At a time when tensions between Russia and “the West '' are increasing, this book is very timely, even though, its contents were first broadcast over fifty years ago. It offers a history of Russian culture and its particular trends and tendencies, which are shown to be frequently contradictory and even mutually exclusive. Schmemann argues for the supremacy of culture over political life in determining questions such as the apparent lack of political freedoms, law and order and civil rights in a Russian context.

In deze heruitgave van vader Alexander Schmemanns klassieker, leunt Schmemann op de sacramentele en liturgische traditie van de Orthodoxe Kerk om zijn lezers een binnen de kerk grotendeels verloren visie op de sacramenten van biecht en communie te geven. Als de vooraanstaande liturgische geleerde die hij was, gaat Schmemann uitgebreid in op de betekenis van en de huidige norm rondom de communie, en houdt hij deze tegen het licht van wat de Schrift en de heilige vaders hierover schreven om zo een opmerkelijk verval aan te tonen in hoe wij heden ten dage het Lichaam en Bloed van Christus ontvangen.

In For the Life of the World Alexander Schmemann suggests an approach to the world and life within it, which stems from the liturgical experience of the Orthodox Church. He understands issues such as secularism and Christian culture from the perspective of the unbroken experience of the Church, as revealed and communicated in her worship, in her liturgy-the sacrament of the world, the sacrament of the Kingdom. For over half a century For the Life of the World has challenged, illumined, and inspired readers from many backgrounds. For some it is an introduction to the Orthodox Church, while for others it is a call to plunge more deeply into the life of the Kingdom, both manifested and anticipated here and now in the liturgy of the Church. This updated edition of Schmemann's classic text includes a new foreword by Dr Edith M. Humphrey, along with new explanatory notes and an index.

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Now in paperback, current events get in-depth treatment in this exciting series produced in collaboration with the New York Times. First-person narratives by the world-renowned newspaper's award-winning journalists tell the stories behind the headlines.

This compelling account carries readers back to Berlin, Germany, in 1989, on the night that the Berlin Wall fell. From the moment his East German assistant bursts into his West Berlin office to tell him that the wall is open, Serge Schmemann is in the thick of things, taking readers along with him as he witnesses the celebration when the wall is opened and the dramatic changes that follow. From this unique perspective, readers learn about the Berlin Wall, its construction, and what it symbolized to the world.

Tracing the lives of his Russian forebears, Serge Schmemann, Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for the New York Times, tells a remarkable story that spans the past two hundred years of Russian history.

First, he draws on a family archive rich in pictorial as well as documentary treasure to bring us into the prerevolutionary life of the village of Sergiyevskoye (now called Koltsovo), where the spacious estate of his mother's family was the seat of a manor house as vast and imposing as a grand hotel.

In this village, on this estate--ringed with orchards, traversed by endless paths through linden groves, overseen by a towering brick church, and bordered by a sparkling-clear river--we live through the cycle of a year: the springtime mud, summertime card parties, winter nights of music and good talk in a haven safe from the bitter cold and ever-present snow. Family recollections of life a century ago summon up an aura of devotion to tsar and church. The unjust, benevolent, complicated, and ultimately doomed relationship between master and peasants--leading to growing unrest, then to civil war--is subtly captured.

Diary entries record the social breakdown step by step: grievances going unresolved, the government foundering, the status quo of rural life overcome by revolutionary fervor. Soon we see the estate brutally collectivized, the church torn apart brick by brick, the manor house burned to the ground. Some of the family are killed in the fighting; others escape into exile; one writes to his kin for the last time from the Gulag.

The Soviet era is experienced as a time of privation, suffering, and lost illusions. The Nazi occupation inspires valorous resistance, but at great cost. Eventually all that remains of Sergiyevskoye is an impoverished collective.

Without idealizing the tsarist past or wholly damning the regime that followed, Schmemann searches for a lost heritage as he shows how Communism thwarted aspiration and initiative. Above all, however, his book provides for us a deeply felt evocation of the long-ago life of a corner of Russia that is even now movingly beautiful despite the ravages of history and time.

A study of the Orthodox understanding of Baptism and Chrismation.