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Living Icons: Persons of Faith in the Eastern Church

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Living Icons: Persons Of Faith In The Eastern Church by ordained Orthodox priest Michael Plekon (Professor, Department of Sociology/Anthropology, religion and culture, Baruch College, City University of New York) is a close look at the lives of ten Eastern Orthodox Christian faithful, each of whom lived in the eighteenth through twentieth centuries. Fascinating, uplifting, and evenhanded in its study of characters, foibles, and faith, as well as highly recommended for students of Orthodox Christian History, Living Icons is a profound testimony to the path set by just a few among many amidst constantly changing and conflicting headwaters of religious belief worldwide.

Plekon has done a very good job in making available to american readers the lives and thoughts of several 20th century Eastern Orthodox theologians and "lovers of mankind". Each essay examines the main currents of thought for each person and their influnece upon the world in this century. Included are essays about St. Seraphim of Sarov, Sergius Bulgakov, MAria Skobtsova, Fr. Lev Gillet, Paul Evdokimov, Fr. Gregory Krug, Nicholas Afanasiev, Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Fr. Jean Meyendorff, and Fr. Alexander Men. With many first-hand accounts of their lives, the author gives keen insights into their personalities, the context of their actions and writings, and their continuing relevance for the 21st century.

I would also recommend "Light From The East" by Aidan Nichols for an intro to some other Orthodox thinkers. It is out of print, but available from time to time. Enjoy!

Living Icons brings to life the work, theology, commitment ment to Christian unity and holiness of ten of Orthodox Christianity's persons of faith. Maria Skobtsova, Gregory Krug, and Alexander Men are three of the profiled persons in this remarkable work. All are representatives of Russian Orthodoxy forced to emigrate from their homelands and develop their faith in a western environment. This transplanting resulted in a group of people who challenged the lethargy of their own church and opened the road of dialogue with their sister churches in the west.

Through the witnesses of these living saints of the twentieth century you can see the seeds of hope for a reunited church of all believers endowed with their diversity but united as one in Christ. I found the book fascinating as it discussed the challenges and struggles that these individuals faced. Many were rediculed for their views within Orthodoxy and declared heretical while others were murdered for their witness.

This work is a great primer for introducing you to some of the significant persons in Orthodoxy who have impacted the church in both Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox circles through their theology, iconography, academics, pastoral care and lay witness. Although not an exhaustive work, Living Icons, makes you hungry to know more about Orthodoxy as well as its profiled living witnesses. This is a "must" have book for all Christians who desire to know more about the gifts and graces of the Orthodox church as embodied in these individuals.