|
Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Orthodox Churches
In this sweeping history, Alexander Kitroeff shows how the Greek
Orthodox Church in America has functioned as much more than a
religious institution, becoming the focal point in the lives of the
country's million-plus Greek immigrants and their descendants.
Assuming the responsibility of running Greek-language schools and
encouraging local parishes to engage in cultural and social
activities, the church became the most important Greek American
institution and shaped the identity of Greeks in the United States.
Kitroeff digs into these traditional activities, highlighting the
American church's dependency on the "mother church," the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the use of Greek
language in the Sunday liturgy. Today, as this rich biography of
the church shows us, Greek Orthodoxy remains in between the Old
World and the New, both Greek and American.
Studied for many years by scholars with Christianising assumptions,
Greek religion has often been said to be quite unlike Christianity:
a matter of particular actions (orthopraxy), rather than particular
beliefs (orthodoxies). This volume dares to think that, both in and
through religious practices and in and through religious thought
and literature, the ancient Greeks engaged in a sustained
conversation about the nature of the gods and how to represent and
worship them. It excavates the attitudes towards the gods implicit
in cult practice and analyses the beliefs about the gods embedded
in such diverse texts and contexts as comedy, tragedy, rhetoric,
philosophy, ancient Greek blood sacrifice, myth and other forms of
storytelling. The result is a richer picture of the supernatural in
ancient Greece, and a whole series of fresh questions about how
views of and relations to the gods changed over time.
St Symeon was the most important teacher of mystical experience of
God in the Orthodox Church. This book seeks to place the teaching
of the discourses in their proper context, both among Symeon's
other writings and with regard to his sources in the Tradition.
Included is a sketch of Symeon's life and times, together with an
extensive discussion of this thought, particularly against its
background in the ascetical, mystical and theological literature of
the Christian East prior to the 10th century.
Orthodox Christian theology is often presented as the direct
inheritor of the doctrine and tradition of the early Church. But
continuity with the past is only part of the truth; it would be
false to conclude that the eastern section of the Christian Church
is in any way static. Orthodoxy, building on its patristic
foundations, has blossomed in the modern period. This volume
focuses on the way Orthodox theological tradition is understood and
lived today. It explores the Orthodox understanding of what
theology is: an expression of the Church's life of prayer, both
corporate and personal, from which it can never be separated.
Besides discussing aspects of doctrine, the book portrays the main
figures, themes and developments that have shaped Orthodox thought.
There is particular focus on the Russian and Greek traditions, as
well as the dynamic but less well-known Antiochian tradition and
the Orthodox presence in the West.
Christianity arrived early in Egypt, brought-according to
tradition-by Saint Mark the Evangelist, who became the first
patriarch of Alexandria. The Coptic Orthodox Church has flourished
ever since, with millions of adherents both in Egypt and in Coptic
communities around the world. Since its split from the Byzantine
Church in 451, the Coptic Church has proudly maintained its early
traditions, and influence from outside has been minimal: the
liturgy is still sung to unique rhythms in Coptic, a late stage of
the same ancient Egyptian language that is inscribed in hieroglyphs
on temple walls and papyri. Dr. Otto Meinardus, a leading authority
on the history of the Coptic Church, here revises, updates, and
combines his renowned studies Christian Egypt, Ancient and Modern
(AUC Press, 1965, 1977) and Christian Egypt, Faith and Life (AUC
Press, 1970) into a new, definitive, one-volume history, surveying
the twenty centuries of existence of one of the oldest churches in
the world.
This lavishly illustrated guide to iconography explains through
words and pictures the history, meaning, and purpose of Christian
icons as well as the traditional methods that religious painters
use to create these luminous, spiritually enlivened works of art. /
Solrunn Nes, one of Europe's most admired iconographers,
illuminates the world of Christian icons, explaining the motifs,
gestures, and colors common to these profound symbols of faith. Nes
explores in depth a number of famous icons, including those of the
Greater Feasts, the Mother of God, and a number of the better-known
saints, enriching her discussion with references to Scripture,
early Christian writings, and liturgy. She also leads readers
through the process and techniques of icon painting, illustrating
each step with photographs, and includes more than fifty of her own
original works of art. / Deeply inspiring and utterly unique, The
Mystical Language of Icons serves to inform both those who are
familiar with the rich tradition of religious art and those who are
not. Even more, it is a powerful devotional resource that
Christians everywhere can turn to again and again. / This
beautifully illustrated book provides the reader with an excellent
guide to understanding icons. . . . For anyone interested in the
production and meaning of icons, this book will be essential
reading. Theological Book Review / Solrunn Nes has produced a fine
guide to iconography in her Mystical Language of Icons. The book is
lavishly illustrated in full color throughout with Nes's own icons,
each in the style of one of the various schools with which she is
most conversant. All are striking and luminous and fully in accord
with the objective canonical tradition. Her work reveals how one
committed prayerfully to the latter can nonetheless produce art of
obvious creativity. This book is unreservedly recommended.
Touchstone"
This introduction describes the life of the Orthodox Churches of the Christian East from the accession of the Emperor Constantine in 312 up to the year 2000. It discusses the distinctive Orthodox approaches to the themes of liturgy, theology, monastic life and spirituality, iconography, popular religion, mission, politics and the schism between East and West. The final chapter examines the response of the Churches to the new freedom following the collapse of communism and the prospects for the future.
