Light & Life -- Baptism : Sacrament of the New Creation (DVD)

 with Fr. David Anderson

No review for this DVD is Available yet but is strongly recommended by Matt.

Order and see view free samples here.

Light and Life: Eucharist, Sacrament of the Kingdom (DVD)

 with Fr. David Anderson

 

No review is available yet but is strongly recommended by Matt.

 

Order and see free sample clips here.

Christianity and Classical Culture: The Metamorphosis of Natural Theology in the Christian Encounter with Hellenism (Gifford Lectures Series)

Jaroslav Pelikan


Pelikan seeks to show, with great erudition, that the Cappadocians were able to synthesize Hellenic concepts, not all theological in origin, to meet the needs of their baptism of Greek thought into that of a more or less unified Christian vision. Emphasis is placed upon their use of apophatic theology (talking of God by saying what God is not- negation).

Really a useful book to dispel the myths that the theology of the Church, especially the Greek tradition, is, a al Harnak, a big squabble over an iota or a bunch of clap trap that disguises the gospel. Each culture appropriates the Gospel in a manner that makes it intelligible. Of course there will be some loose ends and need of trimming, but Pelikan expertly demonstrates the genius of these theologians in their synthetic abilities.

The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God

The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God
by Robert Louis Wilken

Wilken is one of the best writers on the early Church around. While each chapter deals with specific issues, he touches on a great deal of relevant points, which makes the read both enlightening and fun. His style is easy to follow, which is something that I cannot always say of the preeminent historian of dogma, Jaroslav Pelikan, who heartily indorses this book. You really won't go wrong with this one. Every page has a distilled quality that comes from teaching and living in the minds of the Fathers for several decades.

The contents are as follows: 1. Founded on the Cross of Christ 2. An Awesome and Unbloody Sacrifice 3. The Face of God for Now 4. Seek His Face Always 5. Not My Will But Thine 6. The End Given in the Beginning 7. The Reasonableness of the Faith 8. Happy the People Whose God is the Lord 9. The Glorious Deeds of Christ 10. Making This Thing Other 11. Likeness to God 12. The Knowledge of Sensible Things

He writes: "The intellectual tradition that began in the early Church was enriched by the philosophical breadth and exactitude of medieval thought. Each period in Christian history makes its own unique contribution to Christian life. The Church Fathers, however, set in place a foundation that has proven to be irreplaceable. Their writings are more than a stage in the development of Christian thought or an interesting chapter in the history of the interpretation of the Bible. Like an inexhaustible spring, faithful and true, they irrigate the Christian imagination with life-giving water flowing from the biblical and spiritual sources of the faith. They are still our teachers today."

In terms of errors or just overstatements, there are few worth noting, none of which deserve to take away from the book's great worth. Even so, he refers to Christ as having a divine and human nature, whereas it should read "natures" in the plural. Maybe a quibble, but we are Chalcedonian Christians, after all. And speaking of the Council of Chalcedon in 451, Wilken seems to think that the Fathers were too vague in that instance. Here I would think that in a way he misses the point of the Council's affirmation, or rather, 'affirmation by negation'. The Fathers were respecting the inherent mystery of the person of Christ and did so in words by remaining apophatic in their teaching by stating, "these things are untrue, of the rest, remain silent". It is a true understanding of that mystery that motivated this approach. It could go too far and lead to heresy to do otherwise. For Wilken this is a lack of clarity, for me, an example of wisdom in the face of the living God's presence. Moreover, a passing remark that Augustine is the premier Father leaves me as an Orthodox a little quizzical. We can say that he is the most widely read Latin theologian, but for us he lacks the Eastern mind and is very much a product and producer of what seperates the Latin and Greek theologies.

If you have an interest in history, you would also enjoy Wilken's Remembering the Christian Past and the works of Georges Florovsky. On the question of the Hellenization of the gospel, a la Harnak, which Wilken (and nearly all modern scholars) rejects thoroughly, see also Florovsky and Martin Hengel's works. Hurtado's Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity is worth buying and having near the desk. Another up and coming patristic scholar from whom we will be reading and hearing much more in the coming years, God willing, is John Behr, dean and professor of Patristics at St. Vladimir's. His new book, "The Way to Nicea" is a very helpful guide on the pre-Nicene Christiological tradition and would make a great companion to Wilken's book. Enjoy!

Eucharist, Bishop, Church: The Unity of the Church in the Divine Eucharist and the Bishop During the First Three Centuries

by John Zizioulas

I found this book to be very informative regarding the nature of ecclesiastical communion and the self-understanding (if such a reflective process even existed I have my doubts) of the Church in the early centuries. While ecclesiology as such is not strictly speaking a subject of dogma, since The Father, Son and Spirit are the center, it is useful in an age when there is such misunderstanding and confusion about ecclesiology on the part of many Protestants, Roman Catholics and Orthodox.

