Early
Christian Fathers Cyril C. Richardson, editor. Touchstone; Reprint
edition (December 1, 1995) ISBN: 0684829517
A dangerous book! This was the book, more than any other, that started me on the road toward Orthodoxy. The first-century letters of Ignatius, Polycarp, and Clement; the Didache and the Shepherd of Hermas; and Irenaeus' treatise Against Heresies are all presented in extremely readable translations, along with good summaries of the history and provenance of the manuscripts containing each work. All these writings are also available free in pretty good translations here, in the Library. Anybody who wants to see how first-century Christians believed and prayed can get a good start with these works.
Eusebius, the Church History: A New Translation With Commentary Paul L. Maier (translator).
Kregel Publications. ISBN: 0825433282
I first read Eusebius in a stiff, Victorian translation. This look at the Church's early history, written in the fourth century, was a welcome and eye-opening experience, but the text was difficult. Now Paul Maier has done an outstanding job translating Eusebius into highly-readable modern English, so that the narrative and personalities shine through.
Eusebius offers fascinating firsthand observations on the development of the canon - that is, the selection of the Gospels and epistles that later became known as the New Testament. Reading Eusebius will also give you an appreciation for the sufferings and strength of the 2nd and 3rd century martyrs who refused to worship Roman gods.
The
Mountain of Silence by Kyriacos Markides. ISBN: 0385500920
From the blurb at
Amazon: The spiritual
traditions of the Eastern Orthodox Church are all but unknown to most Christians
in the West, who often think of Christianity as split into two camps: Bible-based
Protestantism and sacramental Catholicism. Yet in The Mountain of Silence,
sociologist Kyriacos Markides suggests that Orthodox spirituality offers
rich resources for Western Christians to integrate the head and the heart,
and to regain a more expansive view of Christian life. The book combines
elements of memoir, travelogue, and history in a single story.
This outstanding book recounts the spiritual awakening of the author, a secular Greek, as he learns the Christian faith at the teaching of a monk in Cyprus. Far from a volume of theoretical, systematic theology, in The Mountain of Silence is revealed a faith that touches the heart. Here is a book that not only explains Orthodox dogma, but shows a worldview formed by the ancient Christian tradition.
The Orthodox
Church by Bishop Kallistos
Ware
Oxford professor Bishop Kallistos Ware's approach covers virtually all aspects
of the Eastern Church -- history, theology, sacrament, church organization,
and the Orthodox diaspora with a special emphasis on rendering Orthodoxy
comprehensible to Western Christian readers. He frankly and even-handedly
addresses the issues that unite and divide the Christian East and West.
Because of his own dual background as a Westerner who became Orthodox, Ware
is particularly well-situated to explain the deep and beautiful mysteries
of Eastern Christianity to Westerners. While the book is in the nature of
a broad overview, it actually covers the issues addressed in an impressive
depth. The bibliography is also a great starting point for further reading
and research, broken down helpfully by topic.
The Orthodox Way by Bishop Kallistos Ware. SVS Press. ISBN: 0-913836-58-3
A classic account of the belief, worship and life of the Orthodox Church
which raises the basic issues of theology: God as hidden yet revealed, the
problem of salvation, the meaning of faith, prayer, death and what lies
beyond. While Bishop Kallistos' earlier book The Orthodox Church
covers the background and history of the Church, this book provides an invaluable
introduction to the practical work of prayer and of knowing God.
Father Arseny, 1893-1973 : Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father
Vera Bouteneff (Translator).
St Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN: 0881411809.
The narrative of the events surrounding
Father Arseny, arrested for his faith, who became Prisoner #18376 in a death
camp in the Soviet gulag. In the darkness of systematic degradation of body
and soul he shone with the light of Christ's peace and compassion. His sights
set on God, and his life grounded in the Church, Father Arseny lived by
the injunction to "bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of
Christ." (Gal 6:2)
This narrative, compiled from accounts of those he led to Christ, gives
stirring glimpses of his astonishing survival of twenty-five years
in prison camp and after his release. It also tells the stories of people
whose lives, often during times of almost unimaginable crisis, were touched
and transfigured through their connection with Father Arseny. Recommendation:
Buy this book!
