Mateus Soares de Azevedo (born 24 January 1959) is a Brazilian writer. He has published books, essays and articles on the perennial philosophy and the mystical and esoteric themes within Christianity and Islam.

Life

Mateus Soares de Azevedo was born in Belo Horizonte in 1959 and spent his early childhood there. In São Paulo – where he now lives – he studied modern languages at the University of São Paulo, and journalism at the Pontifical Catholic University of that same city. He also studied international relations at George Washington University, USA, and obtained a master's in history of religions from the University of São Paulo. Author Biography (São Paulo, Brazil: Polar Editorial) Author Biography (Bloomington, IN, U.S.A.: World Wisdom Books)

His profession as a writer, journalist, editor and translator has prompted him to visit Europe in order to contact religious authorities, collect material for his books, and interview perennialist authors. In Europe, he examined the three main branches of Christianity, visiting Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox countries. He also traveled to Muslim countries in search of "direct contact with the Islamic reality".

Work

Azevedo has written a number of books in Portuguese on comparative religion, the perennial philosophy, criticisms of the materialist mentality of the modern world, and the mystical and esoteric dimensions of Christianity and Islam.World Wisdom Books Polar Editorial Grupo Editorial Record Editora Ibrasa

He also published many essays on those subjects in Brazilian newspapers and magazines including O Estado de S. Paulo, Folha de S.Paulo and O Globo.Cristina Tardáguila, "Livro do mineiro Mateus Soares de Azevedo sobre o Islã concorre ao Book of the Year" (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: O Globo, 20 April 2011) Some of them have been translated into English, French, Spanish, and Italian, and published in spirituality- and ideas-oriented publications including Sophia (USA), Sacred Web (Canada), (Switzerland) and Ultreia (France).Mateus Soares de Azevedo, "Frithjof Schuon et les grandes figures spirituelles du XXe siècle" (Lausanne, Switzerland: Les Dossiers H: Frithjof Schuon, 2002, Editions L'Âge d'Homme) Mateus Soares de Azevedo, "La Vierge noire de Czestochowa" (Lagorce, France: Ultreia Magazine, 2017, Vol. 13, Editions Hozhoni pdf) He is also the translator into Portuguese of Frithjof Schuon, a Swiss metaphysician of the perennialist school, of Martin Lings, William Stoddart, C.S. Lewis and others.Clovis de Almeida, "Finalista dá palestra em João Pessoa" (João Pessoa, Brazil: Jornal da Paraíba, 7 September 2012)

In the Folha de São Paulo, professor Paulo Daniel Farah, in his review of 1 April 2006, reports that in A Inteligência da Fé ("The Intelligence of Faith"), Azevedo explains that, "according to perennial philosophy, religions are determined by Ideas, in the Platonic sense of the term, or perennial spiritual archetypes, which manifest themselves from time to time in the world of history and mutability. Christianity embodies one of these spiritual archetypes, just as Islam, Judaism and the other religions do...".Paulo Daniel Farah, "Obras discutem relações inter-religiosas" (São Paulo, Brazil: Folha de São Paolo, 1 April 2006).

Men of a Single Book: Fundamentalism in Islam, Christianity and Modern Thought was described in the magazine Parabola as an analysis of what Azevedo calls "secular fundamentalism", in which he includes "Marxism, Freudian psychoanalysis, Jungian analytical psychology and science fundamentalism"; these, according to Azevedo, have significantly shaped the contemporary mindset. The book also discusses religious militant fundamentalism, as well as anti-religious fundamentalism, characterized by atheist writers such as Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris.Samuel Bendeck Sotillos, Review of Men of a Single Book (New York: Parabola Magazine, Spring 2011, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 114–117).

Publications Selected books Alchemy of Love: Sexuality & the Spiritual Life, Sophia Perennis, 2020, Men of a Single Book: Fundamentalism in Islam, Christianity and Modern Thought, World Wisdom, 2010, (pt) Ordens Sufis no Islã: Iniciação às confrarias esotéricas muçulmanas no Irã xiita e no mundo sunita, Polar, 2020, Paulo Araujo, Review of Ordens Sufis no Islã (Brazil: Meditecomigo) (pt) O Livro dos Mestres, Ibrasa, 2016, (pt) A Inteligência da Fé: Cristianismo, Islã e Judaísmo, Record/Nova Era, 2006,

Selected articles and essays "Short answer to three militant atheists"Mateus Soares de Azevedo, "Contra Militant Atheism: The cases of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Samuel Harris" (Academia, 2011) "Frithjof Schuon & Sri Ramana Maharshi: a survey of the spiritual masters of the 20th Century"Mateus Soares de Azevedo, "Frithjof Schuon and Shri Ramana Maharshi" (Edmonton, Canada: Sacred Web Journal, Vol. 10, 2002) (pt) "A Ideologia do Estado Islâmico"Mateus Soares de Azevedo, "A Ideologia do Estado Islâmico" (São Paulo, Brazil: Folha de S.Paulo, 14 July 2015) (pt) "Outros Islãs"Mateus Soares de Azevedo, "Outros Islãs" (São Paulo, Brazil: Folha de S.Paulo, 28 May 2013) (pt) "Francisco 1 e a mitologia do concílio Vaticano 2"Mateus Soares de Azevedo, "Francisco 1 e a mitologia do concílio Vaticano 2" (São Paulo, Brazil: Folha de S.Paulo, 20 March 2013) (pt) "Vaticano 2° se encerra com um dos seus ideólogos"Mateus Soares de Azevedo, "Vaticano 2° se encerra com um dos seus ideólogos" (São Paulo, Brazil: Folha de S.Paulo, 6 March 2013) (pt) "O Sermão da Montanha segundo a Filosofia Perene"Mateus Soares de Azevedo, "O Sermão da Montanha segundo a Filosofia Perene" (Uberlândia, Brazil: Interações Journal, Faculdade Católica de Uberlândia, N° 11, January-June 2012)

Selected translations into Portuguese Cartas do diabo ao seu aprendiz, C. S. Lewis. Para Compreender o Islão, Frithjof Schuon. A Arte Sagrada de Shakespeare, Martin Lings. O Sufismo, William Stoddart.

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