What do you think?
Rate this book
The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death
This dynamic, challenging, and transforming vision of Christian theology, presented in a systematic manner, invites readers to approach the mystery of Christ in the same way that the first disciples of Jesus Christ learned theology. Although the disciples had denied and abandoned the Crucified One, they came to realize, through the reading of Scriptures and the breaking of bread, that Jesus had given himself up for the life of the world, so transforming death into life, darkness into light, and flesh into word.
Beginning with the Passion narratives, Fr Behr examines how we search the scriptures to encounter Christ and thereby realize that we were created for this encounter, thus opening a profound perspective on creation, the fall, sin, and salvation history. He further explains how Christ is born in those who are born again in the Church, their "Virgin Mother," so that they become truly human, after the stature of Christ, and continue the incarnation of the Word by glorifying God in their bodies.
By returning to the approach of the early Church, this fresh study by a renowned patristic scholar offers a way out of the problems that have beset theology and scriptural study in recent centuries.
Beginning with the Passion narratives, Fr Behr examines how we search the scriptures to encounter Christ and thereby realize that we were created for this encounter, thus opening a profound perspective on creation, the fall, sin, and salvation history. He further explains how Christ is born in those who are born again in the Church, their "Virgin Mother," so that they become truly human, after the stature of Christ, and continue the incarnation of the Word by glorifying God in their bodies.
By returning to the approach of the early Church, this fresh study by a renowned patristic scholar offers a way out of the problems that have beset theology and scriptural study in recent centuries.
186 pages, Paperback
First published April 10, 2006
75 people are currently reading
527 people want to read
About the author
John Behr
66 books102 followersFr John Behr is Regius Professor of Humanity at the University of Aberdeen. He previously taught at St Vladimir’s Seminary, where he served as Dean from 2007-17; he is also the Metropolitan Kallistos Chair of Orthodox Theology at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Center for Orthodox Theology.
Fr John hails from England, though his family background is Russian and German – and clerical on both sides. From the Russian side, his great-grandfather was sent to London by Metropolian Evlogy to serve there as a priest in 1926; his father was also a priest, ordained by Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom), as are his brother (at St Paul’s Monastery on Mt Athos) and his brother-in-law (Sts Cyril and Methodius, Terryville, CT). His maternal grandparents met at Karl Barth’s graduate seminar in Basel, and served in the Lutheran Church in Germany, where his grandfather was a Lutheran pastor.
After completing his first degree in Philosophy in London in 1987, Fr. John spent a year studying in Greece. He finished an M.Phil. in Eastern Christian Studies at Oxford University, under Bishop Kallistos (Ware), who subsequently supervised his doctoral work, which was examined by Fr. Andrew Louth and Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury. While working on his doctorate, he was invited to be a Visiting Lecturer at St Vladimir’s Seminary in 1993, where he has been a permanent faculty member since 1995, tenured in 2000, and ordained in 2001. Before becoming Dean in 2007, he served as the editor of St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, and he still edits the Popular Patristics Series for SVS Press.
His doctoral work was on issues of asceticism and anthropology, focusing on St Irenaeus of Lyons and Clement of Alexandria, and was published by Oxford University Press (2000). After spending almost a decade in the second century, Fr John began the publication of a series on the Formation of Christian Theology (The Way to Nicaea, SVS Press 2001, and The Nicene Faith, SVS Press 2003). Synthesizing these studies, is the book The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death (SVS Press, 2003). In preparation for further volumes of his Formation series, Fr John edited and translated the fragments of Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia, setting them in their historical and theological context (OUP 2011). More recently Fr John published a more poetic and meditative work entitled Becoming Human: Theological Anthropology in Word and Image (SVS Press, 2013) and a full study of St Irenaeus: St Irenaeus of Lyons: Identifying Christianity (OUP, 2013). Most recently he has completed a new critical edition and translation of Origen’s On First Principles, together with an extensive introduction, for OUP (2017), and John the Theologian and His Paschal Gospel: A Prologue to Theology (OUP 2019). He is currently working on a new edition and translation of the works of Irenaeus.
His other passion is cycling, especially restoring and riding vintage bicycles including a historic Hetchins and a Dursley Pedersen. The Tour de France dominates the Behr family life during July, dictating the scheduling of important family events. Fr John’s wife, a Tour de France enthusiast and armchair cyclist, teaches English at a nearby college, and their two sons and daughter are being taught to appreciate the finer points of French culture: the great “constructeurs” of the last century, La Grande Boucle, and … cheese.
Fr John hails from England, though his family background is Russian and German – and clerical on both sides. From the Russian side, his great-grandfather was sent to London by Metropolian Evlogy to serve there as a priest in 1926; his father was also a priest, ordained by Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom), as are his brother (at St Paul’s Monastery on Mt Athos) and his brother-in-law (Sts Cyril and Methodius, Terryville, CT). His maternal grandparents met at Karl Barth’s graduate seminar in Basel, and served in the Lutheran Church in Germany, where his grandfather was a Lutheran pastor.
After completing his first degree in Philosophy in London in 1987, Fr. John spent a year studying in Greece. He finished an M.Phil. in Eastern Christian Studies at Oxford University, under Bishop Kallistos (Ware), who subsequently supervised his doctoral work, which was examined by Fr. Andrew Louth and Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury. While working on his doctorate, he was invited to be a Visiting Lecturer at St Vladimir’s Seminary in 1993, where he has been a permanent faculty member since 1995, tenured in 2000, and ordained in 2001. Before becoming Dean in 2007, he served as the editor of St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, and he still edits the Popular Patristics Series for SVS Press.
His doctoral work was on issues of asceticism and anthropology, focusing on St Irenaeus of Lyons and Clement of Alexandria, and was published by Oxford University Press (2000). After spending almost a decade in the second century, Fr John began the publication of a series on the Formation of Christian Theology (The Way to Nicaea, SVS Press 2001, and The Nicene Faith, SVS Press 2003). Synthesizing these studies, is the book The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death (SVS Press, 2003). In preparation for further volumes of his Formation series, Fr John edited and translated the fragments of Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia, setting them in their historical and theological context (OUP 2011). More recently Fr John published a more poetic and meditative work entitled Becoming Human: Theological Anthropology in Word and Image (SVS Press, 2013) and a full study of St Irenaeus: St Irenaeus of Lyons: Identifying Christianity (OUP, 2013). Most recently he has completed a new critical edition and translation of Origen’s On First Principles, together with an extensive introduction, for OUP (2017), and John the Theologian and His Paschal Gospel: A Prologue to Theology (OUP 2019). He is currently working on a new edition and translation of the works of Irenaeus.