Zizioulas, one of the world's leadingtheologians and ecclesiologists (someone who thinks about hwhat it means "to be Church"), demonstrates that the notion of Church centers around the interrelationship of Eucharist, Bishop, and Laity. Not positing authority in the power of the bishop, nor even in the people, but in the place of Christ's presence- the bread and wine as partaken of by the people of God. The total Christ, Head and Body, is manifested in the eucharistic celebration of the risen Lord, given catholicity a qualitative and not a quantitative meaning. That means that we are the Church catholic when we gather together- we are the fullness of the faith at that point.

This raises the question, "does the Eucharist make the Church or vice versa?" It seems that Zizioulas would say both, but with the particular emphasis upon the former. Church qua Church only dangles off the mouth of the Father. It is always done unto, to use the phrase of Fr. Tarazi (which is why it is not its own object of study). But the context for this dangling is, according to Zizioulas, most manifest in the liturgy. So ultimately the notions of bishop, laity, eucharist are all interdependent. None exist without the other and they are continually in reference to one another.

Eucharistic ecclesiology has weaknesses when the attempt is made to make it cover too many bases, but it does seem to be the primal orientation of the early centuries and has received a wide resurgence in both East and West under such notables as Zizioulas, Afanasief, Meyendorff, de Lubac.

Other books of interest would include Zizioulas' masterpiece, "Being as Communion", which is, in my view, one of the best books to be read about any sphere of theology, "The Eucharist Makes the Church" by McPartlan (a comparison of Zizioulas and Henri de Lubac), "For the Life of the World" by Schmemann, and Werner Elert's classic study "Eucharist and Church Fellowship in the First Four Centuries". Enjoy!

The Pacifist Option: The Moral Argument Against War in Eastern Orthodox Theology

by Alexander F. C. Webster

"[T]he fight for our planet, physical and spiritual, a fight of cosmic proportions, is not a vague matter of the future; it has already started. The forces of Evil have already begun their decisive offensive.... Even if we are spared destruction by war, life will have to change in order not to parish on its own. We cannot avoid reassessing the fundamental definitions of human life and human society. Is it true that man is above everything? Is there no Superior Spirit above him?" Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Harvard Commencement Address, June 8, 1978.

Since the Orthodox tradition does not have, to my knowledge, a systematic doctrine of just war theory akin the Roman Church, this book is highly useful in formulating an informed opinion on the subject, arguing the Eastern approach has a strong tendency toward justice through peace.
I still struggle with this philosophically and, now that we are in Iraq and Afghanistan, the question becomes practical. When does violence in order to protect become legitamate? This book is VERY helpful for me. As a counterpoint, read C. S. Lewis' essay "Why I am not a Pacifist".

The author, an Orthodox priest and sometimes-military chaplain, is also a Lecturer of Religion at American University.

The Free Church and the Early Church: Bridging the Historical and Theological Divide

by D.H. Williams

This is a fantastic book and I recommend it highly, especially for Protestants and even more so for those who are of the Free Church variety- Baptists, Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, etc. Topics covered include the canon of Scripture and the notions behind it, tradition and the nature and role of authority in the Church.

My critique of this book, along with others that Williams has written, is that it does not go far enough, and bear in mind this is coming from an ex-Protestant (Lutheran CMS). You see, it is true that there are many commonalities between the free church movement and the early church, and this book shows that and helps other "free churchers" lose their suspicion of tradition and recover from some of their typical historical amnesia. However, it reminds me of something that Frank Schaeffer said in a lecture about 16 years ago, and I think it is worth at least considering in relation to historically-minded Protestants of both the magisterial and non-magisterial traditions. In response to someone who said that they have decided that they agree with the Church Fathers and personally believe their doctrines, and thus are in continuity with them, Schaeffer replied, "That is like saying that since you enjoy things about French culture and have studied the language you are therefore French." And that is my other point about this book. Suspiciously lacking (and something I have noticed in such works) is a full discussion of baptism, eucharist, ordination and grace. This is more of a litmus test to continuity with the past than free church historians usually give due, and at the root of patristic ecclesiology.

Some books to consider reading in this regard are Werner Elert's Eucharist and Church Fellowship in the First Four Centuries, Common Ground: An Introduction to Eastern Christianity for the American Christian by Jordan Bajis and The Fathers of the Church, Expanded Edition.

