For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy [Paperback]

Alexander Schmemann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1973

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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Father Alexander Schmemann (+1983) was a prolific writer, brilliant lecturer, and dedicated pastor. Former dean and professor of liturgical theology at St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, his insight into contemporary culture and liturgical celebration left an indelible mark on the Christian community worldwide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 151 pages
• Publisher: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press; 2nd Revised & enlarged edition (1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0913836087
• ISBN-13: 978-0913836088
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 8.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Orthodoxy
  • #11 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Worship & Devotion > Rites & Ceremonies
  • #19 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Ministry & Church Leadership > Church Institutions & Organizations

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 94 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A significant work for understanding the sacraments August 23, 2003

By Volkert Volkersz

Format:Paperback

"For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy," by Alexander Schmemann, is a significant work for understanding the Orthodox--and therefore ancient Christian--view of sacraments and sacramental living. Two additional essays, written in the early 1970s: "Worship in a Secular Age," and "Sacrament and Symbol," are fitting appendices to the title work, which was originally published as a study guide for a 1963 National Christian Student Federation conference.

Schmemann states that we were created to live in a sacramental relationship with God and the creation, but this life was lost in the Fall of Adam and Eve. Christ, who gave his life "for the life of the world," came to restore this sacramental relationship, not only with God, but with all of Creation.

Schmemann writes that the purpose of the book "is to remind its readers that in Christ, life--life in all its totality--was returned to man, given again as sacrament and communion, made Eucharist." He goes on to discuss the importance of this understanding for our mission in the world.

I know many individuals who have wondered how the Eastern Orthodox and Christians in the West (both Roman Catholic and Protestant) can use the same terminology and mean different things. Sometimes the differences are subtle, sometimes radical. Schmemann believes that secularism is at the heart of those differences, and that secularism was born when scholars in the West sought to analyze, define and explain the sacraments, most significantly the Eucharist (or Communion).

By picking apart the meaning and "the elements" of Communion, scholasticism allowed the Eucharist to be divorced from the context of the Liturgy. Therefore, in order to satisfy an increasingly scientific approach, the West began to separate the sacred from the secular. As stated above, Christ came to restore the sacramental life as it was intended in the Garden. Schmemann maintains that separating the secular from the sacred is a Christian heresy that needs to be confronted. (By the way, he confronts this tendency among the Orthodox as well.)

I would do a disservice to this important work if I were to continue this inadequate description. It's significant that many--if not most--of the customer reviews on Amazon identify themselves as non-Orthodox readers. An Anglican reviewer quoted on the back cover states that "this is one of the best introductions to the sacraments, and not simply the 'Eastern' view of them."

"For the Life of the World" appears on many lists of books intended to introduce Orthodoxy, however in my opinion it would best suited to readers who have at least a little background in theology or Church history. As suggested above, this might be the best volume for getting a better understanding of why some of the terminology between East and West differs. Therefore, this would be a great book for improving dialogue between the many traditions of Christianity.

For additional reading, try "The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church," by Vladimir Lossky or "The Orthodox Way," by Bishop Kallistos Ware.

65 of 68 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Theology and Poetry Come Together January 1, 2000

By Darren White

Format:Paperback

A subtitle of 'Sacraments and Orthodoxy' likely draws a disinterested note in the minds of many, yet the true magic of Fr. Schmemann's writing is its ability to broach such intricate and essential subjects with all the magnetism of a brilliant poet. His words speak almost like a song, and draw the reader into a heartfelt and meaningful discussion of the very centre of Orthodox Christian life.

One of Fr. Schmemann's great legacies to Orthodoxy in America --and indeed, the world-- was the energy he put into revitalizing the sacramental spirit of its people. 'For the Life of the World' is a book which seeks just that goal: to remind Christians of their Eucharistic centre, and open their eyes to a way of living life 'sacramentally.' It is a book that discusses the heart of Orthodox theology, yet it is a simple book. It is a book that discusses the greatest mysteries of creation, yet in the most personal of manners.

There are few books which, in so few pages, can make so great an impact on their readers. So strong was its spiritual impact when first published as a paper, that this book was hand-translated into common Russian and smuggled into that country to serve as a help for the persecuted faithful.

'For the Life of the World' is one book that, truly, no heartfelt Christian person should be without.

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sacrament as Life November 25, 2003

By Labarum VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Occasionally one will stumble upon a book so filled with simple Christian wisdom as to take one's breath away. Such is the case with For the Life of the World by the late Orthodox writer Alexander Schmemann. Originally written as a study guide on the Sacraments for a conference, the impact was so great it was decided to make the study more widely available in book form. The decision to publish has certainly been vindicated - the book has been influential not just with the Orthodox but throughout the Christian world and has profoundly affected (for the better) the Christian understanding of the Sacraments.

From the first sentence we are taken into a view of the Sacraments immersed in the historic liturgy of the Church. For Schmemann, the Western Church commits a fundamental error in attempting to analyze the Sacraments as "objects" in isolation from the liturgical context that gives them meaning. Instead, the Sacraments are the act of the Church within its liturgy to transform the world through Christ by offering the world and ourselves to the Father. 

Each of the recognized Sacraments of the Orthodox Church are considered within the liturgical life of the Church. This incarnational understanding of the Christian Faith presents the world itself - created by God and declared good - as something to be redeemed through Christ. Rejecting both the semi-gnostic anti-Sacramentalism of some Protestants as well as the view of medieval Roman Catholicism that bordered on "magic", Schmemann returns to a patristic view of the Sacramental life. This is no Eastern Orthodox polemic - Schmemann criticizes his own Church for abandoning the true understanding of the Sacraments for alien concepts - but a plea for the followers of Christ to appropriate a truly Christian understanding of life.

Among the many insights in this marvelous book is Schmemann's view of secularism as a Christian heresy. Secularism, he claims, is possible only in a culture already Christian. Christianity is not another "religion" but the death of all earthly religions. When Christendom mutates the true faith of Christianity into just another religion, the culture will recognize it as dead and reject it - not for another religion - but in a movement opposed to all religion. Religion is now dead and secularism recognizes this death. Only in Christianity is a life of faith possible.  

This outlook blends powerfully into the section in the book on death. Rejecting both the "religious" view of earthly life as a preparation or trial ground for the next life and the secular view of death as a natural part of life, Schmemann steers toward a truly Christian understanding of death. The religious view defines life in terms of death; the secular view defines death in terms of life. Either raises death to the status of being part of God's plan for our existence. The Church of the Apostles and Fathers has always taught death is the enemy and in Christ the power death has upon us has been vanquished. This is fulfilled in Christ's resurrection and will be demonstrated in the general resurrection at the end of the age.

Those who have little experience with liturgy may have their world shaken by For the Life of the World. Even those who have long encountered the beauty and wonder of the historic liturgy and sacraments of the Church will be enriched by the depth of faith presented. This book is a classic work of the Christian Faith and should be read by all who seek to follow the Lord.