His other passion is cycling, especially restoring and riding vintage bicycles including a historic Hetchins and a Dursley Pedersen. The Tour de France dominates the Behr family life during July, dictating the scheduling of important family events. Fr John’s wife, a Tour de France enthusiast and armchair cyclist, teaches English at a nearby college, and their two sons and daughter are being taught to appreciate the finer points of French culture: the great “constructeurs” of the last century, La Grande Boucle, and … cheese.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
March 12, 2021
John Behr is quickly vaulting to the top of my favorite theologians list. This book is brilliant. Behr argues that the way forward, in our post-modern context, is to recover the patristic (premodern) way of doing theology. In this we look at the whole of scripture through the passion of Jesus.
Christ has trampled down death by death. By his death, Christ conquers death - in no other way (32)
Theology, as I suggested earlier, begins by reflecting on the Passion of Christ, contemplating there the transforming power of the eternal, timeless God
Christ’s taking upon himself the role of a servant, voluntarily going to the Passion, does not diminish our perception of what we might otherwise have considered to be his divinity, but actually manifests his true divinity
This is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Like many who grew up evangelical, I became obsessed with apologetics (okay, so many who grew up evangelical and were kind of weird...I’ll admit it). We felt we had to construct an argument to defend scripture. If we could somehow prove things historically happened, ironing over those pesky differences in the gospels, then faith would be as rational as it is irrefutable.
Somewhere, millions of Christians in the first millennium of Christianity are laughing at us.
Books like Behr’s are valuable because they teach us how to read the Bible. Just writing that sentence feels strange, as I’ve been reading the Bible most of my life. I want to say Behr’s book is a challenge and maybe best read by theologically minded types or pastors. Yet, its taken me years to shift my understanding of scripture. It is hard to read scripture and not default back to that historical-grammatical rational way of reading. Maybe if we read books like this sooner, reading it the way Behr teaches would be easier because we’d have less to unlearn.
In other words, I’m gonna give this book to my kids.
Okay, maybe not MY kids since they’re 6 and 9. But I will take these ideas to heart as I teach my kids, and kids at my church, the Bible. Just tonight I was leading a Bible study with the college students I work with and as we read, I was seeing the scripture in ways I had not before. Like I said, I’ve been wrestling with these ancient ways of reading for a while and it takes time for it to sink in. One example from this Bible study. We were reading Acts 15 where the Christians debate whether circumcision is a necessity for Gentiles. One person shared that James argued from scripture and this shows the vital importance of the Bible. I shared that I agreed with that, at the same time, those arguing for circumcision also had the Bible on their side! To some degree, just quoting the Bible was not enough. James, like the early Christians, brought a different way of reading the Bible to bear - they read it in light of their faith and experience of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection!
This book packs a lot more into 180 pages. Overall, this is a brilliant book. I said that already, didn’t I? It provides a background for Behr’s longer books on the development of Christian theology in the early church.
Two more thoughts.
First, the more of these orthodox folks that I read (Behr, Bulgakov, Hart) the more I wonder if there is someone out there connecting the best of Orthodox theology to the best of Anabaptist thought. I appreciate Greg Boyd’s work on nationalism and nonviolence, but I am less than keen on the open theism side. I’m hungry for a sort of Orthodox Anabaptism.
Second, if you’re into the sort of ideas Behr writes about you have to listen to the Mysterion podcast! They are another place I have been gathering these ideas and I highly recommend them.
Christ has trampled down death by death. By his death, Christ conquers death - in no other way (32)
Theology, as I suggested earlier, begins by reflecting on the Passion of Christ, contemplating there the transforming power of the eternal, timeless God
Christ’s taking upon himself the role of a servant, voluntarily going to the Passion, does not diminish our perception of what we might otherwise have considered to be his divinity, but actually manifests his true divinity
This is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Like many who grew up evangelical, I became obsessed with apologetics (okay, so many who grew up evangelical and were kind of weird...I’ll admit it). We felt we had to construct an argument to defend scripture. If we could somehow prove things historically happened, ironing over those pesky differences in the gospels, then faith would be as rational as it is irrefutable.
Somewhere, millions of Christians in the first millennium of Christianity are laughing at us.
Books like Behr’s are valuable because they teach us how to read the Bible. Just writing that sentence feels strange, as I’ve been reading the Bible most of my life. I want to say Behr’s book is a challenge and maybe best read by theologically minded types or pastors. Yet, its taken me years to shift my understanding of scripture. It is hard to read scripture and not default back to that historical-grammatical rational way of reading. Maybe if we read books like this sooner, reading it the way Behr teaches would be easier because we’d have less to unlearn.
In other words, I’m gonna give this book to my kids.
Okay, maybe not MY kids since they’re 6 and 9. But I will take these ideas to heart as I teach my kids, and kids at my church, the Bible. Just tonight I was leading a Bible study with the college students I work with and as we read, I was seeing the scripture in ways I had not before. Like I said, I’ve been wrestling with these ancient ways of reading for a while and it takes time for it to sink in. One example from this Bible study. We were reading Acts 15 where the Christians debate whether circumcision is a necessity for Gentiles. One person shared that James argued from scripture and this shows the vital importance of the Bible. I shared that I agreed with that, at the same time, those arguing for circumcision also had the Bible on their side! To some degree, just quoting the Bible was not enough. James, like the early Christians, brought a different way of reading the Bible to bear - they read it in light of their faith and experience of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection!
This book packs a lot more into 180 pages. Overall, this is a brilliant book. I said that already, didn’t I? It provides a background for Behr’s longer books on the development of Christian theology in the early church.
Two more thoughts.
First, the more of these orthodox folks that I read (Behr, Bulgakov, Hart) the more I wonder if there is someone out there connecting the best of Orthodox theology to the best of Anabaptist thought. I appreciate Greg Boyd’s work on nationalism and nonviolence, but I am less than keen on the open theism side. I’m hungry for a sort of Orthodox Anabaptism.
