The Orthodox Christian Church: History, Beliefs, and Practices

by Peter Bouteneff

A Professor of Systematic Theology and Director of Institutional Assesment at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Dr. Bouteneff has been lecturing and teaching about Orthodox Christianity for much of his adult life. After he earned his undergraduate degree in music, he received his M.Div. from St Vladimir's Seminary, and a doctorate and M. Phil. from Oxford University, where he studied under Bishop Kallistos Ware. He has worked for many years in theological dialogue, notably as Executive Secretary for Faith and Order at the World Council of Churches, and has written extensively on Orthodox theology and Orthodox relations with other churches. His theological interests include Christ, the Church, and the Human Person, as well as religion and popular culture. He conceived of and edits the "Foundations" series for SVS Press, to which he has contributed a widely popular volume called Sweeter than Honey: Orthodox Thinking on Dogma and Truth. He is also the author of Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives.

In 24 Lectures:

Introduction
How and Why We Think Theologically
Scripture
Tradition
Councils and Conciliarity
Ecumenical Councils (325 A.D. to 787 A.D.)
The Church Fathers
Liturgy
Icons
Saints
Jesus Christ
The Holy Trinity
The Holy Spirit
Creation
The Human Person
Mary
Salvation
The Church
Sacraments
Prayer
Asceticism
"Eastern" and "Western" Christianity
Ecumenism
Orthodoxy: The Best Kept Secret in America?

Genres: Religion, Audiobook, Christianity

Audiobook

Reviews

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

AT A GLANCE:
A clear introduction to the Eastern Orthodox Church intended for Americans.

CONTENT:
The series is split into 24 lectures of 20-30 minutes each, covering topics like theology, prayer, history and demographics. Each is addressed briefly and topically, though many resources are given for further reading and research. It is assumed that the listener has a passing familiarity with Christianity; as such there is neither a recounting of the Gospel narratives nor of major Biblical figures, nor a discussion of basic apologetics such as the existence of God, nor is there a summary of early Church history. The intended target audience seems to be American Christians of a Protestant denomination, though it will provide valuable information to others as well. He is surprisingly frank about the current problems he sees in American Orthodox parishes. I especially appreciated his dissection of overlapping jurisdictions over national and ethnic lines in the final chapters.
There are a few curiosities, for example his insistence that Orthodox are by nature environmentally-conscious and will all want to recycle (no doubt taking a leaf from "Green Patriarch" Bartholomew). He tells us more than once that the Church is difficult to synthesize in one presentation but he does an admirable job.

NARRATOR:
Peter Bouteneff here reads his own work with excellent results. He speaks with precision and clarity, and while not a professional narrator he certainly does an adequate job. I did not need to change the playback speed at any time while listening.

OVERALL:
This is a must-have audiobook for anyone interested in learning more about Orthodoxy.

[Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

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Very informative on the history and mind of the Orthodox Church. Very humble and non-polemic non-controversial presentation. This is particularly for the non-Orthodox. He encourages people to do their own study and reading in addition to listening to his presentation. A fairly historical presentation - but that is what he is trying to do. I appreciated Frederica Matthewes-Green's book Welcome to the Orthodox Church more. But each presentation has its place. They are not trying to do the same thing. Bouteneff covers the world history of Orthodoxy and basic beliefs well. I believe Frederica communicated faithfully the worshipful heart and beauty of the Faith and the 'why' of what we Orthodox do and believe in as far as that is possible without actually experiencing the Orthodox Church oneself.

[Victor N · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot of useful information, but it is not as historically rooted and as academic as I would have liked. The story tends to jump around quite often. I also fear that takes too much of an American perspective. This is not a bad thing if your interest is in a path to live by but if your interest is as an academic, this is not ideal. It may not be very representative of the majority of the Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe.

[Geisha · Rating 1 out of 5]

This audiobook feels more like a unscripted podcast. The author keeps going from one topic to another and circles back. There's a lot of "I'll tell you more about this later", "we will cover that in other lessons", "I will explain at a different time", followed by "as I've mentioned before", with not enough substance in between. He narrates it in a smirky manner and it seems like he is very proud of himself for the way he speaks and describes the topic, which is, ironically, very American-centered, even though he speaks of a religion that most definitely didn’t start in America. Do not recommend.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent high-level overview of Orthodoxy.