Orthodox Christianity is one of the world's major religions, and the Russian Orthodox Church is by far its largest denomination. Few know its history and spiritual richness, however. Neil Kent's comprehensive new book fills that gap. The Russian Orthodox Church's Eastern roots, including its dogma, canons, and practices, are explored, along with the political and military contexts in which it carried out its mission over the centuries. Hemmed in between the Catholic powers of pre-Reformation Europe in the West, the Mongol steppe empires to the East, and the Islamic civilizations to the South, Russia and its Church found themselves in a difficult position during the Middle Ages. The Russian Orthodox Church's greatest strength was in the spiritual power of its liturgy, prayerfulness, icons, and monastic life. But even as the Church consolidated its authority under its own metropolitan, and later patriarch, it came into conflict with political rulers who sought to undermine it. After defeating foreign challenges, the Church underwent a painful reformation and schism, finally coming under government control. The Church survived this "Babylonian Captivity," and, in philosophical and spiritual terms, flourished under tsarist rule while still facing rising opposition. The fall of the monarchy in 1917 led to the Church's brief rejuvenation, but communist rule spelled relentless persecution with little respite at home and a lively emigre church carrying Russian traditions abroad. In post-Soviet times, however, the Church enjoyed an extraordinary resurrection and, benefiting from the spiritual richness and reunion with the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, once again became a spiritual pillar of the Russian people and a beacon of hope and Christian values, not only in Russia but anywhere it is currently practiced.

This book explores the political relationship between the Muslim majority and Coptic minority in Egypt between 1918 and 1952. Many Egyptians hoped to see the collaboration of the 1919 revolution spur the creation of both a new collective Egyptian identity and a state without religious bias. Traditional ways of governing, however, were not so easily cast aside. Some Egyptians held tenaciously to the traditional arrangements which had both guaranteed Muslim primacy and served relatively well to protect the Copts and afford them some autonomy. Differences within the Coptic community over the wisdom of trusting the genuineness and durability of Muslim support for equality were accentuated by a protracted struggle between reforming laymen and conservative clergy for control of the community. The unwillingness of all parties to compromise hampered the ability of the community both to determine and to defend its interests. The Copts met with modest success in their attempt to become full Egyptian citizens. Their influence in the Wafd, the pre-eminent political party, was very strong prior to and in the early years of the constitutional monarchy, and their formal representation was generally adequate and, in some parliaments, better than adequate. However, this very success produced a backlash which caused many Copts to believe, by the 1940s, that the experiment had failed: political activity has become fraught with risk for them. At the close of the monarchy, equality and shared power seemed motions as distant as in the disheartening years before the 1919 revolution.

This is a collection of writings on the Eucharist by one of the most important theological thinkers of our time. The theology of John Zizioulas presents a beautiful vision of the Church as Eucharistic communion, in which human persons both are gathered into Jesus Christ and are sent back into the world. In his previous books, Zizioulas focused on the way this communion is related to the communion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which calls us to understand being as communion and provides the only foundation for otherness and identity. With its sustained attention directly to the Eucharistic communion, this volume provides the context for those discussions. Zizioulas here explores the biblical dimensions and eschatological foundation of the Eucharist, the celebration of the Eucharist by the Church, and the ethos of the Eucharistic community. These essays are provocatively concrete and practical, showing once again that Zizioulas' teaching on persons, communion and otherness has radical implications for the life of the Church and its relationship to the world.

The classic work on the techniques, language and interpretation of icons in the context of theology and faith. Commentary and analysis of the main types of icons. Lavishly illustrated, with 160 pages of text with drawings, 13 b/w and 51 color plates.