Second, if you’re into the sort of ideas Behr writes about you have to listen to the Mysterion podcast! They are another place I have been gathering these ideas and I highly recommend them.
March 3, 2023
Two months ago I was blessed to be able to attend a theological lecture by Father John Behr here in The Netherlands. His way of conveying Orthodox Christian theology left a very lasting impression on me and immediately I wanted to dive into his work.
"The Mystery of Christ" should be read with at least a small amount of background knowledge in (Orthodox) Christian theology, but is nonetheless a great advanced introduction work into how one should be reading and approaching Orthodoxy Christian theology and provides an amazing guide to the symbolism that is used within the church.
The book is divided into five highly readable and informative chapters with a comprehensive list of notes at the end of each.
I would recommend the books and lectures by Father John Behr to everyone who is an Orthodox Christian or has an interest in becoming one!
"The Mystery of Christ" should be read with at least a small amount of background knowledge in (Orthodox) Christian theology, but is nonetheless a great advanced introduction work into how one should be reading and approaching Orthodoxy Christian theology and provides an amazing guide to the symbolism that is used within the church.
The book is divided into five highly readable and informative chapters with a comprehensive list of notes at the end of each.
I would recommend the books and lectures by Father John Behr to everyone who is an Orthodox Christian or has an interest in becoming one!
March 11, 2023
In the theological vision of the Apostles and the early Fathers of the Church, Christ is—to use the formulation of St. Irenaeus—the hypothesis of creation: the underlying principle or presupposition from Whom all things and events—including all of what we now call “salvation history,” a term which came into usage only in the nineteenth century—derive their unity, meaning, and coherence. Christ, in turn, is only recognized as Christ—the Word become flesh, the incarnate Lord and Redeemer of the world, who at once reveals our conviction in sin as our immaculate victim and bestows upon us the gift of resurrected life beyond the aspect of futility imposed on the world by death—in light of His Passion; whereby, taking the form of a servant, He trampled down death by death, manifesting the full power of God in human weakness, revealing what it is to be God by the way in which He dies as a human being. Christ is manifested as Christ only in light of the Cross; only as the crucified and exalted Lord. The Passion, for its part, is understood as The Passion only when it is interpreted “in accordance with the scriptures,” (in this context, the Old Testament)—that is, only when the crucified and exalted Lord, manifested as such through His Passion, is understood to be the pre-eternal mystery—the hypothesis—of Whom the scriptures speak.
True theology begins, therefore, only at the foot of the Cross; only when, like the beloved disciple in the Gospel of John, we do not flee from the Cross but look upon it without shame, apprehending in the Passion not merely the murder of a hapless victim, but the victory of the enfleshed Word over death by death—the mystery for which and by which the world is created—accomplished by the Suffering Servant Who voluntarily gives Himself over to death for the life of the world. Like the beloved disciple, the one who recognizes the Crucified One as the Lord has the Spirit “traditioned” upon him, taking on the identity of Christ—as the son of His mother, the Church, who makes the Word flesh in her children—being at once born of the Church as a son of God and birthing Christ within oneself as one accepts, through the ascesis of the flesh, to have the Word incarnated within him. In the words of St. Maximus the Confessor, “Christ eternally wills to be born mystically, becoming incarnate through those who are saved and making the soul which begets him to be a virgin mother.”
Contemplating this profound mystery, the object of our life is not to struggle for our own illusionary self-divinization; it is not to cling jealously and futilely to our own life as if we ourselves are its author and creator. Rather, it is to hand ourselves over to the creative Word—becoming a place of the Word’s habitation in the flesh—by overcoming the idolatry of the flesh, accepting ourselves to be the work of God’s hands rather than our own. For Christ to be born within us, we offer to Him our humanity for His dwelling place, adorning ourselves for Him as a bride.
St. Irenaeus expresses this beautifully in this passage from Against the Heresies:
A lovely Lenten read.
True theology begins, therefore, only at the foot of the Cross; only when, like the beloved disciple in the Gospel of John, we do not flee from the Cross but look upon it without shame, apprehending in the Passion not merely the murder of a hapless victim, but the victory of the enfleshed Word over death by death—the mystery for which and by which the world is created—accomplished by the Suffering Servant Who voluntarily gives Himself over to death for the life of the world. Like the beloved disciple, the one who recognizes the Crucified One as the Lord has the Spirit “traditioned” upon him, taking on the identity of Christ—as the son of His mother, the Church, who makes the Word flesh in her children—being at once born of the Church as a son of God and birthing Christ within oneself as one accepts, through the ascesis of the flesh, to have the Word incarnated within him. In the words of St. Maximus the Confessor, “Christ eternally wills to be born mystically, becoming incarnate through those who are saved and making the soul which begets him to be a virgin mother.”
Contemplating this profound mystery, the object of our life is not to struggle for our own illusionary self-divinization; it is not to cling jealously and futilely to our own life as if we ourselves are its author and creator. Rather, it is to hand ourselves over to the creative Word—becoming a place of the Word’s habitation in the flesh—by overcoming the idolatry of the flesh, accepting ourselves to be the work of God’s hands rather than our own. For Christ to be born within us, we offer to Him our humanity for His dwelling place, adorning ourselves for Him as a bride.
St. Irenaeus expresses this beautifully in this passage from Against the Heresies:
“How then will you be a god, when you are not yet made human? How perfect, when only recently begun? How immortal, when in mortal nature you did not obey the Creator? It is necessary for you first to hold the rank of human, and then to participate in the glory of God. For you do not create God, but God creates you. If then, you are the work of God, await the Hand of God, who does everything at the appropriate time—the appropriate time for you, who are being made. Offer to him your heart, soft and pliable, and retain the shape with which the Fashioner shaped you, having in yourself his Water, lest you turn dry and lose the imprint of his fingers. By guarding this conformation, you will ascend to perfection; the mud in you will be concealed by the art of God. His Hand created your substance; it will gild you, inside and out, with pure gold and silver, and so adorn you that the King himself will desire your beauty. But if, becoming hardened, you reject his art and being ungrateful towards him, because he made you human, ungrateful, that is, towards God, you have lost at once both his art and life. For to create is the characteristic of the goodness of God; to be created is characteristic of the nature of human beings. If, therefore, you offer to him what is yours, that is, faith in him and subjection, you will receive his art and become a perfect work of God. But if you do not believe in him, and flee from his Hands, the cause of imperfection will be in you who did not obey, and not in him who called you. For he sent messengers to call people to the feast; but those who did not obey deprived themselves of his royal banquet.”
