The division of Christendom into the Greek East and the Latin West has its origins far back in history but its consequences still affect Europe, and thus Western Civilization. Sherrard's study seeks to indicate both the fundamental character and some of the consequences of this division. He points especially to the underlying metaphysical bases of Greek Christian thought, and contrasts them with those of the Latin West.
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26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
balanced and accurate,
By
This review is from: The Greek East and the Latin West (Paperback)
I always find Sherrard's books stimulating for at least two reasons. One, he does not gloss over tough issues by evading difficult questions. He takes them head-on with respect and balance, drawing from a deep love of God and His Church. Secondly, he approaches many of the topics in a fresh way, using arguments that are not always found in other texts, conceeding points which others won't let go of, and all with an apparent willingness to be corrected by those more learned than he. You may not always agree with him, but you will certainly come to appreciate your own positions as well as his in a new way. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you learned how your own tradition works for the first time (even if you disagree with him) by sitting at the feet of Sherrard. The following is the jacket's review of the book. "The division of Christiendom into the Greek East and the Latin West has its origins far back in history but its consequences still affect Europe, and thus Western Civilization. Phillip Sherrard's study seeks to indicate both the fundamental character and some of the consequences of this division. He points especially to the underlying metaphysical bases of Greek Christian thought, and contrasts them with those of the Latin West: he argues persuasively that the philosophical and even theological differences, remote as they might seem from practical affairs, are symptoms of a deep divergence of outlook that has profoundly affected the history of ideas and hence the whole course of European history. He exemplifies this by contrasting the relationships between the spiritual and the temporal powers during the Byzantine period with those assumed by the medieval Papacy; by an analysis of the 'Platonic reaction' of such figures as Gemistos Plethon; and by an exposition of the intellectual background of the Renaissance, the Reformation, and finally, of the modern western world. His concluding chapters discuss the impact of modern western ideas on Greek life and letters during that last few centuries. With an unusual knowledge of aspects of thought of the Greek Fathers often neglected in the West, and a deep sympathy with their outlook on these matters, Sherrard presents a point of view that may be unfamiliar, but should be of great concern, both to theologians and philosophers, and to historians and students of European civilization and ideed of world affairs in general." "...an appeal whose passionate eloquence is reinforced by a most interesting account of the thought of some little-known Eastern scholars, theologians, and poets."- A.A. Stephenson in 'The Month' Other books of interst may include: Sherrard's "Church, Papacy, and Schism", "Common Ground" by Jordin Bajis, Colin Gunton's "The One, The Three, And The Many", "The Christian East and the Rise of the Papacy" by Papadakis and Meyendorff, "Imperial Unity and Christian Division", also by John Meyendorff.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
food for thought,
This review is from: The Greek East and the Latin West (Paperback)
Sherrard wrote a higly philosophical book. It took me quite a while to grasp it's meaning (if ever). It nevertheless was crucial to my understanding of my protestant heritage and orthodox present. Sherrard explores the different emphasis in greek and latin thought and it's consequences for theology, ecclesiology and spirituality. Even though he shows great love for the greek emphasis on the manifold ways that God enters our life (reflected in the insistance on the distinction of the three persons of God) as opposed to the rather unifying stress of latin thinking (god is one in essence, therefore there is one curch under one pope), he never looses balance and looses himself in an eastern Apology. We can but join him in deploring the hubris of both east and west, when they (we) take our concepts for truth itself. His book is not only food for thought, it evokes a certain humility. For what are our fights and our lovely concepts when we stand before the Lord Himself?