* This important work offers the most comprehensive and up-to-date
account of the Orthodox Church available, providing a detailed
account of its historical development, as well as exploring
Orthodox theology and culture * Written by one of the leading
Orthodox historians and theologians in the English-speaking world *
Offers an in-depth engagement with the issues surrounding
Orthodoxy's relationship to the modern world, including political,
cultural and ethical debates * Considers the belief tradition,
spirituality, liturgical diversity, and Biblical heritage of the
Eastern Churches; their endurance of oppressions and
totalitarianisms; and their contemporary need to rediscover their
voice and confidence in a new world-order * Recipient of a CHOICE
Outstanding Academic Title for 2009 award
In Hidden Holiness, Michael Plekon challenges us to examine the
concept of holiness. He argues that both Orthodox and Catholic
churches understand saints to be individuals whose lives and deeds
are unusual, extraordinary, or miraculous. Such a requirement for
sainthood undermines, in his view, one of the basic messages of
Christianity: that all people are called to holiness. Instead of
focusing on the ecclesiastical process of recognizing saints,
Plekon explores a more ordinary and less noticeable "hidden"
holiness, one founded on the calling of all to be prophets and
priests and witnesses to the Gospel. As Rowan Williams has
insisted, people of faith need to find God's work in their culture
and daily lives. With that in mind, Plekon identifies a
fascinatingly diverse group of faithful who exemplify an everyday
sanctity, as well as the tools they have used to enact their faith.
Plekon calls upon contemporary writers-among them, Rowan Williams,
Kathleen Norris, Sara Miles, Simone Weil, and Darcey Steinke-as
well as such remarkable and controversial figures as Mother Teresa,
Thomas Merton, and Dorothy Day-to demonstrate ways to imagine a
more diverse and everyday holiness. He also introduces four
individuals of "hidden holiness": a Yup'ik Alaskan, Olga Arsumquak
Michael; the artist Joanna Reitlinger; the lay theologian Elisabeth
Behr-Sigel; and human rights activist Paul Anderson. A generous and
expansive treatment of the holy life, accessibly written for all
readers, Plekon's book is sure to inspire us to recognize and
celebrate the holiness hidden in the ordinary lives of those around
us.
The Copts, adherents of the Egyptian Orthodox Church, today
represent the largest Christian community in the Middle East, and
their presiding bishops have been accorded the title of pope since
the third century AD. This study analyzes the development of the
Egyptian papacy from its origins to the rise of Islam. How did the
papal office in Egypt evolve as a social and religious institution
during the first six and a half centuries AD? How do the
developments in the Alexandrian patriarchate reflect larger
developments in the Egyptian church as a whole-in its structures of
authority and lines of communication, as well as in its social and
religious practices? In addressing such questions, Stephen J. Davis
examines a wide range of evidence-letters, sermons, theological
treatises, and church histories, as well as art, artifacts, and
archaeological remains-to discover what the patriarchs did as
leaders, how their leadership was represented in public discourses,
and how those representations definitively shaped Egyptian
Christian identity in late antiquity.The Early Coptic Papacy is
Volume 1 of The Popes of Egypt: A History of the Coptic Church and
Its Patriarchs. Also available: Volume 2, The Coptic Papacy in
Islamic Egypt, 641-1517 (Mark N. Swanson) and Volume 3, The
Emergence of the Modern Coptic Papacy (Magdi Girgis, Nelly van
Doorn-Harder).
This volume explores the relationship between new media and
religion, focusing on the WWW's impact on the Russian Orthodox
Church. Eastern Christianity has travelled a long way through the
centuries, amassing the intellectual riches of many generations of
theologians and shaping the cultures as well as histories of many
countries, Russia included, before the arrival of the digital era.
New media pose questions that, when answered, fundamentally change
various aspects of religious practice and thinking as well as
challenge numerous traditional dogmata of Orthodox theology. For
example, an Orthodox believer may now enter a virtual chapel, light
a candle by drag-and-drop operations, send an online prayer
request, or worship virtual icons and relics. In recent years,
however, Church leaders and public figures have become increasingly
sceptical about new media. The internet, some of them argue,
breaches Russia's "spiritual sovereignty" and implants values and
ideas alien to the Russian culture. This collection addresses such
questions as: How is the Orthodox ecclesiology influenced by its
new digital environment? What is the role of clerics in the Russian
WWW? How is the specifically Orthodox notion of sobornost'
(catholicity) being transformed here? Can Orthodox activity in the
internet be counted as authentic religious practice? How does the
virtual religious life intersect with religious experience in the
"real" church?
This is the English edition of the classic Russian textbook
designed for parents to teach their children "all the fundamental
points of the Orthodox Christian faith and way of life." Because
children are growing up quickly in a society that raises serious
and agonizing questions the author does not teach in naive stories
that remain stories only. It offers an overview of the whole of the
Old and New Testaments as well as instruction on prayer, worship
and what it means to live by the teaching of the Ten Commandments
and the Beatitudes. Lavishly bound and made to last. Well
illustrated with black and white photographs and icons.
The late Russian Empire experienced rapid economic change, social
dislocation, and multiple humanitarian crises, enduring two wars,
two famines, and three revolutions. A "pastoral activism" took hold
as parish clergymen led and organized the response of Russia's
Orthodox Christians to these traumatic events. In Russia's Social
Gospel, Daniel Scarborough considers the roles played by pastors in
the closing decades of the failing tsarist empire and the explosive
1917 revolutions. This volume draws upon extensive archival
research to examine the effects of the pastoral movement on Russian
society and the Orthodox Church. Scarborough argues that the social
work of parish clergymen shifted the focus of Orthodox practice in
Russia toward cooperative social activism as a devotional activity.
He furthers our understanding of Russian Orthodoxy by illuminating
the difficult position of parish priests, who were charged with
both spiritual and secular responsibilities but were supported by
neither church nor state. His nuanced look at the pastorate shows
how social and historical traumas shifted perceptions of what being
religious meant, in turn affecting how the Orthodox Church
organized itself, and contributed to Russia's modernization.
|
|