Orthodoxy in The Books Store

"...In order to console himself, man created a dream of another world where there is no death, and for that dream he forfeited this world, gave it us decidedly to death.

"...Therefore, the most important and most profound question of the Christian faith must be, how and from where did death arise, and why has it become stronger than life? Why has death become so powerful that the world itself has become a kind of global cemetery, a place where a collection of people condemned to death live either in fear or terror, or, in their efforts to forget about death, find themselves rushing around one great big burial plot?"- Alexander Schmemann, Radio Liberty Broadcast

In this brief collection, Father Alexander Schmemann does not have the luxury for platitudes and pleasantries on the most difficult of life's ultimate questions. Taking us to the heart of Christian revelation and anthropology, he leads us unequivocally and directly, as only he can, to discole why the apostle Paul calls death the "last enemy" (1 Cor. 15:26) and Christ's decisive answer to this enemy.

At the time of his death in 1958, Vladimir Lossky was already known as one of the most brilliant Orthodox theologians of our century. His study, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, was widely recognized not only as an authoritative presentation of Orthodox theology but also as a challenge to the prevailing Western understanding of God-man relations. Yet only in the posthumous publication of Lossky's many other works has the full extent of his contribution to modern Christian thought been revealed.

In the autumn of 1892 a young Russian peasant named Simeon from the province of Tambov was drawn to that ancient repository of Orthodox spirituality, Mt Athos. He had done his military service and now came to the Russian Monastery of St Panteleimon, to embark on long years of spiritual combat lasting until his death in 1938. Although he was unlearned and ignorant in the ordinary sense, tireless inner strivings gave him authentic personal experience of Christianity identical with that of many of the early ascetic Desert Fathers.

The first part of this book is a remarkable account of St Silouan's life, personality and teaching by his spiritual disciple Archimandrite Sophrony. Archimandrite Sophrony went to Mt Athos in 1925 and there at the Monastery of St Panteleimon became amanuensis to Staretz Silouan.

Part two comprises the writings of Silouan, originally penciled in laborious, unformed characters on odd scraps of paper. The Lord said, "Every one that is of the truth hears my voice" (John 18:37). And according to Father Sophrony, "these words are applicable to Staretz Silouan's notes ... [That] whoever has received from God the mind and wisdom to know him will be aware in the Staretz' words of the breath of the Holy Spirit."

Through heretofore unpublished translations and teachings of Gi-ming Shien -- perhaps the greatest Chinese philosopher to have ever come to the West -- this book uncovers the esoteric core of the Tao Teh Ching. Then, through the transmission of mystics of the ancient Christian East, Lao Tzu's teaching is brought into a new dimension, exploding with new meanings. Christ, in turn, is seen in a unique light, His pure image shining in the clarity of Lao Tzu's intuitive vision.

With its practical, time-tested advice on how to unite oneself with the incarnate Tao and acquire uncreated Teh, this is both a philosophical source-book and a spiritual manual, touching the heart and leading one to profound inward transformation. It is a long-awaited Answer to those who, having turned away from modern Western "churchianity," are drawn to the freshness, directness and simplicity of Lao Tzu, and at the same time are strangely, inexplicably drawn back to the all-compelling reality of Jesus Christ.

An expert on the historical context in which Christianity arose, Riley illuminates the Greco-Roman world of the early Christians, a world steeped in heroic ideals. Jesus was embraced as a new and compelling hero that one could follow into a whole new life of caring community and transcendant hope. Riley boldly asserts that it was only as Christianity became the religion of the empire that the myth of the Apostles' Creed was created, thereby promulgating the illusion that the Apostles had gathered together and agreed upon a core set of doctrines essential to the Christian faith. But the reality is that doctrinal orthodoxy was not an issue for the early Christians. Rather, they focused, in quite varied ways, on following Jesus as a model for living.

What can be learned about Christian faith and life in the original sources and authoritative witnesses of Eastern Orthodoxy and Wesleyan Methodism is boundlessly enlightening and life-giving. We thank God for raising up Christian scholars capable of offering these theological and spiritual treasures. — Thomas Hopko, from the Foreword

In 1999, on the campus of St Vladimir's Seminary, Orthodox and Methodist leading scholars, clergy, and laity met to explore the roots of spirituality in both traditions. This volume explores the primary themes addressed at that consultation: holiness and perfection, the impact and influence of the Eastern Church upon John and Charles Wesley — the founders of Methodism — and the common foundational ground upon which the Wesleys and many of the Eastern Fathers stood. While there is much to be done toward establishing the direct channels of influence, the discourses of this volume will serve well the cause of discovering commonalities, as well as differences, in their theology and practice. One will find here foundation stones for building bridges of understanding and the deepening of spirituality.