Customer Reviews

Understanding the Greek Orthodox Church: 4th edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mr. Constantelos has done a Major service to Christianity in general and Orthodoxy in particular in presenting this book. He clearly explains in a language that is easy to understand such sujects as 1) The divinity in history 2)The Holy Spirit 3)Life in the Church 4)The Relevance of the Church today 5)The Patristic and Monastic Aspects of the Church. The book is well ballanced and very informative.

I was very pleased with this book. I had previously used the third edition, but the fourth edition is even better. It is a good introduction to the history, doctrine and culture of the Orthodox Church. It also devotes suffient space to outlining the history of Orthodoxy in the United States (Chapter 5).

Chapters 2 and 4 are superb chapters on some of the core beliefs and practices of Orthodoxy, and are very easy to understand. A major regret is that the author doesn't go sufficiently (in my opinion) into the Orthodox calendar, though he certainly does touch upon it. A list and subsequent explanation of Orthodox holy days, such as Lazarus Saturday or the Sunday of Orthodoxy, would be useful, since sacred time is very important to the Orthodox Church. Perhaps in future editions this will be included.

The history chapter (Chapter 3) is good, but I would suggest that future editions include more information on the filioque clause, due to its importance, (it only gets one page), and might recommend explanding the conciliar history and development of Greek Orthodox theology. I would also like to see more on the development of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (including the role of St. Andrew). Ultimately, I think that the history chapter needs a major overhaul (in a fifth edition???) perhaps dividing into two chapters due to its significance. For example, one chapter on general Orthodox history, the other on the development of doctrine and relations with Western Christianity. The latter would include, among other things, a one or two-page list of the Seven Ecumencial Councils and what each did.

With these rather minor exceptions, I strongly recommend this book to people interested in beginning a study of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Contantelos makes a clear presentation of Greek Orthodox tradition, giving basic insight into the values, rites and spiritual practices of the oldest living church. Concerning marriage for the clergy for example, he explains why most of the common priests remain married. Even the bishops were often married until the council of Trullo in 691, when the Greek Church decreed that a bishops role required undivided commitment, without the distraction of family life. For the rest of the clergy, marriage remained the standard. As Constantelos explains, "The fact that the [Greek Orthodox] Church has not made an official pronouncement placing celibacy above marriage indicates that the conscience of the Church has accepted marriage as a more courageous state of being". (p. 73.)

I came away from the book with greater respect for the depth of thought behind Greek Orthodox traditions.

-author of Correcting Jesus