The Desert Fathers
Helen Waddell (translator). Random
House. ISBN: 0-375-70019-6.
By the fourth century A.D., devout Christians -- men and women alike --
had begun to retreat from cities and villages to the deserts of North Africa
and Asia Minor, where they sought liberation from their corrupt society
and the confining shell of the social self. The Desert Fathers is
an introduction to the stories and sayings of these heroic pioneers of the
contemplative tradition. The Desert Fathers opens a window onto early
Christianity while presenting us with touchingly human models of faith,
humility, and compassion.
Becoming
Orthodox : A Journey to the Ancient Christian Faith by Peter Gillquist. Conciliar Press
This is the story of the Evangelical Orthodox -- a group of over two thousand
evangelicals whose search for the New Testament Church led them to the startling
conclusion that that Church is uniquely found today in Orthodoxy. In 1987
their denomination was received into the Orthodox Church. As an added value,
this edition includes a recent afterward, written years after their reception
into Orthodoxy, in which the author reflects on lessons learned.
At times a bit starry-eyed, this book doesn't go into a lot of depth on
the differences between Eastern and Western Christianity, but it provides
some markers for the journey, highlighting the fascinating story of a denomination's
quest for the New Testament Church.
Discovering the Rich Heritage of Orthodoxy
By Fr Charles Bell, PhD. Light and
Life Publishing Company. ISBN: 0937032999.
This book, in some ways similar to Becoming Orthodox, is a look at
the journey that eventually brought the San Jose Vineyard into Orthodoxy.
Less focused on anecdotes and more on doctrinal and practical matters, this
book originated in Pastor Charles Bell's teaching to his congregation as
they made their way to the historic Orthodox faith.
Pastor Charles Bell is now Father Seraphim Bell, my pastor, so I'm bound
to give this book high marks :)
Coming Home Peter Gillquist, ed. Conciliar Press.
The publisher says:
Coming Home is a collection of stories of personal
journeys made by Protestant pastors from their colleges and churches to
a new home in the ancient Orthodox Church - a phenomenon that the editors
see as a growing trend.
Well, if it's a trend, it's a stealthy one - when I began approaching Orthodoxy
I had no idea so many others were, too. It's startling to see the wide range
of denominations from which these pastors came, and the different ways each
encountered and eventually embraced Orthodoxy.
At the Corner of East and Now
: A Modern Life in Ancient Christian Orthodoxy by
Frederica Mathewes-Greene.
Review:
Eastern Orthodoxy is a religion associated with
mystery. Its recognizable images of icons, bearded priests, heavy incense,
and long and sumptuous services tend to alienate rather than comfort the
puritanical American heart. Mathewes-Green, a commentator heard on NPR's
All Things Considered, speaks of her own journey into this mystical
faith. Her spiritual travels took her from unchurched hippiedom in the 1960s
to mainline Protestantism in the 1970s to her current situation as a pastor's
wife in a small Eastern Orthodox parish in Maryland. She is forthright and
honest about her conversion to Christianity and eventually to Orthodoxy.
Unabashedly sure that Orthodoxy is the right place for her, she sets out
to introduce Orthodoxy to the everyday reader. She relates the liturgy to
her life experience, and her list at the end of the book, a veritable users
guide to Orthodoxy, helps even the most humble neophyte recognize what is
going on. Her language is wonderful--not too preachy, not at all evangelical,
and never sappy. Her story is touching, often witty, and always fascinating.
Mathewes-Green has no other agenda in this book except to tell her tale
and to show the common reader that, in her younger son's words, "Orthodoxy
rules!" --
Michael Spinella, Booklist
Evangelical is Not Enough by Thomas Howard. Ignatius. ISBN:
0-88141-180-9
Howard's book is excellent for those seeking an incarnational, historical,
and holistic approach to Christian faith and worship.
Did you ever read a book and find yourself nodding,
saying "Yes! Exactly!" to the point where you annoy the people sitting by
you? This book will make you do that.
The Study of Liturgy
by Cheslyn Jones (Editor), Paul F.
Bradshaw (Editor), Edward Yarnold (Editor). Oxford Univ Press. ISBN: 0195209222.
