss Steinhardt's extraordinary life, his transformation from a Jewish intellectual to an Orthodox Christian monk, his imprisonment under communism, and the spiritual and ethical lessons woven throughout his journal.

Key Discussion Points

1. Nicolae Steinhardt: A Life Marked by Transformation

• Early Life: Born in 1912 in Bucharest to a Jewish family with "some family ties to Sigmund Freud" ([04:11]) and raised in a privileged, intellectual, cosmopolitan environment.
• Youthful Persona: Known as a "Voltairean spirit, very witty, very ironic, cynical, individualistic, critical, hedonistic, leading a luxurious life" ([05:30] Father Bogdan Bokur).
• Political Turmoil: Never joined extremist political groups, and suffered under both fascist antisemitic policies and later communist regime, eventually losing status, employment, and basic security ([09:24] Dr. Rizvan Porum).
• Prison and Conversion: Imprisoned 1960–64 as a "political prisoner" where he experienced profound spiritual transformation—"this is a journal of a convert... intimately tied with political resistance" ([04:55] Father Bogdan Bokur).

2. Between Ideologies, Faith, and Resistance

• Moral and Political Outsider: "He was not a comfortable person... not liked anywhere he went, which is again part of... that spirit of resistance" ([16:23] Dr. Rizvan Porum).
• Persistence of Integrity: Survived through various jobs with files marked as "hostile or is not trustworthy or worse than a legionnaire..." ([14:59] Dr. Rizvan Porum).
• Context of Conversion: Dr. Porum details Steinhardt’s existential crisis after WWII, his failed return to Judaism, and gradual attraction to Christianity—“Christianity, in a sense for him, had been the only thing that had coped him through his existential spiritual crises” ([19:36]).

3. The Miracle of the Manuscript

• Manuscript’s Perilous History: The Journal of Joy manuscript was frequently confiscated by the Securitate due to being perceived as “hostile to the regime, hostile to Marxist-Leninist ideology” ([27:41] Father Bogdan Bokur).
• Betrayal and Loss: Even close friends acted as informants—"one of them is an informant... you really could not know who your friends or your enemies were. Very Orwellian.” ([36:38] Dr. Rizvan Porum).
• Recovery and Editing: After numerous confiscations, revisions, and with help from friends, the manuscript survived and ultimately made its way into post-communist publication ([40:56]).

4. The Core Spiritual Experience: Baptism in Prison

• Origin of the Journal: "Its core is an experience which we will mention shortly. An experience that Steinhardt has behind bars. It's behind bars that he is baptized..." ([25:30] Father Bogdan Bokur).
• Description of Baptism:

  “Father Mina, a monastic... pours all the contents of the kettle on my head and shoulders... and baptizes me in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And I'm born again of wormy water and a swift spirit.” ([45:50] Father Bogdan Bokur)

• Mystical Aftermath: Steinhardt describes the "attacks of joy" following his baptism:

  “Happiness that surrounds me and fills me, clothes me, overcomes me, wouldn't be so unimaginably wonderful and whole. Peace and sweetness in my mouth, in my veins, in my muscles...” ([46:40] Father Bogdan Bokur)

• Transformative Impact: Central mystical experience becomes the foundation for the entire journal, radiating through memories, cultural reflections, and ethical teachings ([41:49], [51:49]).

5. Ethics and Joy: Steinhardt’s Christian Message

• Christianity as Happiness:

  “Christianity is a recipe for happiness... If the individual is intolerant or sullen or agitated or ill tempered or troubled, he is not a Christian... The Christian is free and therefore happy.” ([57:15] Adrian quoting Steinhardt, p. 572)

• The Triangle: Faith, Freedom, Happiness:

  "'Faith, freedom, happiness... all interconnected in Steinhardt's view.'" ([59:19] Dr. Rizvan Porum, paraphrasing Giorgio Deleanu)

• Courage Over Legality:

  "You can't really have any virtue if it is not something that you engage in freely." ([72:00] Father Bogdan Bokur)

• Speaking Relevant Truth: Insists that the "truth that really needs to be spoken is the condemnation of the injustices that happen in the world around you” ([64:41] Dr. Rizvan Porum); factual accuracy is insufficient if it is irrelevant to the moral reality ([67:41]).