Orthodox Christianity is one of the world's major religions, and the Russian Orthodox Church is by far its largest denomination. Few know its history and spiritual richness, however. Neil Kent's comprehensive new book fills that gap. The Russian Orthodox Church's Eastern roots, including its dogma, canons, and practices, are explored, along with the political and military contexts in which it carried out its mission over the centuries. Hemmed in between the Catholic powers of pre-Reformation Europe in the West, the Mongol steppe empires to the East, and the Islamic civilizations to the South, Russia and its Church found themselves in a difficult position during the Middle Ages. The Russian Orthodox Church's greatest strength was in the spiritual power of its liturgy, prayerfulness, icons, and monastic life. But even as the Church consolidated its authority under its own metropolitan, and later patriarch, it came into conflict with political rulers who sought to undermine it. After defeating foreign challenges, the Church underwent a painful reformation and schism, finally coming under government control. The Church survived this "Babylonian Captivity," and, in philosophical and spiritual terms, flourished under tsarist rule while still facing rising opposition. The fall of the monarchy in 1917 led to the Church's brief rejuvenation, but communist rule spelled relentless persecution with little respite at home and a lively emigre church carrying Russian traditions abroad. In post-Soviet times, however, the Church enjoyed an extraordinary resurrection and, benefiting from the spiritual richness and reunion with the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, once again became a spiritual pillar of the Russian people and a beacon of hope and Christian values, not only in Russia but anywhere it is currently practiced.

Religion in Albania has had a complicated history, with Orthodoxy, Bektashi and Sunni Islam, Catholicism coexisting throughout much of the history of this Balkan nation. This book traces the rise of the Albanian Orthodox Church from the beginnings of Albanian nationalist movements in the late nineteenth century until the end of the Second World War and the Communist takeover. It examines the struggles of the Albanian state and Church to establish the Church's independence from foreign influence amid a complex geopolitical interplay between Albania, neighbouring Greece and its powerful Ecumenical Patriarchate; the Italian and Yugoslav interference, and the shifting international political circumstances. The book argues that Greece's involvement in the Albanian "ecclesiastical issue" was primarily motivated by political and territorial aspirations, as Athens sought to undermine the newly established Albanian state by controlling its Orthodox Church through pro-Greek bishops appointed by the Patriarchate. With its independence finally recognized in 1937, the Albanian Orthodox Church soon faced new challenges with the Italian, and later German, occupation of the country during the Second World War: the Church's expansion into Kosovo, the Italian effort to place the Church under papal authority, and, the ultimate threat, the imminent victory of Communist forces.

We experience Orthodox Joy most prayerfully and powerfully during the Divine Liturgy. Focusing on seven virtues, this book offers practical advice for our daily journey by calling us to strive towards living a different virtue every day. After receiving the Eucharist with a deep and abiding joy during Mass, our most joyful union and communion with God, we dedicate each day of the week to these virtues: Monday, Humility; Tuesday, Purity; Wednesday, Holiness; Thursday, Love; Friday, Longsuffering; Saturday, Prayer; and Sunday, our return to Joy: The Joy of Orthodoxy. Deacon David Lochbihler, J.D., celebrated The Joy of Orthodoxy on the day of his Diaconate Ordination during the Feast of Saint Patrick in 2019 at Saint Patrick Orthodox Church in Virginia. He also teaches fourth grade at The Fairfax Christian School in Northern Virginia. After graduating summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame and cum laude from the University of Texas School of Law, Deacon David worked as a Chicago attorney for three years before becoming a teacher and coach for three decades. He earned Master's degrees in Elementary Education, Biblical Studies, and Orthodox Theology. His varsity high school basketball and soccer teams captured four N.V.I.A.C. conference championships. Deacon David authored Prayers to Our Lady East and West in 2021.

The book is an annotated critical edition of an unpublished collection of hymnographical texts, preserved in the eleventh-century Greek manuscript 11 of the library of Leimonos monastery, Lesbos, Greece. This important codex is a Menaion for June comprising thirty akolouthiai on saints; nineteen of them are hitherto unpublished. The edition of the texts is accompanied by an introduction, a liturgical, palaeographical, and hymnographical commentary, appendices of unpublished hymns preserved in manuscripts other than Lesbiacus Leimonos 11, and indices. The introduction examines codex Lesbiacus Leimonos 11 and its importance from a liturgical, hymnographical, and palaeographical perspective. It is divided into four chapters. The first presents the liturgical environment of the period from the ninth century, when most of the texts edited were composed, to the eleventh, when the production of the codex could be placed, and the liturgical books used in the period, the structure of the akolouthiai and the festal calendar of the Byzantine church. The second chapter deals with the content of the texts edited. Chapter Three presents briefly the life and the hymnographical work of the authors of the texts. The last chapter of the introduction is devoted to the manuscript tradition of the texts.