The publisher says: This standard text remains
an essential tool for students of theology and liturgy. It treats the development
of the liturgy historically, beginning with Jewish antecedents, then covering
the New Testament, Patristic, Medieval, and Reformation periods, and concluding
with the increasing interest in liturgy in all churches today.
When I began to realize how far back in history Christian liturgy can be
traced, I tracked down this book to fill in my understanding of the history
and development of liturgy. I had never realized how intimately connected
the Methodist or Lutheran or Reformed liturgies are, nor how they grew from
common roots. Unfortunately, the writers assume the reader already knows
about the earliest Christian liturgies, so they move on rather quickly to
the background of modern rites. The book is still very useful, but in addition
one might also want to read Justin Martyr or Ignatius' writings on ancient worship to see the
origins of Christian
liturgy.
Orthodox Worship : A Living Continuity With the Temple, the Synagogue,
and the Early Church by Benjamin D. Wilson and Harold Anstell. Light
& Life. ISBN: 0-937032-72-7
A quick overview of the development of Christian liturgy from its Jewish
roots. Though this book doesn't go into the historical sources and details,
it does provide a good starting place. It also walks the reader through
the entire Divine Liturgy, with detailed explanatory text. Good for the
inquirer who has visited an Orthodox Liturgy and wonders what it was all
about.
Interwoven
Destinies: Jews and Christians Through the Ages Eugene Fisher,
ed. Paulist Press. ISBN: 0809133636
This book is a series of articles by Jewish and Christian writers providing
contrasting views of the slow separation of the two communities over time.
Instead of the view often taught, that Christians and Jews parted abruptly
in the first century, these writers point out evidence of continuing interaction
- in areas of liturgy, politics, proselytization, and more - in both directions
between the two communities well into the fourth century.
Included are both a Jewish and a Christian look at Chrysostom's 'Against
the Judaizers'. Interestingly both writers conclude that, while Chrysostom's
bombastic rhetoric is at times offensive to modern ears, he's not coming
down on the Jews out of a clear blue sky - he's primarily rebuking Judaizing
Christians who participate in both the Synagogue and the Church, who were
still trying to live in both worlds, and who taught others to do the same.
The Sacred Bridge : The Interdependence of Liturgy and Music in
Synagogue and Church During the First Millennium. Eric Werner.
Ktav Publishing House. ISBN: 088125052X
Jewish scholar Eric Werner had gone into minute detail in a few areas of
ancient Christian and Jewish liturgies, even detailing some chant tones
[melodies] common to both Gregorian and ancient Jewish chant, as well as
tracing the development of certain Christian prayers and services from their
Jewish liturgical roots.
The Mishnah : A New Translation by Jacob Neusner. Yale
University Press; ISBN: 0300050224
The Mishnah, appeared around 200 AD, comprised of the collected oral accounts
of the rules governing worship, Sabbaths and appointed times, agriculture,
civil law and daily life in Jerusalem before the destruction of the Temple.
At times contradictory, and vague in the most frustrating places, it nevertheless
provides the most detailed look at first-century Judaism available to us
today. The Mishnah is important because it forms the foundation for the
Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds, and therefore stands alongside the Hebrew
Bible as a major text from which modern Judaism springs.
Review:
The work
is significant because for the first time it makes available to the student
and scholar alike a rendition of the Mishnah which attempts to convey not
only the substance of the document, but the highly patterned and formalized
language which Neusner believes is the key to understanding its content.
Daniel H Gordis, Hebrew Studies
The Religion of Jesus the Jew by Geza Vermes. Augsburg Fortress Publications;
ISBN: 0800627970.
This book by the Jewish scholar, Dr Geza Vermes (whose translation of the
Dead Sea Scrolls is also very good reading) is exceptional in that he takes
the gospel accounts of Jesus very seriously - more so than many modern "Christian"
scholars do. By contrast with modern studies that attempt to prove that
Jesus couldn't have said the things attributed to Him, this book places
many of the sayings of Jesus in the context of the Mishnaic and Talmudic
teachings attributed to His contemporaries, and establishes Jesus as very
much in the rabbinical tradition of His day. The images and themes of Christ's
parables recur in teachings from many of His contemporaries, though Jesus
consistently used them to make very different points from other teachers
of His generation. Dr Vermes' analysis of the Lord's prayer from a
first-century perspective, with commentary from the early Christian Fathers,
is especially valuable.