A lovely Lenten read.
October 2, 2019
Well, I was hoping to find more writers like Fr. Stephen Freeman at Glory To God For All Things, and I got one in John Behr. Add this to the list of "little books that will blow the mind."
Rather than "doing theology" per se, John Behr's book gives us a vantage point for how theology began. Instead of using modern historical goals and methods (such as finding out “what really happened"), which depend on a canon (rule) established outside of the scriptures and the church, Behr presents the Cross itself as making the whole historical and theological task possible. The crucifixion is the point at which theology begins, the axis around which the world turns, the peak event from which all history can be surveyed and truly told. As "all history is written from the present," so the Gospels relate a theological story as could only be written from after the crucifixion. Following the Cross (and the Resurrection, Emmaus Road, Ascension, & Pentecost), the "historical events" of Jesus' life were retrospectively invested with new and complete meaning.
In the same way the Old Testament is backfilled with cross/resurrection meaning, such as when Jesus opens the Scriptures to the disciples on the Emmaus Road in Luke 24. In this episode Christ himself shows his disciples that his crucifixion has performed an unveiling, interpreting all that came before in its light. What's more, this unveiling of cross-meaning is what allows the disciples to recognize Christ and grasp what has happened- that the one who was dead is now the Risen Lord, which they soon recognize in the breaking of the bread. The church is then able to treat its Scriptures as a "thesaurus" (treasury) of Christ-meaning previously inaccessible.
The basics of what I've described is not new, but what Behr has done with it is quite new to me, and I think will be to most Western readers. I've listened to Behr speak and his insight requires thick attention. This book does the same. He doesn't really cooperate with the consumer's desire for an easy one-liner. It’s short, but you have to juggle lots of ideas in order to grasp the whole paradigm (I see this as a strength).
And when you do, it's utterly worth it. It's a book that does the extremely difficult task of delivering a pre-modern and Eastern paradigm to the modern Western mind. To wit, I was thinking of giving this book 4 stars because there was a chapter or two I just couldn't get my mind around. But then I read the epilogue and it tied the whole thing together and shot it right over the moon. Wow- make sure you finish this one.
Rather than "doing theology" per se, John Behr's book gives us a vantage point for how theology began. Instead of using modern historical goals and methods (such as finding out “what really happened"), which depend on a canon (rule) established outside of the scriptures and the church, Behr presents the Cross itself as making the whole historical and theological task possible. The crucifixion is the point at which theology begins, the axis around which the world turns, the peak event from which all history can be surveyed and truly told. As "all history is written from the present," so the Gospels relate a theological story as could only be written from after the crucifixion. Following the Cross (and the Resurrection, Emmaus Road, Ascension, & Pentecost), the "historical events" of Jesus' life were retrospectively invested with new and complete meaning.
In the same way the Old Testament is backfilled with cross/resurrection meaning, such as when Jesus opens the Scriptures to the disciples on the Emmaus Road in Luke 24. In this episode Christ himself shows his disciples that his crucifixion has performed an unveiling, interpreting all that came before in its light. What's more, this unveiling of cross-meaning is what allows the disciples to recognize Christ and grasp what has happened- that the one who was dead is now the Risen Lord, which they soon recognize in the breaking of the bread. The church is then able to treat its Scriptures as a "thesaurus" (treasury) of Christ-meaning previously inaccessible.
The basics of what I've described is not new, but what Behr has done with it is quite new to me, and I think will be to most Western readers. I've listened to Behr speak and his insight requires thick attention. This book does the same. He doesn't really cooperate with the consumer's desire for an easy one-liner. It’s short, but you have to juggle lots of ideas in order to grasp the whole paradigm (I see this as a strength).
And when you do, it's utterly worth it. It's a book that does the extremely difficult task of delivering a pre-modern and Eastern paradigm to the modern Western mind. To wit, I was thinking of giving this book 4 stars because there was a chapter or two I just couldn't get my mind around. But then I read the epilogue and it tied the whole thing together and shot it right over the moon. Wow- make sure you finish this one.
January 7, 2018
People, this book is amazing. The ideas in it are beautiful and important. Considering Christ and his redemptive work as the "first principle" from which everything else is built upon and around just turns my ordered thinking on its head in the best possible way. I want to quote the entire concluding chapter here because my mind just kept being blown over and over again. I will admit there were moments that I was reading and said to myself "I know I'm not completely getting this." Part of it is that he's speaking from the Eastern Orthodox background, which I am not as familiar with, and part is the density of what he's saying, but I look forward to returning to it someday after these ideas have sat with me for a while so I can glean more from it.
November 14, 2025
4.49 stars. Would be 5 if I felt he clarified a bit more of what it means that the meaning of scripture is Christ.
Basic claim: the hypothesis of Christian theology is that Jesus is the Christ.
This was discovered by his followers post resurrection as they meditated on the passion and interpreted the passion by means of the scriptures (Old Testament).
In Christ they found the key to the scriptures and to creation itself, recasting Adam as anticipating Christ as the true human being. Christ is the first human of the final creation, Adam was a derivative type.
Mary is the mother of God and the church is the mother of the believer.
The believer’s body becomes the environment of recreation. The temple of love (beautiful phrase).
No need to engage modernity on its own terms. Skip joyfully ahead to postmodernity with the premodern faith and let Christ be the criterion of his own truth.
That’s the argument in a nutshell. Not sure if it works but it might and seems plausible to me at the moment.
Basic claim: the hypothesis of Christian theology is that Jesus is the Christ.
This was discovered by his followers post resurrection as they meditated on the passion and interpreted the passion by means of the scriptures (Old Testament).
In Christ they found the key to the scriptures and to creation itself, recasting Adam as anticipating Christ as the true human being. Christ is the first human of the final creation, Adam was a derivative type.
Mary is the mother of God and the church is the mother of the believer.
