Western European Christendom finds it difficult to comprehend
the Eastern Orthodox Church because it knows little about the
practice and doctrines of Orthodoxy. Even what is known is overlaid
by many strata of prejudices and misunderstandings, partly
political in nature. One of the obstacles has been the natural
tendency to confound the ideas and customs of the Orthodox Church
with familiar parallels in Roman Catholicism. To escape this
tradition pitfall, Ernst Benz focuses on icon painting as a logical
place to begin his examination of the Orthodox Church.
Beginning with a brilliant discussion of the importance of icons
in the Eastern Church--and the far-reaching effects of icons on
doctrine as well as art--Benz counteracts the confusion, explaining
simply and clearly the liturgy and sacraments, dogma, constitution
and law of Eastern Orthodoxy. In brief history, he describes the
rise of Orthodox national churches, schismatic churches, and
churches in exile; the role of monasticism and its striking
differences from Roman Catholic monasticism; the missionary work of
the Orthodox Church; and the influence of Orthodoxy on politics and
culture.
The role of the church can be defined in terms of the image.
Benz writes that the church exists so that "members may be
incorporated into the image of Jesus Christ a in that individual
believers are aechanged into his likeness'" as Paul writes in the
second letter to the Corinthians. Thus, Orthodox theology holds up
the icon as the true key to the understanding of Orthodox dogma.
"The Eastern Orthodox Church" will be valuable to anyone interested
in learning more about the church, its thought, its life, and its
ideals.
"Ernst Benz" (1907-1978) was one of the most distinguished
contemporary German theologians and perhaps the leading Western
authority on Eastern Orthodoxy. He studied classical philology and
archeology at T3bingen, Berlin and Rome, and turned to the study of
Protestant theology. He became professor of ecclesiastical and
dogmatic history at the Philipp University at Marburg on the Lahn.
He is the author of "Buddhism or Communism" and "Theology of
Electricity: On the Encounter and Explanation of Theology and
Science in the 17th and 18th Centuries."
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