The Orthodox Church: An Introduction to its History, Doctrine, and Spiritual Culture

by John Anthony McGuckin

This important work offers the most comprehensive and up-to-date account of the Orthodox Church available, providing a detailed account of its historical development, as well as exploring Orthodox theology and cultureWritten by one of the leading Orthodox historians and theologians in the English-speaking worldOffers an in-depth engagement with the issues surrounding Orthodoxy's relationship to the modern world, including political, cultural and ethical debatesConsiders the belief tradition, spirituality, liturgical diversity, and Biblical heritage of the Eastern Churches; their endurance of oppressions and totalitarianisms; and their contemporary need to rediscover their voice and confidence in a new world-orderRecipient of a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title for 2009 award

Genres: Religion, Christianity, Theology

478 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2008

About the author

John Anthony McGuckin is the Nielsen Emeritus Professor of Byzantine Christian Studies at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, and currently professor of early Christianity in the Theological Faculty of Oxford University. An archpriest of the Romanian Orthodox Church and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he has written more than thirty scholarly books. He lives in the UK.

Reviews

[Kaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like others have said, this is a rather heavy introduction to the Orthodox Church written in a semi-academic, semi-apologetic style which overall provides a decent introduction to the history/creed of the Orthodox Church. That being said, I found some of the sections to be overly explicated for an introductory work, and others slightly shallow - especially the final section about Orthodoxy in the modern era. While I was able to develop a foundational understanding of Orthodox history and doctrine, I don’t feel that I came away from the book with a good knowledge of how Orthodoxy has actually ‘played out’ on the world stage - though perhaps the author didn’t intend to provide such a material explanation of Orthodox history. What I found more disappointing was the author’s tendency to gloss over key developments in Orthodox thought and praxis that would not look so pleasant to the view of the outsider; it’s rather like an introductory book on Islam containing nothing about jihad. There is nothing wrong with addressing controversial aspects of a religion in when engaged in apologetics - if anything, it might have been to the advantage of the author that he explains away some key misconceptions that non-Orthodox might have had when coming to read his book. For example, stating that the Orthodox Church has no tolerance or place for war is simply anachronistic - he commits a similar sleight of pen when addressing other topics such as female ordination and divergent sexualities.

Overall, this will provide the reader with a detailed and comprehensive understanding of Orthodox history and doctrine, but this comes with a *heavily* idealised version of what constitutes and has constituted Orthodox comportment and practice throughout history.

[Ted · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think for an "introductory" work, it is way (or weigh) too heavy, long, dense. It does try to go beyond what many introductions to Orthodoxy offer, but I found it to be too much, and also at points exceedingly idealistic. For example he waxes on about how there is virtually a universal love by Orthodox for their bishops who are such wonderful shepherds. It made me wonder what universe he is talking about. I suppose at this point in my life reading introductions to Orthodoxy probably are not going to impress me all that much. But this one does not speak to me very well, and I can't deny that I had no trouble putting it down many times. But perhaps to a learned reader who really wants a lot more than the most basic introductory work, this book might speak to them because it does cover many topics in depth and does look at the contemporary scene of Orthodoxy not just into its past.

[Marije · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het boek maakt zijn titel waar. Een fijn overzicht van de geschiedenis, theologie, organisatie en spiritualiteit van de Orthodoxe kerk. Er is goed doorheen te komen, maar ik moest wel vaak woorden opzoeken. Ik denk dat het voor mensen die minder bekend zijn met theologische taal een aanzienlijk minder toegankelijk boek is.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH is an introduction to the history, doctrine, and culture of this ancient Christian tradition by Father John Anthony McGuckin, a priest and professor, and a convert to Orthodoxy himself. There is what you would expect in such a book, such as a presentation of the Orthodox bodies worldwide, the use of icons, and the notion of Holy Tradition against the papal rule known in Roman Catholicism or the Sola Scriptura tendencies of Protestants.

But Father McGuckin goes beyond these most basic topics to give a rigorous presentation of Orthodox theology, including the difficult Christological controversies of the early Church, the relationship between Emperor and Patriarch in Byzantium (still informative for us today), and some of the underappreciated masterpieces of liturgical writing. Father McGuckin's sermons must be really something to listen to, for his prose here is rich and passionate, deftly wielding classical rhetorical skills.

My only major complaint about the book is that it is written wholly from the perspective of a Western writer who has obviously spent a long time in the rounds of liberal academic discourse, and this is often incongruent with the general spirit of Orthodoxy worldwide. In speaking of the need to give women a more prominent role in the modern church, McGuckin calls for the restoration of the order of diaconess. However, he doesn't mention the very understandable fear among a number of churches that this may only be the camel's nose on the way to feminists calling for female priestly ordination. Father McGuckin also praises with no questions asked the current Ecumenical Patriarch's interest in green causes, but this is controversial and there have been complaints that the Ecumenical Patriarch is neglecting actual Christian missionary work as his flock dwindles.

Though it will appeal mostly to intellectuals and people already involved to some extent in Orthodoxy because of its tone and level of detail, this is a fine introduction and provides good competition for the old standard, Kallistos Ware's THE ORTHODOX CHURCH (published by Penguin). Unfortunately, Blackwell has priced this out of reach of all except university libraries (and from this publisher even a paperback will not be affordable) and it doesn't seem like it will get the attention it deserves.

[Lee Downen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent, thorough introduction to the Orthodox Church. I recommend that serious inquirers take up and read it.

However, I would recommend that one read McGuckin's more recent The Eastern Orthodox Church: A New History (2020) first. That work gives a solid historical overview of Orthodoxy in a very readable text. This book, with its focus on doctrine and spiritual culture, is a bit more challenging. Also, as is often the case with works published by Wiley-Blackwell, the pages are large and the print is small. These two aspects of the book—its subject matter and material form—make for a demanding (and sometimes demoralizing) reading experience. It took me a few months to finish.

I am glad that I stuck with it, though. McGuckin is a gifted church historian and theologian, as well as a seasoned priest whose pastoral wisdom is evident throughout. I learned much from him.

[Logan Streondj · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fairly dry read, mostly history. My improssion is the Orthodox church is those who refused to kowtow to the bishop of Rome. Were based in Constantinople for a while, spread to Slavic speaking areas. The Muslims suppressed them, and later the Catholic crusaders destroyed their churches.
Various monarchs oppressed them and Soviet Union brought them to brink of extinction.
There has been a bit of revival, though many issues. The author lists various rules and restrictions, seems fairly strict. However one good thing I can say is that nowhere does it mention the Orthodox church committing genocide in the way that Catholic and Protestant churches have support (crusades, inquisition, witch burning etc), I don't know if this is a mere oversight of the author, but if true is a good thing. It could also be cause the author was just trying to show the "good side" of the Orthodox Church so hard to say for sure.
He did mention over a hundred thousand clergymen were killed by the Soviet Union, my great grand father numbers among them.
Best part was the few little gems on spirituality and love, but those were few and far in between. Like it is good to hear there are several meditation practices.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Neurotic, Compensatory, Oppositional, Turgid, and Inferior version of Kallistos Ware's "The Orthodox Church."

[sch]

Oct 2024. Recommended by Seraphim Hamilton.

[Thomas GOSSE · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sure that this is a good book, but it is a very intense book for scholars. My opinion is: if I could understand the first page, I wouldn't need to read the book. Not for the average lay person. The author uses a lot of heavy duty theological language.

For a good beginner's introduction read The Orthodox Church