This book gathers a wide range of theological perspectives from Orthodox European countries, Russia and the United States in order to demonstrate how divergent the positions are within Orthodox Christianity. Orthodoxy is often considered to be out-of-sync with contemporary society, set apart in a world of its own where the church intertwines with the state, in order to claim power over the populace and ignore the individual voices of modern societies. As a collective, these essays present a different understanding of the relationship of Orthodoxy to secular politics; comprehensive, up-to-date and highly relevant to politically understanding today's world. The contributors present their views and arguments by drawing lessons from the past, and by elaborating visions for how Orthodox Christianity can find its place in the contemporary liberal democratic order, while also drawing on the experience of the Western Churches and denominations. Touching upon aspects such as anarchism, economy and political theology, these contributions examine how Orthodox Christianity reacts to liberal democracy, and explore the ways that this branch of religion can be rendered more compatible with political modernity.

This book presents a comprehensive study of the influence of Immanuel Kant's Critical Philosophy in the Russian Empire, spanning the period from the late 19th century to the Bolshevik Revolution. It systematically details the reception bestowed on Kant's ideas during his lifetime and up to and through the era of the First World War. The book traces the tensions arising in the early 19th century between the imported German scholars, who were often bristling with the latest philosophical developments in their homeland, and the more conservative Russian professors and administrators. The book goes on to examine the frequently neglected criticism of Kant in the theological institutions throughout the Russian Empire as well as the last remaining, though virtually unknown, embers of Kantianism during the reign of Nicholas I. With the political activities of many young radicals during the subsequent decades having been amply studied, this book focuses on their largely ignored attempts to grapple with Kant's transcendental idealism. It also presents a complete account of the resurgence of interest in Kant in the last two decades of that century, and the growing attempts to graft a transcendental idealism onto popular social and political movements. The book draws attention to the young and budding Russian neo-Kantian movement that mirrored developments in Germany before being overtaken by political events.

The papers published here are the product of a conference organised in July 1988 by Keston College and the School of Slavonic and East European studies of the University of London. The conference marked the millennium of Christanity in Russia, but it was held not just because of the date. The authors both felt that the time was ripe to try to begin correcting an imbalance which seemed to have crept into the Western (and even more Soviet) writing of Russian history, this is an increasing neglect of the role of religion. This neglect derives partly from the anti-religious bias of the revolutionary movement and the Soviet state, and Western scholars have often taken it on unthinkingly from their Soviet colleagues, especially as they too live in what are now largely secularised societies (though this background has not prevented historians of Britain, Germany or the USA from being sensitive to the importance of religion in the evolution of the their nations).

This book provides a sociological understanding of transformations within Eastern Orthodoxy and the settlement of Orthodox diasporas in Western Europe. Building a fresh framework on religion and migration through the lenses of religious glocalization, it explores the Romanian Orthodox diaspora in Italy as a case study in the experience of Eastern Orthodoxy in a Western European country. The research brings to light the Romanian Orthodox diaspora's reshaping of the more customary social traditionalism largely spread within Eastern Orthodoxy. In its position as an immigrant group and religious minority, the Romanian Orthodox diaspora develops socio-cultural and religious encounters with the receiving environment and engages with certain contemporary challenges. This book refutes the vague image of Orthodox Christianity as a monolithic religious system composed of passive religious institutions, rather showing current Orthodox diasporas as flexible agents marked by dynamic features.

St Symeon was one of the most remarkable advocates of the mystical experience. He addresses such themes as predestination, the knowledge of the saints in the world to come, the day of judgment as the "day of the Lord, " and the experience of the sacraments. Includes index.

