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Eastern Orthodox Christianity: A Western Perspective
In this reliable and engaging survey, Daniel Clendenin introduces Protestants to Eastern Orthodox history and theology with the hope that the two groups will come to see their traditions as complementary and learn to approach one another with a "hermeneutic of love" that fosters "mutual respect, toleration, and even support."
This revised edition includes a new preface, a new chapter, and an updated bibliography. In addition to updated demographic information, Clendenin examines at length a particular aspect of Orthodoxy's intersection with Protestantismits growing exchange with evangelicalism.
192 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1994
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About the author
Daniel B. Clendenin
8 books3 followersDan Clendenin founded the Journey with Jesus webzine in 2004. He taught at William Tyndale College in Michigan (1985–1991), and at Moscow State University (1991–1995) and joined InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Stanford University in the summer of 1995-2003. He has traveled in 40 countries.
In 2012 Dan and his wife walked the 500-mile Way of St. James in Spain.
Dan's publications include "Many Gods, Many Lords: Christianity Encounters World Religions" (1995), "Eastern Orthodox Christianity: A Western Perspective" (2004) and "From the Coup to the Commonwealth: An Inside Look at Life in Contemporary Russia" (1992).
In 2012 Dan and his wife walked the 500-mile Way of St. James in Spain.
Dan's publications include "Many Gods, Many Lords: Christianity Encounters World Religions" (1995), "Eastern Orthodox Christianity: A Western Perspective" (2004) and "From the Coup to the Commonwealth: An Inside Look at Life in Contemporary Russia" (1992).
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 16, 2018
Good book. I think it's important to understand what others believe in order to better understand them. This way we can all treat each other with dignity and respect as human beings.
May 1, 2012
This book was my first real exposure, ever, to the Eastern orthodox (EO) Christians. I was a Protestant about 27 years and did not know anything about the EO except for what I saw on the news around Christmas time and them in Bethlehem with there little black robes an hats.
I picked up this book because I was curious about who they were and read this - this is the book that led to my becoming an Orthodox Christian (talk about my stable world getting shook-up!).
Clendenin writes from a Protestant perspective so I could relate to him in many ways. Since I was a Protestant at the time, that was great - he spoke to me in "my language".
I was so taken in by the beliefs of the EO that I had to look further into it and I am glad I did (even though the transition from a Protestant of 27 years to an Orthodox has not always been easy).
Basically, he explains the main components of the EO. Personally, I believe he is right about the nationalistic tendencies of the Orthodox but it is really no different from how the Protestant spiritual view is the defacto religious veiw of the average American (even if they are not aware of it).
Anyway, great book. If you are Protestant and curious about the EO, then take the time to read this - he explains it in ways you will be able to understand.
I picked up this book because I was curious about who they were and read this - this is the book that led to my becoming an Orthodox Christian (talk about my stable world getting shook-up!).
Clendenin writes from a Protestant perspective so I could relate to him in many ways. Since I was a Protestant at the time, that was great - he spoke to me in "my language".
I was so taken in by the beliefs of the EO that I had to look further into it and I am glad I did (even though the transition from a Protestant of 27 years to an Orthodox has not always been easy).
Basically, he explains the main components of the EO. Personally, I believe he is right about the nationalistic tendencies of the Orthodox but it is really no different from how the Protestant spiritual view is the defacto religious veiw of the average American (even if they are not aware of it).
Anyway, great book. If you are Protestant and curious about the EO, then take the time to read this - he explains it in ways you will be able to understand.
November 21, 2024
This book was an excellent starting point as a primer for Eastern Orthodoxy from a western evangelical perspective. It helped me situate the perspectives of the Orthodox church in relation to my own upbringing and has fostered a curiosity in me to learn more about Orthodoxy. The author did a great job in presenting a dialectical argument throughout the book, and I found myself really engaged with how he presented the material. If there are others like me who grew up in an evangelical protestant church who want to learn more about Orthodoxy this would be a great place to start.
May 10, 2020
Finished reading this years ago - finally updating status.
An excellent book for an outsider to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. It is not a slam against Orthodoxy, but rather is a fair examination with a very helpful discussion of how we should approach each other with the purpose of unity where possible.
An excellent book for an outsider to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. It is not a slam against Orthodoxy, but rather is a fair examination with a very helpful discussion of how we should approach each other with the purpose of unity where possible.
