Customer Reviews

Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
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This well written book is a general survey of Byzantine Theology both in its historical and doctrinal aspects. The first part deals exclusively with the historical development of the various theological doctrines of the Byzantine Church and the second part deals with the exposition of different doctirnes of theology. As a teacher Dr Meyendorff is clear and accurate in his coverage of the different aspects of theology.

As a Roman Catholic I was impressed by the striking similarities between the Byzantine doctirnes and the Roman Catholic faith. The author is objective and clear in his exposition. He seemed a little preoccupied with comparing and contrasting the theological doctirines of the Byzantine Church with those of the West. This seemed to limit the scope of the book. As a book dealing with theology, it is a successful work beneficial to those looking for some insight into the theological doctirnes and their development in the Church.

Meyendorff's introduction to Orthodox theology is extremely detailed in a concise manner. His style is smooth and easy to follow, although it really would help if the reader had some background in theology (but not much!). Take a look at the sample pages for a taste. This is one of the best intros to Orthodox theology in English and I recommend it heartily! Enjoy!

You may also be interested in Jordan Bajis' "Common Ground". It is an excellent introduction to the Orthodox Tradition geared towards Western Christians. Kallistos Ware has written a more devotionally-flavored into, "The Orthodox Way", which is also highly useful.

Father Meyendorff's complete and detailed discussion about the complex theology of the Byzantine church is outstanding. The Christiology debate was a little over my head at points but his chapters on Iconoclasm and on the Schism between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church were top notch.

I read this book for fun, borrowing it from my seminary library. Fascinating! It occurred to me as I read it that I had been taught virtually nothing about the theology of the Eastern Church at my Protestant school -- merely some fuss over the "filioque clause."

I was very happy with this book. Short enough to not be intimidating, but long and dense enough to cover all the bases. I think this book is ideal for reading a book about Orthodox that is one step up from an intro. i.e. read it after Ware's Orthodox Church.

Divided into History and Doctrine, yet the division is not too stringent. Both parts were very informative. There are some comparisons and contrasts with West but I would have liked to see more. There are some parts that are theologically dense but it is worth wading through. All in all, the reader sees the continuous and consistent voice of the Church throughout history.

An concise and accurate survey of the Christian theology of the Roman Empire. One caveat is that the portions touching on the so-called "monophysite heretics" do not represent Meyendorff's most mature thought on the subject. For a fuller explanation, see my review of his book on Christology.

This is one of the best overviews of Eastern Orthodox history and theology in my opinion. I recently re-bought this book because I had given my copy away. I find it so handy to have, that I realized I needed to buy another one.

Very few books have been written about the Orthodox faith. In a related note, Sir Steven Runciman has written a respectable history of the Church during its occupation by the Ottoman Turks.

Meyendorff has written a very detailed and extraordinary book that spans the entire life of the Eastern Orthodox Church. For example, he writes how the various translations of the New Testament have lead the Roman Catholics and Orthodox believers to divide on dogma.

The Ethiopian church is one of the oldest orthodox church in the world however, I was really surprised not to find it anywhere in the book.