6. Aristocracy of Christ and Magnanimity

• Against Pettiness:

  "He experienced God in Christ... as a nobleman, somebody who is trusting, somebody who is generous... who when he forgives, he forgives completely." ([70:19] Father Bogdan Bokur)

• Moral Intelligence: Emphasizes that Christians must avoid being "taken in by the disguises of evil," emphasizing both discernment and generosity ([81:31]).

7. Freedom, Morality, and Modern Society

• Freedom as Prerequisite of Virtue: Steinhardt argues that virtue “can only be accomplished by engaging in it freely... a state-imposed, mandated morality... is Steinhardt’s nightmare and ought to be our own” ([86:07]).
• Cultural Critique:

  “In order to be liberal, a society must submit to morality first... You need to have the courage to say it like it is. Culture is not enough. You need morality, too.” ([85:30] Adrian quoting Steinhardt, p. 475)

• Subversive, Not Categorizeable:

  “His brand of orthodoxy is also a bit of an oddity, precisely because he brings up these virtues that we don’t hear much about.” ([72:00] Father Bogdan Bokur])

8. Relevance Today and Closing Thoughts

• Contemporary Lessons: While Steinhardt would likely remain suspicious of new forms of totalitarianism and the dangers of "state-imposed morality," his nuanced views resist easy projection onto modern issues ([79:13] Dr. Rizvan Porum).
• Transcending Categories: Steinhardt’s enduring power stems from his insistence on moral courage, spiritual joy, and the inseparability of faith and freedom.
• Final Reflections:

  “His Journal of Joy... reflects a playfulness, energy, fortitude and sparkle that Steinhardt also displayed as a person... The journal is indeed composed of seemingly random fragments, memories jumbled up with stories, but mostly thoughts and reflections... This gives the work the appearance of a long form reflective essay.” ([87:30] Dr. Rizvan Porum)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the difference conversion made:

  "I am a new man... This happiness that surrounds me and fills me... is so unimaginably wonderful and whole. Peace and sweetness in my mouth, in my veins, in my muscles, a sense of absolute certainty..." ([46:40] Father Bogdan Bokur, quoting Steinhardt)

• On the test of faith:

  "Only the state of happiness proves that you are the Lord’s. The disgruntled, virtuous person isn’t the Savior’s friend, but one who longs for the devil." ([57:15] Adrian, quoting Steinhardt, p. 572)

• On courage:

  "The first ones to go to hell, according to the book of Revelation, are the cowards..." ([72:00] Father Bogdan Bokur)

• On the importance of relevant truth:

  “The truth must be relevant, and the relevant truth is usually the one that’s inconvenient. Somebody doesn’t want you to say that truth.” ([67:41] Father Bogdan Bokur)

• On morality and freedom:

  "If you pass a law outlawing the tavern and the brothel, then that’s no longer Christianity… a state imposed mandated morality… is Steinhardt’s nightmare and ought to be our own." ([86:07] Father Bogdan Bokur)

• On trust:

  “Only a human being forges his neighbors in proportion to the trust he places in them and shows them. Unbelief is as deadly as infanticide. It destroys the humanity of those upon whom it manifests itself.” ([91:12] Adrian reading Steinhardt)

Important Timestamps

• Steinhardt’s early life and persona: [04:11]–[08:32]
• Impact of fascism and communism: [10:29]–[16:23]
• His spiritual crisis & journey to Christianity: [18:43]–[22:31]
• The Securitate, betrayal & manuscript: [35:14]–[41:49]
• Baptism and mystical experience: [45:50]–[51:49]
• Ethics, joy, and Christian freedom: [55:11]–[66:25]
• Aristocracy of Christ & virtue: [70:19]–[76:00]
• Abortion, law, and the question of imposed virtue: [72:00]–[77:41]
• Contemporary relevance, freedom, morality: [79:13]–[86:57]
• Book’s structure and impact: [87:30]–[92:58]

Conclusion

This conversation provides a multifaceted portrait of Nicolae Steinhardt—intellectual, prisoner, Christian convert, monk—and offers deep insight into The Journal of Joy's genesis and message. Steinhardt emerges as a thinker for our times, with an insistence on spiritual joy, moral courage, and freedom as the core of faith—a vision forged in adversity yet radiantly relevant beyond its original context.