Eastern Orthodox Theology: A Contemporary Reader was written in a way to help Western Theologians better understand Eastern Orthodox faith with regards to the liturgy, sacraments, tradition, and the mystical encounter of man and God. The book uses many writings from writers of the Orthodox faith like Timothy Ware and Vladimir Lossky, which helps to establish an understanding of this faith. It gives the perspective of individuals who lived this faith. The writer takes a look at a lot of the traditions in the Orthodox faith, and it finishes with the last five chapters explaining the relationship between Eastern and the Western church.
This book is being reviewed based on the idea this book can be beneficial in understanding the Eastern Orthodox faith. The main book’s goal is to establish in the mind of the reader whether or not an understanding of east and west can be recognized.
Orthodox Church believes that there is earthly heaven, which they consider to be the church. They think of their churches as a worshipping community (p 13). So worship comes first, then doctrine and discipline are considered second (p. 13). The Orthodox Church uses images that are called icons that they believe are an important part of the salvation plan because they are the visible knowledge of the invisible truth. It helps to recognize the glory to come; the transfiguration of the body described by Paul (1 Cor.15:35-44).
The book explains Orthodoxy’s understanding of the god-man and how important that is too corrupt humanity. The church has love and veneration of the Virgin Mary the mother of God (p. 66). Without this veneration of the Mother of God, the incarnation is weakened and the sanctification and glorification of human nature are nullified into a means to redemption (p. 66).
The book explains the saints, that they are friends of the believer, and they help the believer in prayer and their Christian walk (p. 70). Angels are also venerated, but they are lower than the saints (p. 73).
The Orthodox Church uses the sacraments; baptism is the regeneration of the sinner by the Holy Spirit. According to Clendenin, the second sacrament is Chrismation when the believer receives the gifts of the Holy Spirit (p. 25). The Holy Eucharist, repentance, ordination to the priesthood, marriage and the Holy Unction are all of the sacraments that are followed diligently in the Orthodox Church.
The strength of this book that is considered prevalent is that it uses the writings of Eastern Orthodox writers. This gives the book more credibility in explaining the Orthodox teachings to the Western World. The book explains each important doctrine of the Orthodox faith in great detail.
The description of the incarnation and the Hypostatic union is brilliant. It gives meaning and life to this doctrine and the importance of it in the understanding of the salvation of man from sin and death.
Strength number two is that it attempts to bring east and west closer in relationship to one another. There must be a dialog between both sides. West and Eastern Churches must communicate so that Christianity can be more prominent in the world, and this book exemplifies that.
A weakness of the book is that it explains throughout its pages the numerous beliefs in the Eastern Orthodox Church, but it seldom compares it to that of the Western Church’s doctrine. If this book is to be used for scholarly purposes then it should compare each belief. The majority of the book talks about the east, and if there is to be a dialogue between East and West, then there should be shared theologies.
The second weakness is that if the reader does not have some education on the history of the church or some understanding of the Eastern Orthodox Church’s belief, then they will not have any understanding of what liturgy or sacraments, or anything mentioned in the book means.
This book gives a clear understanding of the Eastern Orthodox faith if the reader has experienced other literature that helps pertain to an understanding of it
To the scholarly, it would be a good read if it were in their particular field. The book gives the reader a clear understanding of the differences between East and West if the person knows the Western Church. The book does accomplish what the author sets out to do in a contemporary way.
OJ! Overwhelming Joy 