Paulos Mar Gregorios: A Reader is a compilation of the selected writings of Paulos Mar Gregorios, a metropolitan of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of India and a former President of the World Council of Churches. The book deals with his thought in the areas of ecumenism, orthodox theology, philosophy, interfaith dialogue, and philosophy of science. The book will be of special value to the students of ecumenism, Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy, Indian philosophy, interdisciplinary studies, and holistic education.

Converts to the Orthodox Church are sometimes stunned by the ethnic ghetto they seem to have landed in. Cradle Orthodox are no less amazed by these zealous, sometimes apparently nutty converts. And priests often seem clueless as to how to deal with the mixed blessing of newcomers. How on earth can we all understand each other? More importantly, what can we learn from each other? Fr Joseph David Huneycutt helps readers-whether cradle, convert, "revert," or "retread"-navigate and explore the experience of converts to Orthodoxy.

The diaspora of scholars exiled from Russian in 1922 offered something vital for both Russian Orthodoxy and for ecumenical dialogue. Liberated from scholastic academic discourse, and living and writing in new languages, the scholars set out to reinterpret their traditions and to introduce Russian Orthodoxy to the West. Yet, relatively few have considered the works of these exiles, particularly insofar as they act as critical and constructive conversation partners. This project expands upon the relatively limited conversation between such thinkers with the most significant Protestant theologian of the last century, Karl Barth. Through the topic and in the spirit of sobornost, this project charters such conversation. The body of Russian theological scholarship guided by sobornost challenges Barth, helping us to draw out necessary criticism while leading us toward unexpected insight, and vice versa. This collection will not only illuminate but also stimulate interesting and important discussions for those engaged in the study of Karl Barth's corpus, in the Orthodox tradition, and in the ecumenical discourse between East and West.

Icons and the Liturgy, East and West: History, Theology, and Culture is a collection of nine essays developed from papers presented at the 2013 Huffington Ecumenical Institute's symposium "Icons and Images," the first of a three-part series on the history and future of liturgical arts in Catholic and Orthodox churches. Catholic and Orthodox scholars and practitioners gathered at Loyola Marymount University to present papers discussing the history, theology, ecclesiology, and hermeneutics of iconology, sacred art, and sacred space in the Orthodox and Catholic traditions. Nicholas Denysenko's book offers two significant contributions to the field of Eastern and Western Christian traditions: a critical assessment of the status of liturgical arts in postmodern Catholicism and Orthodoxy and an analysis of the continuity with tradition in creatively engaging the creation of sacred art and icons. The reader will travel to Rome, Byzantium, Armenia, Chile, and to other parts of the world, to see how Christians of yesterday and today have experienced divine encounters through icons. Theologians and students of theology and religious studies, art historians, scholars of Eastern Christian Studies, and Catholic liturgists will find much to appreciate in these pages. Contributors: Nicholas Denysenko, Robert Taft, S.J., Thomas M. Lucas, S.J., Bissera V. Pentcheva, Kristin Noreen, Christina Maranci, Dorian Llywelyn, S.J., Michael Courey, and Andriy Chirovsky.

It is October 1592. Christopher Marlowe, the most accomplished playwright in London, has written The Massacre at Paris for his company, the Lord Admiral's Men. Bubonic plague has hit outlying parishes, forcing theaters to close and postponing the season. Ordinarily, the Rose Theatre would debut Marlowe's work, but its subject-the St. Bartholomew Day's Massacre-is unpleasant and mightinflame hostilities against Catholics and their sympathizers, such as merchants on whom trade depends. A new company, the Lord Strange's Men, boasts a young writer, William Shakespeare, who is said to have several barnburners in the queue. A competition is called to decide which company will reopen the theaters. Who will most effectively represent the nation's ideals and energies, its humor and grandeur? One troupe will gain supremacy, primarily for literary but also for cultural, religious, and political reasons.

St. Porphyry, one of the best known elders in modern Greece, having direct experience of God and a whole life devoted to the guidance of his spiritual children, left precious speeches. The present edition offers important excerpts along with notes that explain Porphyry's thinking. Porphyry emphasizes the secrecy that fits the divine love, the sensitivity and confidence, the awareness, devoutness, freedom and mildness of faith, when life becomes a prayer, realizing the identity of Christ, that "He is our friend, our brother, He is everything good and nice. He is Everything, but He is a friend and he shouts... 'we are brothers... I'm not holding hell in my hand, I'm not threatening you, I love you, I want you to enjoy life together with me."

By the early twentieth century, a genuine renaissance of religious thought and a desire for ecclesial reform were emerging in the Russian Orthodox Church. With the end of tsarist rule and widespread dissatisfaction with government control of all aspects of church life, conditions were ripe for the Moscow Council of 1917-1918 to come into being. The council was a major event in the history of the Orthodox Church. After years of struggle for reform against political and ecclesiastical resistance, the bishops, clergy, monastics, and laity who formed the Moscow Council were able to listen to one other and make sweeping decisions intended to renew the Russian Orthodox Church. Council members sought change in every imaginable area--from seminaries and monasteries, to parishes and schools, to the place of women in church life and governance. Like Vatican II, the Moscow Council emphasized the mission of the church in and to the world.
Destivelle's study not only discusses the council and its resolutions but also provides the historical, political, social, and cultural context that preceded the council. In the only comprehensive and probing account of the council, he discusses its procedures and achievements, augmented by substantial appendices of translated conciliar documents. Tragically, due to the Revolution, the council's decisions could not be implemented to the extent its members hoped. Despite current trends in the Russian church away from the Moscow Council's vision, the council's accomplishments remain as models for renewal in the Eastern churches.
"Destivelle's study is a much needed and timely examination of the historic All-Russia Church Council of 1917-1918--a council that marked both the culmination and the beginning of a new epoch in modern Russian Orthodoxy. The English translation of the council's definitions and decrees, as well as the 'Statute of the Local Council of the Orthodox Church of All Russia, ' along with Destivelle's exceptional commentary and annotations, will remain a foundational work for scholars and students of modern Christianity and Orthodoxy, as well as for scholars and students of Russian history for decades to come." --Vera Shevzov, Smith College

In this book Sergey Horujy undertakes a novel comparative analysis of Foucault's theory of practices of the self and the Eastern Orthodox ascetical tradition of Hesychasm, revealing deep affinities between these two radical "subject-less" approaches to anthropology. In facilitating this unusual dialogue, he offers both an original treatment of ascetical and mystical practices and an up-to-date interpretation of Foucault that goes against the grain of mainstream scholarship.