The believer’s body becomes the environment of recreation. The temple of love (beautiful phrase).
No need to engage modernity on its own terms. Skip joyfully ahead to postmodernity with the premodern faith and let Christ be the criterion of his own truth.
That’s the argument in a nutshell. Not sure if it works but it might and seems plausible to me at the moment.
March 24, 2024
The useful parts of this book are muddied by the main argument that theology must be approached in a premodern way. Through much discussion of the cross and scripture (which were great), the reader understands Behr's point that all interpretation of history and mankind must begin at the work of Christ on the cross as it was revealed in OT scripture. Behr is really attempting to make a distinction from (and against) what I take to be Reformed theological development of "salvation history", which regards the cross as a mere point along the way of human history. The problem is it is difficult qualifying to what degree historic reformed theology diminished the importance of the cross. Would not most modern theologians hold the work of Christ to be the crowning point of all history, of which the prophets spoke? Indeed is not Christ said to be our very life? I think the reader outside an Orthodox background will have great difficulty accepting many parts of this book.
January 10, 2026
Deeply illuminating.
This book gave language to intuitions I carry and reassured me that I wasn’t misreading the heart of the Christian faith. If Christ is truly the Word made flesh, then our hermeneutic cannot begin abstractly with a text, but with the moment the world came to recognize that the pre-incarnate Word was present in that flesh. On Calvary, creation and redemption are revealed as a single, inseparable act.
I have long struggled with how “the Word of God” language is often applied to the Bible in popular Christian discourse. Quite simply, without the Word becoming flesh, there would be no New Testament witness at all—and historically, that witness did not begin to take written form until decades after the event itself. Scripture does not precede Christ; it proceeds from him.
As a collection of human writings, the biblical texts do not possess divinity in themselves. Rather, it is through the Spirit—given in and through salvation history, inaugurated by the Cross—that Scripture becomes the Word of God for us: a living testimony to the Word, heard by those formed and indwelt by God. Scripture is not identical with the Word; it bears witness to the Word.
I realize this understanding may be uncomfortable within certain evangelical frameworks, but I struggle to see how it could be otherwise if Christ himself is taken seriously as the center and source of revelation. John Behr’s work did not impose this view on me—it clarified and confirmed reflections already forming within me, and for that I am deeply grateful.
This book gave language to intuitions I carry and reassured me that I wasn’t misreading the heart of the Christian faith. If Christ is truly the Word made flesh, then our hermeneutic cannot begin abstractly with a text, but with the moment the world came to recognize that the pre-incarnate Word was present in that flesh. On Calvary, creation and redemption are revealed as a single, inseparable act.
I have long struggled with how “the Word of God” language is often applied to the Bible in popular Christian discourse. Quite simply, without the Word becoming flesh, there would be no New Testament witness at all—and historically, that witness did not begin to take written form until decades after the event itself. Scripture does not precede Christ; it proceeds from him.
As a collection of human writings, the biblical texts do not possess divinity in themselves. Rather, it is through the Spirit—given in and through salvation history, inaugurated by the Cross—that Scripture becomes the Word of God for us: a living testimony to the Word, heard by those formed and indwelt by God. Scripture is not identical with the Word; it bears witness to the Word.
I realize this understanding may be uncomfortable within certain evangelical frameworks, but I struggle to see how it could be otherwise if Christ himself is taken seriously as the center and source of revelation. John Behr’s work did not impose this view on me—it clarified and confirmed reflections already forming within me, and for that I am deeply grateful.
June 2, 2023
Utterly magnificent. Should be mandatory reading in seminaries and for anyone seeking to do theology in the present age.
August 1, 2021
There were many things I loved about this book, mostly I really enjoyed Behr’s explanation of what he called the “Divine economy”. Using his extensive knowledge of the early church fathers (Irenaes in particular) he explored how it is possible for the cross to be simultaneously the act of salvation and the culmination of creation. In essence, Christ is the completed human of the 6th day that then enters into the tomb of rest on the 7th day. The salvation of humanity is found in the completion of creation whereby humanity is saved from the propensity to sin or to be anything less than a complete creature of God. This notion appears to dispel popular atonement theories in their explanation as to what happened on the cross. Instead of a vicarious punishment of humanity in Christ, humanity is to follow the pioneer and perfecter of faith by imitation of Christ. This means that our lives become one where we submit to the way of the cross and its paradoxical completion of creation in us - which we should also recognize as salvation.
Related to this, and perhaps even more mind boggling, was Behr's exploration of death, sin and its relation to the divine economy. Although these are not creations of God, they are used by God to exact his purposes in us. Death reveals to us that our life is purely a grace of God and that we are nothing more than dust without the breath of God. According to Behr and some Orthodox fathers, death functions as a type of mercy. In the first place, it limits our ability to become utterly sinful and corrupt and secondly it acts as the great equalizer - for we all die in the end. But Behr’s point reaches beyond this and stresses how in death we must cry out to God, the giver of our life, for life itself. Ergo, the resurrection.
Behr’s Orthodox theology shines through brilliantly in his literature. There were so many passing nuggets of theological insight that I feel mainstream evangelicalism completely looks over. I intend to read more from the orthodox tradition, in particular more of John Behr.
Related to this, and perhaps even more mind boggling, was Behr's exploration of death, sin and its relation to the divine economy. Although these are not creations of God, they are used by God to exact his purposes in us. Death reveals to us that our life is purely a grace of God and that we are nothing more than dust without the breath of God. According to Behr and some Orthodox fathers, death functions as a type of mercy. In the first place, it limits our ability to become utterly sinful and corrupt and secondly it acts as the great equalizer - for we all die in the end. But Behr’s point reaches beyond this and stresses how in death we must cry out to God, the giver of our life, for life itself. Ergo, the resurrection.
Behr’s Orthodox theology shines through brilliantly in his literature. There were so many passing nuggets of theological insight that I feel mainstream evangelicalism completely looks over. I intend to read more from the orthodox tradition, in particular more of John Behr.