August 13, 2007
Daniel B. Clendenin's EASTERN ORTHODOXY CHRISTIAN: A Western Perspective seeks to introduce the history and theology of this little-known branch of Christianity to Protestants. An evangelical Protestant, Clendenin became acquainted with Eastern Orthodoxy while teaching at Moscow State University. He is convinced that Protestants and Orthodox have much to learn from each other, and that Protestants should approach the East with a "hermeneutic of love".
The work is divided into seven sections. The first is a general introduction and the second a brief history. The next four sections each deal with an aspect of Orthodox theology unfamiliar or confusing to Protestants. These are the emphasis on apophatic revelation, the use of icons, the relationship of Scripture and Tradition, and theosis. In the final section Clendenin critiques Orthodoxy from his Protestant perspective--dealing frankly with the frequency of nationalism and even racism in Orthodox churches--but nonetheless trying to appreciate its many fine qualities. Clendenin does not have the space to go into much depth on any of these topics, however.
I was not too impressed by the book. Much of the work is repetitive, and in a volume of only 180 pages such repetition makes the work very insubstantial indeed. Clendenin also makes several errors which caused me to doubt his familiarity with the history of the Church. He writes, for example, that the Slavs were converted in 988, when this marked only the conversion of Kyiv Rus and most Slavs were already evangelised over a century earlier. His focus is entirely on the church in Russia and Greece/Byzantium and the contributions of other regions are ignored. The work is written in a journalistic style with frequent resorts to quotations and a great deal of footnotes, suggesting that the author is not terribly specialised in the subject at hand.
For Westerners curious about Orthodoxy, I think there is no better introduction than Kallistos Ware's THE ORTHODOX CHURCH, an instant classic when it was first published over forty years ago, and available in a relatively new updated edition. Clendenin's work is admirable for its attempt to build dialogue between Protestants and Orthodox, but his work is really too short.
The work is divided into seven sections. The first is a general introduction and the second a brief history. The next four sections each deal with an aspect of Orthodox theology unfamiliar or confusing to Protestants. These are the emphasis on apophatic revelation, the use of icons, the relationship of Scripture and Tradition, and theosis. In the final section Clendenin critiques Orthodoxy from his Protestant perspective--dealing frankly with the frequency of nationalism and even racism in Orthodox churches--but nonetheless trying to appreciate its many fine qualities. Clendenin does not have the space to go into much depth on any of these topics, however.
I was not too impressed by the book. Much of the work is repetitive, and in a volume of only 180 pages such repetition makes the work very insubstantial indeed. Clendenin also makes several errors which caused me to doubt his familiarity with the history of the Church. He writes, for example, that the Slavs were converted in 988, when this marked only the conversion of Kyiv Rus and most Slavs were already evangelised over a century earlier. His focus is entirely on the church in Russia and Greece/Byzantium and the contributions of other regions are ignored. The work is written in a journalistic style with frequent resorts to quotations and a great deal of footnotes, suggesting that the author is not terribly specialised in the subject at hand.
For Westerners curious about Orthodoxy, I think there is no better introduction than Kallistos Ware's THE ORTHODOX CHURCH, an instant classic when it was first published over forty years ago, and available in a relatively new updated edition. Clendenin's work is admirable for its attempt to build dialogue between Protestants and Orthodox, but his work is really too short.
Read
August 4, 2011A Hermeneutics of Love and Trust
Most Western-American Christians do not know how to respond to Eastern Orthodoxy. for most, it looks like Catholicism without the Pope. Clendenin (DC for short) seeks to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and attractions of Eastern Orthodoxy and how the West may lovingly criticize and interact with it.
DC gives a good summary of Eastern, Byzantine, and Slavic history. For the East, there is no separation of Chruch and State and as a result, historical-political questions are always religious questions. The East heroically held the line against Islam and Soviet Atheism. We would do much to learn from them.
DC then outlines 4 major themes in Eastern Orthodoxy that separate them from their western Brothers (Images, Theosis, Tradition, and the Apophatic Knowledge of God).
*Images*
The East is known for its iconodulism (veneration of Icons). For them, this is not a violation of the 2nd commandment but an affirmation of the Incarnation. Whatever problems we may have with it, history has pointed out that many who oppose the East on this point temporarily adopt faulty christologies to do so.
*Theosis*
For the Western man the heart of the gospel is John 3:16. The universe exists to get individual souls saved and in "heaven." For the East the heart of salvation is theosis, or diviniszation. It is to become more like God, to share in the nature of God.
*Scripture and Tradition*
The East criticizes the west on having extra-ecclesial norms for the faith (sola scriptura and the magisterium). FOr them authority resides in the living CHrist who resides in the church.
*Apophatic Knowledge of God*
We know God by negative propositions.
Criticisms
The main criticism DC has with the East is in its view of Scripture and Tradition. More on this later.
Most Western-American Christians do not know how to respond to Eastern Orthodoxy. for most, it looks like Catholicism without the Pope. Clendenin (DC for short) seeks to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and attractions of Eastern Orthodoxy and how the West may lovingly criticize and interact with it.
DC gives a good summary of Eastern, Byzantine, and Slavic history. For the East, there is no separation of Chruch and State and as a result, historical-political questions are always religious questions. The East heroically held the line against Islam and Soviet Atheism. We would do much to learn from them.
DC then outlines 4 major themes in Eastern Orthodoxy that separate them from their western Brothers (Images, Theosis, Tradition, and the Apophatic Knowledge of God).
*Images*
The East is known for its iconodulism (veneration of Icons). For them, this is not a violation of the 2nd commandment but an affirmation of the Incarnation. Whatever problems we may have with it, history has pointed out that many who oppose the East on this point temporarily adopt faulty christologies to do so.
*Theosis*
For the Western man the heart of the gospel is John 3:16. The universe exists to get individual souls saved and in "heaven." For the East the heart of salvation is theosis, or diviniszation. It is to become more like God, to share in the nature of God.
*Scripture and Tradition*
The East criticizes the west on having extra-ecclesial norms for the faith (sola scriptura and the magisterium). FOr them authority resides in the living CHrist who resides in the church.
*Apophatic Knowledge of God*
We know God by negative propositions.
Criticisms
The main criticism DC has with the East is in its view of Scripture and Tradition. More on this later.
February 8, 2011
I thought a few of the chapters really offered a lot of good perspective and insight on East versus Western thinking and approaches to faith. A couple chapters were just completely over my head and a few were just summaries of things I already read about previously. I guess I expected more from his final chapter which was supposed to be a critique of Orthodoxy from his Protestant perspective, but none of the things he said really shook me from the line of thinking I am on at this point. I guess I was also just hoping for something that would clearly contrast the two in a way that would help me answer questions from Protestant family members.
May 5, 2023
The author takes you through the schism of Christianity in 1054, the ramifications, and how the belief in Orthodox Christianity in the area now Russia predicates it's ethical and political decisions with what it sees as a type of heresy in western Christianity. The writing is very neutral but simultaneously very engaging. A must read for anyone who wants to learn about the many origins and transformations of Christianity, and why Russia does many things that it does.
April 18, 2013
Read this several years ago, but I remember it being a very informed and balanced explanation of Eastern Orthodoxy for a Western audience. Clendenin is so informed and knowledgeable that is was a surprise to me that he never became Orthodox himself. In an e-mail to me he said he was committed to the distinctives of the Reformation. So it goes.
July 11, 2008
Daniel Clendenin's work on Orthodoxy has been a tremendous influence on me. He does a beautiful job of describing Orthodoxy sympathetically, while not ignoring what he perceives to be errors in Orthodoxy. He inspired me to treasure the Orthodox church, while remaining authentically protestant.
December 4, 2012
Really great primer of Eastern Orthodoxy, especially for us westerners who have some very wrong ideas about the religion. After reading this you'll definitely have a greater admiration and fascination with Orthodoxy as a whole.
May 16, 2011
An attempt to describe the Eastern Orthodox Church to the West. He goes off the rails when he tries to point out the errors of Eastern Thinking.
Typical of the Western Reformed Protestant mindset. There are similar books which are much better.
Typical of the Western Reformed Protestant mindset. There are similar books which are much better.
December 11, 2012
Re-read in 2012. This is a very good, sympathetic but not uncritical evaluation of Orthodoxy by a protestant. Recommended for balance, even if I think the problems may be greater than he suggests. Clendenin has a deep experience and knowledge of his subject.
June 4, 2015
Author makes a lot of claims that are very arguable. He makes references without citations. I feel he really needs to study Soviet history.
August 4, 2015
Provides a foundational explanation into the differences between Eastern Orthodox churches, as well as their Catholic and Protestant brothers
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews