Orthodoxy discussion

Hello, fellow Orthodox Christians.

Please recommend books that you believe will benefit the rest of us who are members of the Goodreads.com Orthodoxy Group.

God bless.

Douglas in South Carolina

Prolific Orthodox writer and commentator Frederica Mathewes-Green recently reviewed Hidden and Triumphant: The Underground Struggle to Save Russian Iconography by Irina Yazykova. This book is about preservation of the art of painting iconography in Russia during the years of Communist persecution.

You can access Frederica's review of this book online at: http://www.frederica.com/writings/the...

Best wishes from the Palmetto State.

Douglas

When just starting to look at the Orthodox Church, I found Anthony Coniaris'Philokalia: The Bible of Orthodox Spirituality very helpful. It covers basic Orthodox Spirituality for the lay person in short, easily accessible chapters. In those days, I read a lot on the doctrines of the Church and its comparison to Protestant and Roman Catholic Christianity, but nothing attracted me to Orthodoxy as much as this book.

Lynette,

Thank you very much for your recommendation. You clearly are a contemplative Christian, and your opinions matter as far as I am concerned.

I have not read any works by Father Anthony, and Philokalia: The Bible of Orthodox Spirituality might be the best place to start.

Best wishes for a blessed Feast of the Nativity.

Douglas in South Carolina

Fellow member of this Group and author Lynette Smith recently published Voyage: A Quest for God within Christian Tradition. Based on what I've read about Voyage: A Quest for God within Christian Tradition, we all would enjoy, appreciate and benefit from reading Lynette's book. I intend to purchase and read Voyage: A Quest for God within Christian Tradition over the coming holiday season.

Thank you, Lynette, and best wishes to you on your achievement.

Blessed Feast of the Nativity to you all.

Douglas in South Carolina

Douglas wrote: "Fellow member of this Group and author Lynette Smith recently published Voyage: A Quest for God within Christian Tradition. Based on what I've read about [book:Voya..."

Thanks, Douglas, for your kind words. I look forward to any feedback you and the rest of the group may want to give on this my first effort.

In the meantime, may peace and wonder fill your heart during these High Holy Days.

Lynette

Here's a book that a friend begged me to read. It is not for people really new to Orthodoxy; I could have never taken it nor understood it early on myself. And even so now, it requires careful, prayerful consideration with my spiritual director close at hand! "Enlargement of the Heart" by Archimandrite Zacharias, on the teachings of St. Silouan (died 1938).

I recommend Praying With Icons by Jim Forest and Consoler of Suffering Hearts by Sergei Lebedev.

I recommend Lev Gillet's book The Jesus Prayer. Make sure to read the preface as well; it puts Gillet into context with other writers on the Jesus Prayer and corrects some of his minor errors. A short and fairly simple book, but one of the best I have read on the subject.

I'm not Orthodox, but I'm interested in it. Anyway, I would like to recommend Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh: Essential Writings. I haven't read this book, but I've read his Beginning to Pray a few times now, and find it one of the better books I've read on the subject. So I'm betting his Essential Writings must be pretty good. For some reason, I got to thinking about Bloom yesterday, and found this 3 piece talk on Suffering on Youtube. And then I found there was a Goodreads group as well. Here's a link (for anyone who is interested) to the first part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK1v0L...

Thanks Steve, that looks very good. Welcome to the group too.

Thanks, Steve. I watched the three parts and found it a very profitable and interesting discussion. It would be an interesting exercise to count how many times Metropolitan Anthony uses the word love!

These might be good: The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church by Vladimir Lossky, and The Meaning of Icons by Lossky and Leonid Ouspensky. And finally Paul Evdokimov's Art of the Icon, The: A Theology of Beauty

Thanks, Debbi & Karl!

I have just read and reviewed Russian Mystics. It is probably meant for those who, like me, are still learning about Orthodoxy, but it contains a lot of stories about saints, church history and theology.

I was just interviewed on OCN about my fiction novel.Sojourning With Angels: The Rise of Zazriel check it out on my website: www.rleoolson.com If you have any Orthodox fiction recommendations please let me know.... RLO

Douglas wrote: "Hello, fellow Orthodox Christians.

Please recommend books that you believe will benefit the rest of us who are members of the Goodreads.com Orthodoxy Group.

God bless.

Douglas in South Carolina"

Christ is in our Midst, by Father John, SVS Press-a collection of letters written by a simple monk to his spiritual children. The advice he gives is humble, simple and deeply inspiring.

Also, I invite you to listen to my interview on Ancient Faith Radio about my novel "Unexpected Joy" and check out the book! You can find both on the homepage of www.anaphorapress.com

Unexpected Joy

The Inner Kingdom by Kallistos Ware.
Oh heck, anything by him :)

The latest in scholarly works on Eastern Christianity in all its forms are covered daily here: http://easternchristianbooks.blogspot...

I just finished reading Life and Teaching of Saint Seraphim of Sarov - which I highly recommend. You can see my review at the link provided.

I just received The Bible and The Holy Fathers. It's a large tome but amazing! Cyclical readings and commentary by the Holy Fathers and others.

I've just created a list of some of the books I like. Please feel free to add your favourites and vote on the ones you like.

I just received 'The Holy Bible and the Desert Fathers' a few days ago and am amazed at how nice it is to have the Church's daily readings laid out along with commentary where available.
Highly recommended.

Adam,
I like the site but wish it were searchable for particular books. It would be great if he had a book roll, along with his publisher roll, of what he has reviewed. But wishes are like fishes :)

I created a listopia of some of my favourite Orthodox books. Please feel free to add to it.
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/36...

The Scent of Holiness: Lessons from a Women's Monastery
by Constantina R. Palmer
Published by Conciliar Press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX4QdE...
The Scent of Holiness - Book Trailer

I read "Born to hate, reborn to love" by
Klaus Kenneth. The author described his journey through different religions and christian denominations till he finds orthodoxy. I found it very intereting.

Everyday Saints....lots of good stories..

James wrote: "Everyday Saints....lots of good stories.."

Yes, yes, yes! It is a great book!

I'm currently reading The Mountain of Silence, which was recommended by our parish priest. I'm 2/3's through it and it is excellent. Some of the stories of these Athonite elders and Saints are amazing and miraculous. I highly recommend. I bought a used copy on Amazon for $9 & plan on reading it again in the future

Got a link to the book on GoodReads?

Check out this book on Goodreads: The Mountain of Silence: A Search for Orthodox Spirituality http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/82...

Love that book!

One very good writer is Archimandrite Vassileios Bakoyiannis. Easy read books with depth.

I highly recommend "Eastern Orthodox Christianity" by Bryn Geffert & Theofanis G. Stavrou. It is comprised of anthologies ranging throughout the Christian centuries, demonstrating how Eastern Orthodox (EO) believers came to believe as they do. Although, academic in nature, it is an easy ready. Great book, especially for EO doctrinal enlightenment!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Also, there's a supplementary text (PDF) which is free, a part 2 if you will. Check it out:
https://yalebooks.yale.edu/sites/defa...

Currently reading: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9... (The Experience of God:: Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God) by Dumitru Stanaloae at the recommendation of one of our parish priests. I thought I knew what Orthodox Dogmatic Theology was, and the very important role it plays, but this very approachable book soon helped me understand how shallow my initial understanding was. Staniloae's well is far deeper than my little bucket, but it is well worth the time to read. His style is engaging and approachable, at least for me.

Hello all! I highly recommend The Experience of God by Dimitru Staniloa. Volume 1 in a 6 volume series my priest recommended to me. A rich, and accessible, approach to dogmatic theology that also addresses the importance of this topic for all Orthodox.

Highly recommend all of Father Seraphim Rose’s work.
Specifically “Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future” and “Soul After Death”

Hello everyone, I am new to the group. I would like to humbly recommend Bishop Ware's The Orthodox Way , Olivier Clement's Roots of Christian Mysticism: Texts from Patristic Era with Commentary and Elisabeth Behr-Sigel's The Place Of The Heart: An Introduction To Orthodox Spirituality. Not being Orthodox myself, I found George Maloney's Pilgrimage of the Heart: A Treasury of Eastern Christian Spirituality to be a good bridging text to introduce Eastern Christian spirituality to a western-mind. Thank you all for your recommendations, I have some more titles to explore!

Hello to everyone. I am glad to join this Orthodox group. I am currently reading Andrew Louth's Modern Orthodox Thinkers: from the Philokalia to the Present. (IVP, 2015).