May 19, 2015
I remember really *wanting* to like this book, but finding to my utter disappointment that it is filled with anti-Orthodox ideas. My email correspondence with the author for numerous clarifications confirmed to me that his ideas are not grounded in the divine Scriptures or the holy fathers. Behr follows uncritically various tropes from Western scholarship, like the idea that the Gospels contradict one another on the accounts of the Last (or Mystical) Supper. He also seems at times to be saying that the authors are really making stuff up to confirm the Crucifixion and Resurrection, and again, email answers from the author himself did not clear up any of the confusion. I was reminded of the commandment to let ones yes be yes and ones no be no amidst the sophistry employed by the book. Utterly disappointing. I would have given 0 stars if that had been an option.
August 22, 2020
Tremendous Theologizing from maybe the most important Eastern Orthodox Theologian of our time. The EO Church was blessed with the likes of Florovsky, Staniloae, Schmemann, Anthony Bloom, Berdyaev, Lossky, Bulgakov, Ware and more throughout the twentieth century...It looks like the gift keeps giving; Fr Behr is a student of the great Kallistos and may even surpass the mentor. His understanding of the typology and sobornost of the church, the passions, the body, the contextualising power of history and so many other key points, is immense. The delivery of key motifs is very good and he is most humble in his application. Some of his work has changed how I see the world and I'm grateful for his witness.
April 17, 2012
There are many books on theology and theological topics out there that do a wonderful job of stating their case. This is most definitely one of them, but is in addition a very accessible and 'entertaining' read. You won't find yourself yawning your way through a chapter. Rather I found myself engaged and truly interested in what would come on the next page.
In addition, Fr Behr gives us a new -yet old- perspective through which to view the Mystery of Christ and help us to draw closer to the source of all life in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that's what the point of all theology should be.
I feel sure this is one I will read again!
In addition, Fr Behr gives us a new -yet old- perspective through which to view the Mystery of Christ and help us to draw closer to the source of all life in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that's what the point of all theology should be.
I feel sure this is one I will read again!
September 23, 2013
A great primer on how the Orthodox Church perceives 'theology:' through the Passion of Christ. Rejecting modern methods of working through historical viewpoints, Behr posits that the Passion is the starting point to understanding Christ, much as the Apostles did not begin to fully understand the Lord until his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. This book is well written for the laity who have little academic training, elucidated in clear, plain prose that keeps the reader engaged through each chapter.
May 17, 2008
This is a great introduction to "post-modern patristic orthodoxy" as it were. Behr - who is a rather brilliant man - is an Eastern Orthodox theologian who tries to argue for a re-thinking theology today through rereading the early church's theologians. I found especially his discussion of scripture very interesting.
December 27, 2012
A short but excellent book on why the way theology is often done today is insufficient. Behr shows how premodern thinking about Scripture and Tradition is better suited for theology than modern, post-enlightenment thinking is. The book is short and written for a more general audience, but should be read by anyone interested in confessional theology.
October 14, 2025
“Christian theology begins and ends with the mystery of Christ, the crucified and exalted Lord as preached by the apostles "in accordance with scripture." The revelation of God occurs in and through what Jesus Christ has done as human, and a theology which keeps focused on this Word of God enables the transformative power of God revealed in Christ to be at work in us as well, fashioning us, in the body, to the full stature of a true human being. The whole economy of God, embracing both creation and salvation—including sin, apostasy, and death—works to fashion us into the image and likeness of God, Jesus Christ himself, extending his bodily presence in the world, the incarnation of the Word or the birth of Christ in us.”
The Mystery of Christ by John Behr is certainly a unique work. Synthesizing his study of the development of Christian theology from the early church to Nicea, Behr has produced this work to exhibit a premodern way of thinking about theology and reading the Scriptures anew in light of the Passion of Christ. Some of Behr’s approaches and conclusions are certainly proactive. Indeed, there were a few points in the book where I found some of his exegetical decisions to be a bit of a stretch or a little questionable. Still, this work is extremely valuable to anyone in patristic studies who wants to read a modern theologian who does theology in a manner as the early church fathers performed this task. I also think this book is valuable for those in biblical studies who would like to see a nuanced approach to biblical history. Behr also draws out many helpful intertextual connections throughout the Bible. It is also extremely evident that Behr has focused the majority of his academic work on Irenaeus, as this early church father is probably cited more than any other source throughout the book. While not a text of systematic theology, Behr does approach patristic theologizing in a somewhat systematic manner has Behr provides us with a new way of thinking about God, humanity, creation, salvation, and eschatology in light of the Passion of Christ interpreted in accordance with the Scriptures. Also of benefit is Behr’s discussion of asceticism in early Christian theology and spirituality. While such was a fundamental practice in fathers such as Maximus, it is somewhat perplexing to modern Christians why asceticism was so prevalent in the patristic period. Behr shows how such practices were not about the denigration of the body or human nature (most of the time), but about the reorientation of the mind so as not to be mastered by the body and its desires (avoiding idolatry).
Wonderful and thought-provoking work here!
Irenaeus: “For to create is the characteristic of the goodness of God; to be created is characteristic of the nature of human beings.”
The Mystery of Christ by John Behr is certainly a unique work. Synthesizing his study of the development of Christian theology from the early church to Nicea, Behr has produced this work to exhibit a premodern way of thinking about theology and reading the Scriptures anew in light of the Passion of Christ. Some of Behr’s approaches and conclusions are certainly proactive. Indeed, there were a few points in the book where I found some of his exegetical decisions to be a bit of a stretch or a little questionable. Still, this work is extremely valuable to anyone in patristic studies who wants to read a modern theologian who does theology in a manner as the early church fathers performed this task. I also think this book is valuable for those in biblical studies who would like to see a nuanced approach to biblical history. Behr also draws out many helpful intertextual connections throughout the Bible. It is also extremely evident that Behr has focused the majority of his academic work on Irenaeus, as this early church father is probably cited more than any other source throughout the book. While not a text of systematic theology, Behr does approach patristic theologizing in a somewhat systematic manner has Behr provides us with a new way of thinking about God, humanity, creation, salvation, and eschatology in light of the Passion of Christ interpreted in accordance with the Scriptures. Also of benefit is Behr’s discussion of asceticism in early Christian theology and spirituality. While such was a fundamental practice in fathers such as Maximus, it is somewhat perplexing to modern Christians why asceticism was so prevalent in the patristic period. Behr shows how such practices were not about the denigration of the body or human nature (most of the time), but about the reorientation of the mind so as not to be mastered by the body and its desires (avoiding idolatry).
