
The Eastern Orthodox Church
A New History
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Narrated by:
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Derek Perkins
An insider's account of the Eastern Orthodox Church, from its beginning in the era of Jesus and the Apostles to the modern age.
In this short, accessible account of the Eastern Orthodox Church, John McGuckin begins by tackling the question "What is the Church?" His answer is a clear, historically and theologically rooted portrait of what the Church is for Orthodox Christianity and how it differs from Western Christians' expectations.
McGuckin explores the lived faith of generations, including sketches of some of the most important theological themes and individual personalities of the ancient and modern Church. He interweaves a personal approach throughout, offering to listeners the experience of what it is like to enter an Orthodox church and witness its liturgy. In this astute and insightful audiobook, he grapples with the reasons why many Western historians and societies have overlooked Orthodox Christianity and provides an important introduction to the Orthodox Church and the Eastern Christian World.
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Most of the critiques I've seen of this book from other Orthodox Christians are, unsurprisingly, people writing against what they think Fr John is writing rather than addressing his actual statements (for example, he does not advocate for women's ordination in this book and does not say that when the Orthodox Church comes to maturity, it will ordain women; rather, he outlines the work of Elizabeth Behr-Sigel who argues this way and he does not express approval or disapproval of this dimension of her work).
The only two critiques I'd offer of this work are basically a result of minimizing the "Semitic" dimension of Christianity:
(1) he follows one popular line of thinking that traces Hellenistic philosophy as influencing Christian concepts, though he later falls back on Florovsky's apt statement that this is a "Christianization of Hellenism rather than a Hellenization of Christianity"—I would have liked to see a deeper exploration of "Christian Origins" in Second Temple Judaism a la the work of Golitzin, Bucur, Orlov, etc.
(2) he gives minimal attention to the Syriac world of Orthodoxy—I would have loved to see some engagement with the Chalcedonian & pre-Chalcedonian Syriac thought.
Given the limitations of space and making this accessible to a popular audience, I think it is understandable that he sidesteps this.
The audiobook is solid but the narrator has that British tendency to absolutely butcher foreign loanwords in the most unfortunate manner possible.
Solid, brief history of Eastern Orthodox Church
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A good historical overview
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Engaging!
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Excellent book
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Excellent Experience
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I'd likely classify this as a survey history, as it crosses major periods of time rather quickly. However, McGuckin does a great job at creating an over-arching view of the Eastern Orthodox Church from its beginnings in the Levant, through its expansion under the Byzantine Empire, its subjugation by the Muslim Empires and Caliphates, and finally through the 20th Century into Modern Times. A good read. Perkins does a good job at narrating this book as well.
An interesting History
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Excellent content and narration
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Absolutely wonderful
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My only suggestion for improvement is that more of the signature doctrinal emphases at the very heart of Orthodoxy could have been weaved in to the historical story somehow...to give a clearer portrait of it's soul. But of course, I suppose you can read an Orthodox theology book for that. :) This is a much needed focus on the history.
Excellent, Relatively Peerless Overview
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Also it is not for nothing that Dr McGuckin is listed as a poet on Wikipedia. With an exceptional narrator this is a beautiful book to listen to just by how it was written.
Excellent even for the outsider
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