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Byzantium, the Papacy, Platonism and the Filioque.,
By zonaras (Jimbo's House of Pie) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Greek East and the Latin West (Paperback)
_The Greek East and the Latin West: A Study in the Christian Tradition_ by Philip Sherrard is an interesting historical study concerning the theological issues behind Plato, Aristotle, Orthodox Byzantium, Medieval Western Europe, Scholasticism, the Papacy, the Filioque controversy, Neoplatonism and the emerging modern world of the Renaissance. Sherrard, an Englishman and convert into the Greek Orthodox Church, wrote this book in the 1950s, and an adherent of Traditionalism. Sherrard begins his analysis by examining the differences between the Platonic and Aristotelian worldviews propagated in ancient Greek philosophy. According to Sherrard, Plato stood at the end of a philosophical tradition in Greece that viewed the world and its phenomena as manifestations of a higher divine reality. Aristotle, on the other hand, set forth a dichotomy between the divine (conceived in the classic term as the "Unmoved Mover") and the created, material world. Aristotle placed more emphasis on the external, structural and rational nature of reality, along with the use of reason to understand it, as opposed to Plato's more mystical thought. The later Greek city-states and in particular, ancient Rome, in their political and social organization were in accord with Aristotelian ideals: the polis in which civil virtue and service to the state were the highest virtues. With the emergence of Christianity, however, a new sect arose which challenged the metaphysical authority of imperial Rome. The Church, the head of whom is Christ, fulfills its work in the divine economy through the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments) and its legitimacy is in no way detracted from its official sanction (or lack thereof) by the secular state. The conversion of the Constantine presented a problem to the Church: how was the Church supposed to remain Holy and Apostolic when it was now an organ of the Imperial authority? The Byzantine Empire operated under a system (_Imperium_ and _Sacerdotium_) where the Emperor fulfilled the position of Moses and ordered society according to Christian principles while the Bishops managed the Church itself. The Roman pope, however, attempted unsuccessfully many times to make itself both a secular and temporal authority. This was even reflected in the different interpretations of the concept of Christ's _Corpus Mysticum_. The Greeks focused on the Eucharist itself as the Mystical Body of Christ (esoteric) while the Latins stressed the idea that the Church itself, the external, organized body of believers was the Mystical Body (exoteric). The differences between Eastern and Western Christianity came about in part because of their divergences in views of God's ontological Being. According to the Greeks, a distinction exists between God's Essence, which has no relationship to anything of which can be conceived of and is hence Beyond Being itself; juxtaposed with God's Energies that man can experience from the Father via the action of the Son/Logos and the Holy Spirit. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all of the same Essence. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone, not from both "the Father and the Son" according to a Latin addition to the Nicene Creed. This is because the Father is the principle source of the Godhead and the roles of the Father and the Son in the Hypostatic Union are not confused. The Latin addition of "and the Son" and its subsequent defense in the medieval Scholastic theology of Thomas Aquinas has its origins in the Aristotelian concept of God as Being itself. If the three Persons of the Trinity are of the same Being in the Western sense then the logical outcome is that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son. This may sound like an extremely obscure and irrelevant theological debate, which it is for most people, Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant or otherwise. Nevertheless, it was, as Sherrard explains, this view of theology that provided the impetus for the "world domination" schemes of the Papacy and the centralization of the Roman Church's ecclesiastical authority during the middle ages. The Christian East, however, faced its own problems. Orthodoxy became increasingly identified with Byzantine, i.e. Greek, nationalism and secular politics. The Greek Orthodox also failed to assimilate the writings of Plato as well as they did those of Aristotle and a widespread hostility arose directed at Platonism and its various other philosophical attaches because Plato was considered incompatible with Christianity. This produced what Sherrard terms the "Platonic reaction" of Gemistos Plethon and other Greek intellectuals who drew from ancient Greek philosophy and non-Christian eastern religions in order to construct a cosmology and vision of God opposed to Christian Orthodoxy. This in fact spilled over into the West before the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 through Venice's University of Padua. Padua was freed from Papal control and the Inquisition by the Venetian city-state and thus became an early bastion of liberalism. The intellectual output from Padua spread over the Western world during the Renaissance and back into Greece under Ottoman control over the next several centuries. Sherrard thus attributes the Greek uprising in 1821 to Western secular, liberal, and at that time, nationalist tendencies, which themselves may have had their origins in the work of anti-Christian Greek idealists before Byzantium's final collapse. In all, _The Greek East and Latin West_ is an interesting book about the East/West divide in Christendom, Greek philosophy and the nature of reality. One of its strong points is that it goes deeper into the roots of contemporary apostasy and explains its causes better than other Orthodox convert authors who have written on this subject: Fr. Seraphim Rose, Dennis Engleman and Frank Schaeffer.
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