Wonderful and thought-provoking work here!
Irenaeus: “For to create is the characteristic of the goodness of God; to be created is characteristic of the nature of human beings.”
October 20, 2022
A stunning reclamation of apostolic theology and a re-collection of the cruciform ("cross-shaped") Faith of our Nicene fathers, "The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death" is John Behr's contribution to a postmodern resourcement - greater in scope than the Roman Catholic movement from the last century - for this encompasses both East and West, ascetic and apologetic, hymnic and iconic - from across Christian traditions. I see the so-called "Radical Orthodoxy" movement engaging in what Behr does, but from an Anglo-Catholic perspective. The other movements in Anglo-American theology, such as the incredible renaissance of patristic studies (e.g. the availability of primary patristic texts on the internet; IVP's Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture; podcasts that tap into ancient Christianity; and many other publications and movements in theological circles which are making classic theology widely available to laypeople, in a way that has never happened before), have a stunning impact on theology at the level of the congregation in the 21st century. Call me optimistic, but I see a major move happening in the academy and the churches right now, and Behr is one of the people who is leading the way. I get the feeling that Behr couldn't help but write this book; in a way it flows out from him with an urgency. Unlike most scholarly works, this is written in the light of the second coming of the Lord.
"The Mystery of Christ" effectively undoes the damages caused by modern theology, including the Barthian and Bultmannian enterprises of the last century. Behr returns to Irenaeus and Athanasius, to John Climacus and Gregory Nyssa, in doing so he advances a radical return to premodern living, reading, and thinking. For Behr (and the ancients), the Cross is the central axis of the cosmos - of all time, space, and history. In the light of the Cross, the Scriptures come to make sense; in the light of the Cross, our lives come to make sense. The Scriptures expound Christ on the Cross; we don't read with the "lens" of Christ; we read with the eyes, ears, and heart of Christ. We Christians, the Body of the Lord, bear the very images of our Creator and Intercessor - Jesus Himself.
I can't even begin to explore every angle in Behr's book, but suffice it to say, he's made me excited to read Irenaeus more carefully, as well as John Climacus and Maximus Confessor. I also know that Behr reads Michel Henry very sympathetically; I have my reading cut out for me!
"The Mystery of Christ" effectively undoes the damages caused by modern theology, including the Barthian and Bultmannian enterprises of the last century. Behr returns to Irenaeus and Athanasius, to John Climacus and Gregory Nyssa, in doing so he advances a radical return to premodern living, reading, and thinking. For Behr (and the ancients), the Cross is the central axis of the cosmos - of all time, space, and history. In the light of the Cross, the Scriptures come to make sense; in the light of the Cross, our lives come to make sense. The Scriptures expound Christ on the Cross; we don't read with the "lens" of Christ; we read with the eyes, ears, and heart of Christ. We Christians, the Body of the Lord, bear the very images of our Creator and Intercessor - Jesus Himself.
I can't even begin to explore every angle in Behr's book, but suffice it to say, he's made me excited to read Irenaeus more carefully, as well as John Climacus and Maximus Confessor. I also know that Behr reads Michel Henry very sympathetically; I have my reading cut out for me!
May 11, 2020
Behr's central claim is that everything must be interpreted in the light of the cross.
From here he establishes a way of reading the scriptures that comes from the story of the Road to Emmaus. The resurrected Christ was only understood after the opening of the scriptures and the breaking of the bread. Behr elaborates as to how the early Patristic writers interpreted scripture, Saint Irenaeus in particular. He also spends much time in developing a proper understanding of canon and holy tradition.
Behr argues that Christ's death has brought forth true Life and that in death and suffering we are called to participate in true Life. It is through the mystery of the cross in which we must view our existence.
Much is made out of the idea that the church is our mother, the matrix for interpreting the scriptures and the Christian tradition. Since the church is Christ's body, and Christ's body comes from his mother Mary, therefore Mary is a symbol of the church.
In the last chapter, he argues that our ideas about the body and our ideas about the passions must be carefully calibrated so we do not fall into error. The body itself isn't evil, but corruptibility is now within it. Likewise, the passions are not necessarily evil in themselves, but rather the desires and the inward focus on the body is what creates sinful passions. The state of dispassion is a state in which one has tempered and controls the passions through asceticism.
From here he establishes a way of reading the scriptures that comes from the story of the Road to Emmaus. The resurrected Christ was only understood after the opening of the scriptures and the breaking of the bread. Behr elaborates as to how the early Patristic writers interpreted scripture, Saint Irenaeus in particular. He also spends much time in developing a proper understanding of canon and holy tradition.
Behr argues that Christ's death has brought forth true Life and that in death and suffering we are called to participate in true Life. It is through the mystery of the cross in which we must view our existence.
Much is made out of the idea that the church is our mother, the matrix for interpreting the scriptures and the Christian tradition. Since the church is Christ's body, and Christ's body comes from his mother Mary, therefore Mary is a symbol of the church.
In the last chapter, he argues that our ideas about the body and our ideas about the passions must be carefully calibrated so we do not fall into error. The body itself isn't evil, but corruptibility is now within it. Likewise, the passions are not necessarily evil in themselves, but rather the desires and the inward focus on the body is what creates sinful passions. The state of dispassion is a state in which one has tempered and controls the passions through asceticism.
February 18, 2021
This is a fantastic book. Behr synthesizes the early church Fathers (especially Ireanaus) with the various "New Testament" authors and their respective interpretations of the Scriptures in light of Jesus' Passion. The Passion (encompassing Jesus' death and resurrection) reveals who God is (the One who gives His life for others) so that we too can become like God, learning to die for our neighbors and thereby becoming truly human and divinized. In short, we have to learn to die, like Christ, in order to live. This, moreover, reveals the mystery with which we can interpret Scripture. For Behr, the Scriptures refer to the "Old Testament." The New Testament - which is a misnomer - provide the Christological and Trinitarian key through which we can properly interpret the Scriptures. While the two Testaments form a closed canon or rule, the Fathers maintain the same authoritative Tradition and continue what Paul, the Gospels, and others began in the New Testament.