Golden Mouth : The Story
of John Chrysostom - Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop by J. N. D. Kelly, John Chrysostom. Baker Book
House; ISBN: 080102210X.
During the past few years, there
has been a growing interest among evangelicals in the early Church Fathers,
evidenced by various publications concerning this period in the church's
history: The Apostolic Fathers, The Ante-Nicene and The Nicene and Post-Nicene
Fathers, and the new Ancient Christian Commentary series. Though these publications
are comprehensive in scope, they lack in-depth analysis of the lives of
select individuals, including John Chrysostom, a gifted Fourth-century orator
and Christian witness.
In this study, Kelly covers the complete story of John Chrysostom's life.
He describes Chrysostom's life in Antioch as a young boy, his days as a
monk outside the city, his years as a preacher, his unexpected promotion
to the episcopate in the imperial capital of Constantinople, his conflict
with the royal household and fellow bishops, his exile to the harsh region
of Armenia, and his death. Golden Mouth is a great resource for pastors,
scholars, and students interested in the Patristic period and is an excellent
companion to The Apostolic Fathers.
On the Incarnation by St Athanasius. SVS Press. ISBN:
0913836400
Written in 318 AD, before the Arian controversy reached its climax in the
corrective Council of Nicaea (325) this treatise answers the questions,
Why did Christ come in the flesh? What did He accomplish? The
writer, at the time a deacon, later a champion of Trinitarian belief in
the Nicene Council, and eventually Patriarch of Alexandria, is also the
earliest writer ever to specify a New Testament canon identical to the one
in use today. It is worth reading Athanasius' presentation of the Gospel
to see what else was believed by the generation of Christians who gave us
our doctrine of the Trinity and our New Testament canon.
Read this book online right here!
Review:
C.S. Lewis fans may be surprised to find one of
his most important pieces of writing in his little Introduction to this
translation of Athanasius's De Incarnatione Verbi Dei. By all accounts
this work by Athanasius is seminal, so with Lewis's Introduction itself
worth the price of the whole book, it's a no-brainer -- get it.
Lewis exhorts plain Christians to not content themselves with modern books
and leave the classics to the professionals. The classics are classics precisely
because they were written by great writers, whose writing is actually easier
to understand than the usually much longer modern works that purport to
explain them. Plato's dialogues are an example: "The simplest student will
be able to understand... a very great deal of
what Plato said; but hardly anyone can understand some modern books on Platonism."
He mourns the hegemony of cultured explainers in small group studies where,
instead of Luke or Paul, or Augustine, Aquinas, or Hooker, modern authors
like Charles Colson, Henry Blackaby, or Charles Stanley (to cite some current
bestsellers) dominate. Lewis finds this upside-down. As a modern writer
himself he certainly does not wish readers to read no modern books at all,
but gives sound reasons for reading at least as many "old books" as new.
He even exhorts Christians to read "doctrinal" books instead of "devotional"
ones: "For my own part I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful
in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same
experience may await many others. I believe that many who find that 'nothing
happens' when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would
find the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a
tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand."
Reviewer:
Rufus Lee
On the Holy Spirit by St Basil the Great. SVS Press. ISBN:
0-913836-74-0
Basil the Great, bishop of Caesaria, wrote his treatise On the Holy Spirit
during the Trinitarian controversies of the fourth century. Earlier the
Arians had denied the full divinity of the Son. Now the debate had turned
to the Holy Spirit. Basil demonstrates that He, like the Son, is of one
and the same nature with the Father, and that therefore equal honor and
worship are due Him.
This classic exposition of Trinitarian doctrine eloquently sets forth the
distinction yet perpetual communion and conjunction of the divine Persons.
At the same time it deals with the nature of theological language and with
the significance of the Church's tradition of worship and proclamation.
Saint Silouan the Athonite by Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov (Editor).
St Vladimir's Seminary Press; ISBN: 0913836176.