Life after Death according to the Orthodox Tradition provides an accessible and well organized synthesis of the ancient Christian understanding of death and the afterlife. It draws primary from the Greek language writings of the Fathers of the Church whilst also bringing in the perspectives of Western Latin sources. Noting that some divergences between eastern and western traditions have existed since the fifth century, it argues that these have become of much greater importance since the twelfth century as the Roman Catholic Church developed the notion of Purgatory. This work will be of benefit both to the Orthodox reader who wants to enhance their own understanding of their Church's teaching, and to Roman Catholics, Protestants and others who wish to become acquainted with the fullness of Christian tradition on death and the afterlife. They will encounter the abundant heritage of the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 3)

This is a complete edition with critical commentary of the Byzantine Communions in thirteenth-century manuscripts of the Asmatikon, all known sources being used. The chants concerned are the earliest known examples of Communion Chants of the Orthodox Church, and are found in a book which may go back to the rite of St Sophia at Constantinople during the tenth century-the earliest copies of which date from the thirteenth-century and come from South Italy and North Greece. Further more, there are also a few manuscripts from Kiev with text in Church Slavonic and an untranscribable musical notation. This is the first systematic transcription of the Asmatikon ever to be published.

This booklet contains the order of the General Moleben (or Service of Intercession), which may be served in any occasion to invoke the aid of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, or the saints; as well as the unique order of the Paschal Moleben, served during Bright Week. Also presented is the order of the Pannikhida (or Memorial Service) in which Orthodox Christians pray for the blessed repose and salvation of the departed. These texts were included in no-longer available editions of the Book for Commemoration of the Living and the Dead.

Heidegger and ethics is a contentious conjunction of terms. Martin Heidegger himself rejected the notion of ethics, while his endorsement of Nazism is widely seen as unethical. This major study examines the complex and controversial issues involved in bringing Heidegger and ethics together.
Working backwards through his work, from his 1964 claim that philosophy has been completed to his first major book, "Being and Time, " Joanna Hodge questions Heidegger's denial that his inquiries were concerned with ethics. She discovers a form of ethics in Heidegger's thinking which elucidates his important distinction between metaphysics and philosophy. Opposing many contemporary views, Hodge proposes that ethics can be retrieved and questions the relation between ethics and metaphysics that Heidegger made so pervasive.

Heidegger and ethics is a contentious conjunction of terms. Martin Heidegger himself rejected the notion of ethics, while his endorsement of Nazism is widely seen as unethical. This major new study examines the complex and controversial issues involved in bringing them together.

By working backwards through his work, from his 1964 claim that philosophy has been completed to Being and Time, his first major work, Joanna Hodge questions Heidegger's denial that his enquires were concerned with ethics. She discovers a form of ethics in Heidegger's thinking which elucidates his important distinction between metaphysics and philosophy. Against many contemporary views, she proposes therefore that ethics can be retrieved and questions the relation between ethics and metaphysics that Heidegger had made so pervasive.

Elisabeth Behr-Sigel (1907-2005), a convert to Orthodoxy in her early twenties and a central figure of Orthodox theology among Russian emigres in Paris, first began to reflect on the question of women in the priesthood in 1976. Initially supporting the general consensus that priesthood would be impossible for the Orthodox, she came to retract this view, finding a basis for female ordination in women's distinct spiritual charisms. Behr-Sigel later shifted the foundation of her case to personhood, inspired by the work of fellow Orthodox theologian Vladimir Lossky, and arrived at the conclusion that all the Orthodox arguments against the ordination of women were, in fact, heretical at root. In this volume, Wilson analyzes all of Behr-Sigel's writings about women and the priesthood across the whole sweep of her career, demonstrating the development of her thought on women over the last thirty years of her life. She evaluates her relationship to feminism, Protestantism and movements within Orthodoxy, finally drawing conclusions about this much-contested matter for the ongoing debate in both the East and the West.

Of all the stories of the resurrection of the Orthodox Church in formerly communist lands, Albania's may be the most dramatic. Having been almost exterminated by the atheist government, the Church of Albania has arisen, under the leadership of Archbishop Anastasios, to become a vibrant and growing member of the world Orthodox community. Fr. Luke Veronis and his family served as missionaries to Albania during some of the most crucial years of this resurrection. In these pages, Fr. Luke shares stories of those years-stories of desperate poverty and of heroism, of setbacks and triumphs, of heartbreak and miracles-and calls us all to answer the Lord's Great Commission: Go Forth!