Born to Hate Reborn to Love, by Klaus Kenneth

How many people do you know who have faced a firing squad or had lengthy conversations with Mother Teresa? Klaus Kenneth has experienced both in his most extraordinary life. Klaus is an Orthodox Christian and spiritual child of Elder Sophrony of Essex. He was born into extremely unfortunate circumstances at the end of World War II: his father abandoned his family not long after they settled in their new home, his mother rejected him, and he was abused, mentally and physically, by a priest who promised to "educate" him. As Klaus sought to escape the hell of being unloved, he began to look for a way out of his misery, which took him on a journey through the manifold pleasures and promises of "this world": rock music, sex, drugs, the Occult, Transcendental Meditation, the religious traditions of North and South America, Africa and the Middle East (including Israel), India and the Orient. His quest literally took him around the world several times over. He tried it all. But as Klaus himself relates in this remarkable story, the longest and hardest journey of them all was the one that goes from head to heart.

Not content with words alone, Klaus applied himself diligently to everything that he tried. In the process, he learned the techniques of the Occult, he was regarded as a guru in India, where he spent a number of years, and believed that he would end his life as a Buddhist monk in Thailand. The list of his experiences, the places he visited, and the people he met is endless. And along the way, he was given profound spiritual experiences, which led him to the One that he had always discounted – Jesus Christ.

Though entirely unaware of it at the time, Klaus' "return" to Christianity began in Calcutta, with Mother Teresa, his "first mother", as he describes her. It was facilitated later by the famous Protestant pastor, Maurice Ray, the first father-figure in Klaus' life, from whom he had received exorcism. And it was brought to completion by Elder Sophrony of Essex, whose unconditional love and genuine friendship initiated Klaus into a world that he had never suspected even existed.

Because of the sincerity of his desire, God revealed himself to Klaus, brought him out of the chaos of our syncretistic culture, and led him to the place where the realization of our true personhood in and through Jesus Christ may be accomplished: the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church – the Orthodox Church.

About the Editor

Dr. Christopher Veniamin is a spiritual child of St. Sophrony the Athonite (1896-1993).

Born and raised in London, England, of Greek Cypriot parents, Dr. Veniamin holds his first degree in theology from the University of Thessalonica and his doctorate from the University of Oxford. He is Emeritus Professor of Patristics at St. Tikhon's Seminary in Pennsylvania, and Dean & COO Emeritus at the Antiochian House of Studies in California, where he also served as Professor of Patristic Theology and Dogmatics, established the Ph.D.Program in Orthodox Studies, and spearheaded the drive for full  accreditation with the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) in North America and Canada.

Prof. Veniamin's works include Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies; The Orthodox Understanding of Salvation: "Theosis" in Scripture and Tradition; and The Transfiguration of Christ in Greek Patristic Literature: From Irenaeus of Lyons to Gregory Palamas.

Dr. Veniamin also holds the four-year Degree in Byzantine Music from the celebrated School of St. Romanus Melodus and St. John Damascene in Thessalonica, and is a pupil of Eleftherios Georgiades, former Lampadarios of the Great Church of Christ.

Prof. Veniamin is also the Founder and President of Mount Thabor Publishing (MTP), established in 2005 to produce quality books in Orthodox theology and the spiritual life, and the presenter of videos and podcasts for The Mount Thabor Academy, on the interrelationship between theology and spiritual life of the Orthodox Church, with particular reference to the Holy Bible and the witness of the Church Fathers, past and present.