Finally, as Behr develops further in his book on the Gospel of John, the Incarnation continues in those who follow or participate in the death and resurrection of Jesus:
"The Incarnation, in brief, is not 'an episode in a biography', an event now in the past, but the ongoing embodiment of God in those who follow Christ."
Finally, as Behr develops further in his book on the Gospel of John, the Incarnation continues in those who follow or participate in the death and resurrection of Jesus:
"The Incarnation, in brief, is not 'an episode in a biography', an event now in the past, but the ongoing embodiment of God in those who follow Christ."
December 28, 2024
I quite enjoyed Fr. Behr's reflections on the interrelation between the rule of faith, scripture, and "tradition" in the ante-Nicene period and his emphasis on the importance of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament as the scripture of the Early Church (and the way in which this was understood). Appreciated that this book conveys the centrality of Scripture while keeping in mind the point (made in Dei verbum) that the true content and source of Revelation is Jesus Christ, to whom the Scriptures testify. He also, relatedly, avoids reducing the question of Scripture's importance to its formal or propositional authority in relation to other authorities ("Magisterium," "Tradition," etc). I appreciated this, as these debates are tired, often fruitless, and can stifle other conversations.
That being said, I am somewhat skeptical of his rather sweeping rejection of the "salvation history model," in part because his own model seems to implicitly minimize the significance of the Jewish people or the possibility for ecumenical dialogue with Judaism, and also because I worry that (despite his protestations) there is a danger of mythologizing the Gospel, among other concerns. But I still will need to reflect on how legitimate these worries are and the ways in which they can be resolved.
That being said, I am somewhat skeptical of his rather sweeping rejection of the "salvation history model," in part because his own model seems to implicitly minimize the significance of the Jewish people or the possibility for ecumenical dialogue with Judaism, and also because I worry that (despite his protestations) there is a danger of mythologizing the Gospel, among other concerns. But I still will need to reflect on how legitimate these worries are and the ways in which they can be resolved.
Read
December 29, 2025“Neither will any of those who preside in the churches, though exceedingly eloquent, say anything else (for no one is above the Master); nor will a poor speaker subtract from the tradition. For, since the faith is one and the same, neither he who can discourse at length about it adds to it, nor he who can say only a little subtracts from it”
“the omnipotence of God is restricted by the nature of that on which he is working, nor that the infantile state, despite only beginning to grow towards its full perfection, is itself imperfect. As a creature, human beings can never be uncreated, can never cease existing in the mode proper to a creature, that is, being created. But the aim of this creating or fashioning of human beings is that they should come to be ever more fully in the image and likeness of the uncreated God. There can be, for human beings, no end to this process; they can never become uncreated.”
“the omnipotence of God is restricted by the nature of that on which he is working, nor that the infantile state, despite only beginning to grow towards its full perfection, is itself imperfect. As a creature, human beings can never be uncreated, can never cease existing in the mode proper to a creature, that is, being created. But the aim of this creating or fashioning of human beings is that they should come to be ever more fully in the image and likeness of the uncreated God. There can be, for human beings, no end to this process; they can never become uncreated.”
September 8, 2018
this book was described to me in way that made me think it was about retracing hermeneutical development in the first two centuries. the first chapter seems to address the text in this way (the disciples only understood the cross retrospectively according the scriptures (Behr does a lot with the Emmaus Road encounter)), but after that i thought it got much more prescriptive and returns to the task of doing theology through the patristics. while this is a valuable task, it wasn't rally new. I was hoping Behr would do more of what he does in the conclusion, namely, talking about pre-modern reads in our post-modern world, while distinguishing that from demythologizing.
informative, but not novel.
informative, but not novel.
September 19, 2025
A Fascinating and Much Needed Perspective
As someone steeped in post-reformation Western Protestant Christianity but also with a Roman Catholic theology degree, I found John Behr’s Eastern Orthodox perspective to be challenging in the best possible way. The primacy given to the crucifixion of Jesus in order to understand how the Apostles and early church came to see Jesus as the incarnate Lord helps make greater sense of the scriptures and the experience of the first generation of Christ followers.
As someone steeped in post-reformation Western Protestant Christianity but also with a Roman Catholic theology degree, I found John Behr’s Eastern Orthodox perspective to be challenging in the best possible way. The primacy given to the crucifixion of Jesus in order to understand how the Apostles and early church came to see Jesus as the incarnate Lord helps make greater sense of the scriptures and the experience of the first generation of Christ followers.
January 4, 2025
John Behr does a fantastic job of showing how we ought to return to the way that the church fathers theologized rather than the modern method of theology. He asserts that through the Passion of Christ, that was revealed to the apostles by the risen Lord himself on the road to Emmaus through the reading of Scripture, are we to read the Scriptures as well. Through participating in the very mystery of Christ is where we fully find our humanity
May 25, 2021
Masterful. A correction of modern systematic theology. Focused on creation and the Cross (in relation to Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and the entire economy of God). This is my second reading, and I understood the book better this time. It does require some acquaintance with Orthodox Christian theology.
September 26, 2020
This book brings fresh understanding of critiquing how modern theology is approached, which in totality is not a completely revealed manner understanding the heart of Christian theology. Fr. Dr. John Behr utilizes Kierkegaard's notion of seeing history in reverse to gain the truth of our present condition. The main principle or axiom is the Christ crucified and seeing the Passion as the starting point of understanding Scripture.
I appreciate the nuanced approach Fr. Behr takes in questioning the "status quo" of how theology is interpreted in modern (or more precisely post-modern) terms.
The book has a depth to it, despite being under 180 pgs.
I appreciate the nuanced approach Fr. Behr takes in questioning the "status quo" of how theology is interpreted in modern (or more precisely post-modern) terms.
The book has a depth to it, despite being under 180 pgs.
October 13, 2018
If I could give this book 6 stars I would. John Behr goes thru Scripture and Tradition to show how Christ must be the starting and ending point for all our theology and understanding.
January 24, 2019
Using late second century Church Fathers, Behr builds a case for the scriptures to be read in light of the Passion of Jesus Christ. It’s worth your time to read.
May 9, 2019
Some aha moments in this read, but I also knew I don't have the background to comprehend it all. It was great to read for a class with the input of Dr. Blaski. I hope to read it again.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews