What do you think?
Orthodox Christianity and the Old English Church
Foreword to the Third Edition
This little work, Orthodox Christianity and the Old English Church, was completed
nearly twenty years ago, in 1988. This explains the Appendix to it concerning the links
between the Pre-Schism Church in England and Russia. In 1988 this was translated
into Russian and published in Russia, in view of the celebration of the Millennium of
the Baptism of Rus at that time.
In 1988 I was still a deacon and had time to carry out extensive research into the
history of the age. This I did largely at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, where I was
then living and working. Apart from highlighting the mission of St Augustine, the
main value of this booklet was perhaps in publicizing the discoveries of scholars,
already published in obscure academic journals, concerning the fate of early English
exiles to Constantinople. These facts supported the Orthodox view that the pre-Schism
Church in the West was, in all senses, in communion with the Church in the East,
whereas the post-Schism West was, and is, not.
The first edition was professionally published in 1996 and a second edition in 1998.
Both editions have since sold out. Apart from a few minor stylistic changes, this third
edition is identical to the first two. Lacking a publisher, here it is now published in
electronic form, which has the advantages of being easily accessible and also costless.
We hope that it will continue to be of interest to the English-speaking Orthodox world.
Fr Andrew,
Seekings House,
Fellixstowe,
England
This little work, Orthodox Christianity and the Old English Church, was completed
nearly twenty years ago, in 1988. This explains the Appendix to it concerning the links
between the Pre-Schism Church in England and Russia. In 1988 this was translated
into Russian and published in Russia, in view of the celebration of the Millennium of
the Baptism of Rus at that time.
In 1988 I was still a deacon and had time to carry out extensive research into the
history of the age. This I did largely at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, where I was
then living and working. Apart from highlighting the mission of St Augustine, the
main value of this booklet was perhaps in publicizing the discoveries of scholars,
already published in obscure academic journals, concerning the fate of early English
exiles to Constantinople. These facts supported the Orthodox view that the pre-Schism
Church in the West was, in all senses, in communion with the Church in the East,
whereas the post-Schism West was, and is, not.
The first edition was professionally published in 1996 and a second edition in 1998.
Both editions have since sold out. Apart from a few minor stylistic changes, this third
edition is identical to the first two. Lacking a publisher, here it is now published in
electronic form, which has the advantages of being easily accessible and also costless.
We hope that it will continue to be of interest to the English-speaking Orthodox world.
Fr Andrew,
Seekings House,
Fellixstowe,
England
50 pages, ebook
Published March 25, 2006
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
June 30, 2022
Interesting little book. It's clear a lot of research went into it.
It goes over the history of the Old English church - not the church of the Britons set up earlier, but the mission to the pagan Angles who invaded and settled the land later on.
So it goes over the original mission of saint Augustine sent by Saint Gregory in about 600 AD. Then it skims over the history of the English church and covers how it ended with the 1066 Norman invasion.
There is a definite tinge of nostalgia and romanticism but it makes this book more entertaining rather than less.
And I think the spiritual and cultural loss which has happened in Britain over the centuries and waves of invasion and emigration is so acute that it's natural and unavoidable. You see the same type of nostalgia in fictional fantasy novels revolving around Britain too. Even agnostic people feel it.
It goes over the history of the Old English church - not the church of the Britons set up earlier, but the mission to the pagan Angles who invaded and settled the land later on.
So it goes over the original mission of saint Augustine sent by Saint Gregory in about 600 AD. Then it skims over the history of the English church and covers how it ended with the 1066 Norman invasion.
There is a definite tinge of nostalgia and romanticism but it makes this book more entertaining rather than less.
And I think the spiritual and cultural loss which has happened in Britain over the centuries and waves of invasion and emigration is so acute that it's natural and unavoidable. You see the same type of nostalgia in fictional fantasy novels revolving around Britain too. Even agnostic people feel it.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review