List Price: $16.00Amazon.com's Price: $14.40 You Save: $1.60 (10%)as of 11/08/2009 18:44 EST
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 281
EAN: 9780913836583
Edition: Rev Sub
ISBN: 0913836583
Label: St Vladimirs Seminary Pr
Manufacturer: St Vladimirs Seminary Pr
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 164
Publication Date: September 01, 1995
Publisher: St Vladimirs Seminary Pr
Studio: St Vladimirs Seminary Pr
Related Items:
Alternate Versions: Click to Display
Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
This book is a general account of the doctrine, worship and life of Orthodox Christians by the author of the now classic The Orthodox Church. It raises the basic issues of theology: God is hidden yet revealed; the problem with evil; the nature of salvation; the meaning of faith; prayer; death and what lies beyond. In so doing, it helps to fill the need for modern Orthodox catechism. Yet this book is not a mere manual, a dry-as-dust repository of information. Throughout the book, Bishop Kallistos Ware shows the meaning of Orthodox doctrine for the life of the individual Christian. Doctrinal issues are seen not as abstract propositions for theological debate but as affecting the whole of life. A wealth of texts drawn from theologians and spiritual writers of all ages accompanies Bishop Kallistos' presentation. They, too, reveal Orthodoxy not just as a system of beliefs, practices and customs but indeed as the Way.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Though the perspectives of Eastern Orthodox peoples have rarely received much attention in the West, there is (perhaps because of the Iron Curtain's collapse) a growing interest in The Orthodox Way as Bishop Kallistos Ware titles his fine introduction to the subject (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's seminary Press, 1993).
First published in 1979, this book provides an accurate and accessible entree to the riches of Orthodoxy. Yoked with his classic The Orthodox Church, Ware's scholarly works give us the best introductions to his church.
He begins by insisting that the only way to know truth about the Way is to "step out upon this path, commit ourselves to this way of life," to discover it through a "living experience" of its reality (p. 8). Christian Faith, to the Orthodox, is less a rational system of belief than a life-giving relationship with the Holy Spirit.
This insistence grows out of the Orthodox insistence that God is fundamentally Mystery. As St Gregory of Nyssa said, "'God's name is not known; it is wondered at'" (p. 16). We know little more about God than a new baby knows of the world. This is not to say we know nothing, however. We can never know God in His essence, but we can know him as we discern his energies, as He works in His world. According to St Maximus the Confessor, our knowledge of God comes "'from the grandeur of his creation and from his providential care for all creatures. For by this means, as if using a mirror, we attain insight into his infinite goodness, wisdom and power'" (p. 31). While alone in the desert, St Anthony was asked how he could find truth. In response, he said, "'My book, philosopher, is the nature of created things, and whenever I wish I can read in it the works of God'" (p. 54).
What we cannot fathom concerning God's essence, such as His trinitarian nature, He must supernaturally reveal to us. The first seven Ecumenical Councils, which Orthodoxy considers doctrinally definitive, defined God as three persons in one essence. Easterners have always insisted on keeping the three persons--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--distinct, a community within the godhead. God the Son became man. Christ's Incarnation marked a new day for humanity. In His perfection we envision our potentiality. "The Incarnation," Ware says, "is not simply a way of undoing the effects of original sin, but it is an essential stage upon man's journey from the divine image to the divine likeness" (p. 93). Conversion, repentance, faith, are not a one-time crises but continuing steps along the Way. That journey involves an increased sharing, a participation in the very nature of God.
This "participation" means, to the Orthodox, "deification," a term which abrasively grates on Western ears. It closely resembles what we Wesleyans call "sanctification." As Ware explains it, "To be deified is . . . to be 'christified': the divine likeness that we are called to attain is the likeness of Christ. It is through Jesus the God-man that we men are 'ingodded', 'divinized', made 'sharers in the divine nature' (2 Pet. 1:4). By assuming our humanity, Christ who is Son of God by nature has made us sons of God by grace. In him we are 'adopted' by God the Father, becoming sons-in-the-son" (p. 98).
Such participation assumes man's free will. Created in God's image, we are free. By its very nature, love requires freedom. A loving God is free. To love God we must be free as well. Unlike many Western theologians, who have often slipped into an Augustinian-Calvinistic determinism, the Orthodox (from St Irenaeus of Lyons onward) have resolutely stressed the necessary human role in salvation. "We are to hold in balance two complementary truths: without God's grace we can do nothing; but without our voluntary co-operation God will do nothing" (p. 149). Human freedom derives from the real and active presence of the Holy Spirit. Where the Spirit is, there is freedom! "The whole aim of the Christian life," says Ware, "is to be a Spirit-bearer, to live in the Spirit of God, to breathe the Spirit of God" (p. 119). Thus, "If the aim of the Incarnation is the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost, the aim of Pentecost is the continuation of Christ's Incarnation within the life of the Church" (p. 124).
The reality and power of the Holy Spirit have generally been emphasized more in the East than the West. Christ's crucifixion has often been the focus of Western theology; his resurrection has generally remained central to Easterners. As St Athanasius said, "'The Logos took flesh, that we might receive the Spirit'" (p. 124). This stress on the Holy Spirit at work within us explains the interest Wesleyans (including Wesley) have taken in Orthodox thought. To understand its basic teachings, Ware's treatise gives us solid guidance.
Rating: -
This book is clearly written, specific and to-the-point on introductory Orthodox theology. Ware's style is scholarly but not haughty or unattainable. Those who come from a Western Christian background, whether Catholic or Protestant, will be able to grasp an elementary understanding of the important elements of Eastern Orthodoxy.
Rating: -
"The Orthodox Way" is an outstanding introduction to the theology of the Orthodox Church and for Christianity overall. The topics are the basic stuff of Christianity: God, the Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, our lives in Christ. The author, Kallistos Ware, is a bishop and in the (Eastern) Orthodox Church. He explains the basic and advanced points of Orthodox Christian beliefs; and he does so in language that everyone can understand, without watering down beliefs.
In doing so, he also illustrates the Orthodox mindset. It is a Christian tradition that is apostolic, spiritual, and apophatic. (Apophaticism is an attitude of being content to let some mysteries about God to remain mysteries.) In brief, this book summarizes the understanding that is behind Orthodox Christian spirituality, which is called theosis.
If there is one criticism, the book fails to adequately discuss the suffering that is part of the Christian life. There should have been a chapter on "God in Suffering" because suffering is required to practice Orthodox Christianity. There is the suffering that comes as part of life. And, there is the self-imposed suffering of Christian self-discipline: (1) prayer and going to Church services, (2) fasting, and (3) almsgiving in time and talents and treasure. There is also the suffering of seeing scandals, phariseeism, religious nationalism, institutional inertia, and corruption in the Church: yes, including in the Orthodox Church.
Hence, this book represents the best in Christianity. However, if you aren't aware of the rest, you are likely to be disappointed or disillusioned with the complete reality of Christianity. Truly, the Church is a spiritual hospital; and all its earthly members are in need of spiritual therapy by Christ our God. If you can take the bad with the good --because the good is infinite and thus it far outweighs the bad-- then you have a decent chance, with God's grace, to be a good Christian. And then this book can help you understand how.
(I revised this review on 4 December 2008. -- John)
Rating: -
This book by Bishop KALLISTOS was instrumental in bringing me to the Orthodox faith. He explains, in a clear, very C.S. Lewis-like way, who God is and what it means to know and love God. He explains what it means to be an Orthodox Christian. His love for God and the church is infectious and resonates on every page. His gentleness is apparent. Anyone who wants to know God should read this book. Anyone who wants to be a Christian the way Jesus intended should read this book, for it is true to the ancient faith and the church started by Jesus, and continued by the Apostles, in the book of Acts. (The ancient church is preserved in Eastern Orthodoxy.) I highly recommend this book and KALLISTOS' "The Orthodox Church." These two books together will change your life and your faith.
Rating: -
New to the Faith like me? Interested in the Orthodox Faith? Check this book out, along with The Orthodox Church also by Bishop Kallistos. This will clarify even more about the Orthodox Faith than his previous book already accomplished. A must-have for your Orthodoxy library collection.
|