Humility, obedience, and love. Three touchstones that define the life and
teachings of Silouan of Mount Athos. This book contains both Silouan's life
and his collected teachings, edited by his disciple the Elder Sophrony.
Silouan's struggle, his teaching, and the unfeigned reality of his
life in Christ are a rebuke to my casual, shallow Christianity. This isn't
a fun or easy book. But it's very good healing medicine for the soul.
Read about Saint Silouan here...
The Scandal of the Evangelical
Mind
by Mark A. Noll. Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co. ISBN: 0802841805.
"Reading this book, one wonders if the evangelical movement has pandered so much to American culture and tried to be so popular only to lose not only its mind but its soul as well. For evangelical pastors and parishioners alike, this is a must read!" --Robert Wuthnow.
First Things published an extended review of this book...
Epistemology : Becoming Intellectually Virtuous (Contours of Christian Philosophy) by W. Jay Wood. Intervarsity Press. ISBN: 0877845220.
How do we know what we know? What
have wisdom, prudence and studiousness to do with justifying our beliefs?
Jay Wood begins this introduction to epistemology by taking an extended
look at the idea of knowing within the context of the intellectual virtues.
He then surveys current views of foundationalism, epistemic justification
and reliabilism. Finally he examines the relationship of epistemology to
religious belief, and the role of emotions and virtues in proper cognitive
functioning.
W. Jay Wood (Ph.D., Notre Dame) is associate professor and chair of the
philosophy department at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois.
"Seldom does an introduction to a field display much creativity. What's
most remarkable about Professor Wood's Epistemology is not that his discussion
is lucid, accurate, probing and informed--though it is all of those--but
that he has found a fresh angle from which to approach the subject. Epistemology,
so he argues, treats of becoming intellectually virtuous. The book eminently
displays the virtues it recommends!" Nicholas Wolterstorff, The Divinity
School, Yale University
Orthodox Alaska: A Theology of Mission
by Michael Oleksa. SVS Press. ISBN:
0-88141-092-6
Michael Oleksa has done a marvellous job of giving the reader a sense both
of the commitment of the Orthodox cross-cultural missionaries and the wondrously
deep spirituality of Native Alaskans. We see the classical struggles of
the Church against the "world" and the people for the Church in Orthodox
Alaska. I highly recommend it to anyone seriously considering the missionary
field, or even those looking for an example of missionaries and the people
they serve getting Christianity right!
Orthodox Alaska does a good job of illustrating the conflicts that
arose between Russian Orthodox missionaries and the Russian corporations
established to mine the wealth of Unalaska. It was especially interesting
to see how involved the missionaries were in advocating for the native peoples
of the colonies and how the considered such advocacy and important part
of their faith
Beyond Hitler's Grasp : The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews By Michael Bar-Zohar. Adams Media Corporation.
ISBN: 1580621791.
Review:
Michael Bar-Zochar has written a well researched
detailed account of the Bulgarian resistance to shipping off the 50,000
Bulgarian Jews to certain death in Eastern Europe (Poland). The book has
political, historical, religious, sociologic, personal and emotional layers
of understanding of Bulgaria, its people, king, church, and even its fascists.
As an example it teaches how Bulgaria became an ally of Germany (to recapture
provinces lost to Greece, Yugoslavia and Romania after World War I) but
never declared war on Russia (who had liberated Bulgaria from Turkish rule
half a century before World War II)
An exciting part was the ability to hang the reader on the edge of the chair
as the deportations approached and then were stopped at the last moment.
An emotional part was a Holocaust story in which the righteous Christian
Bulgarians (with some help from communists and even some Bulgarian Fascists)
stood up for decency, for democratic principles, for protection of the minorities,
for behavior that wouldn't shame their country after it was done...I cried.
Reviewer: Bernard Kirzner, M.D.
The Byzantine Commonwealth by Dimitry Obolensky.
Phoenix Press (Sterling). ISBN: 1842120190
A history of the peoples and movements that have swept through the Balkans in the past two thousand years, and the enormous impact Byzantium had on its cultural heirs, from Venice to central Asia and Russia. Balkan politics and current events make a lot more sense to me after reading this!