At the Origins of Christian Worship: The Context and Character of Earliest Christian Devotion

by Larry W. Hurtado

The great Harnack thought that were the historian of dogma to include within his bag of evidence the liturgy, he would be giving himself over to superstition outright. This book counters and corrects such a claim, which is also a premise in the works of the late Jaroslav Pelikan. Distinct from paganism by its monotheism, and distinct from Judaism with its binitarian (not ditheistic) devotion to Christ, Hurtado argues that the early, and limited, amount of liturgical evidence from the Christians offers an insight into the Christian understanding of God with an application to today's worship.

The whole question of who Jesus was thought to be by his followers and their immediate successors, and thus who we are to think he is, is tied directly not only to the scriptures of the old and new testaments, but to how they were written for and used in the Church's liturgical worship. Make no mistake about it, Christianity is a liturgical religion through and through, and without this hermeneutical principle in place, how we understand Christ will be skewed. To this extent Hurtado's work comes as a welcome read on the whole, since it places Christian worship in its true sitz im leben of Jewish, Roman and Greek religion and public life.

His summary of public and private worship during the late BCE and early CE is worth the cost of the book, fitting it all in the first 39 pages. He moves from there to consider a few key themes of Christian worship: intimacy among believers, especially around the Eucharist, equal participation of all regardless of socio-economic standing through baptism into Christ, fervor and zeal, perception as the redeemed Body of Christ on earth, eschatological hope and participation in the kingdom of heaven here and now as a foretaste and finally, charismatic potency, something that is often overlooked in modern accounts.

Following this, Hurtado considers the strong binitarian nature of their worship, with the Father as the one who is accessed and praised in the Son, Jesus Christ. Hurtado proposes that the role of the Spirit was more of the whole ambiance, imbued with the Spirit's potency, which is the "same Spirit whom Jesus has sent". This is a very useful section for those who believe Jesus "became a God" only in the 3rd of 4th century for political reasons after Constantine. (If you have any background with the primary sources, you understand quickly that this late deification theory is a bunk proposal, long outdated, used to sell books under controversial titles.) Readers may be interested to pursue this idea further in Hurtado's amazingly detailed door stopper, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity or the short version, How On Earth Did Jesus Become A God?: Historical Questions About Earliest Devotion To Jesus.

Finally, Hurtado tries to apply the previous knowledge to our modern context of confused, silly and downright heretical worship that tries to pass itself off as Christian. He does it rather gently with the typical calls to being clear who is being worshiped (not confusing the persons/roles of the Trinity, e.g. the Father did not die on the cross, etc), not being patriarchal (whatever that means for worship he doesn't exactly say, only that we are not create God in a male image after our own likeness) and worship as a participation in the heavenly worship even now (a shock that most Protestants are wary of given their soft belief or downright rejection of the "communion of saints" idea from Hebrews 11 and 12). See Any Friend of God's Is a Friend of Mine for some food for thought.

There are only a few points that I think could be better explained or corrected. First, he claims early on (46) that the early church had no priesthood (presbyteros). Well, perhaps it is semantics, and I suppose is depends on how you define it, but if it means "someone in a position of spiritual authority who leads the community and deals with a religious sacrifice/offering to God", then by all means they did have a priesthood. Why? Because the early Church understood their Eucharist as an offering of thanksgiving (the meaning of the word) unto God, which was a participation in the "once for all" sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for our salvation. And we know from the NT and the witness of people like Saint Ignatius of Antioch and Saint Polycarp that certain men, not women, officiated at the gatherings doing this action. The NT calls them overseers, which is an English translation of episkopos/oi, which is another way of saying "Bishops". The fact is that the distinction between the episcopacy and a parish priest/elder was blurry in the first century and even in the second in some parts (see Acts 20:17 and Titus 1:5,7), but the role of priest/elder only developed when the house churches expanded in a given city beyond the liturgical participation of the "one bishop to every city" rule and Christ's return was not as soon as expected. In a sense, the Church had to be more structured for the foreseeable future, which could be a long time. But the liturgical action was the same, which is the point. See Elders in Every City: The Origin an Role of the Ordained Ministry and Apostolic Succession for two brief introductions to the topic.

That early worship was rather "informal" may not be the case, and I am not sure that is the only perspective to take from the primary sources. Whatever "relatively informal" means, it doesn't mean "make it up as you go along". Yes, there is was certainly a place for that, but the main structure of readings, homily, meal was set based upon synagogue and temple worship. It was still a very Jewish event. See The Shape of the Liturgy and In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity.

I also feel that Hurtado could make much more of the significance of both baptism and the Eucharist, since they are defining liturgical elements in what it means to "do Church". It seems he stayed out of any areas of theology that may ruffle feathers. In this regard, please see Jeremias' two brief studies Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries and The Origins of Infant Baptism: A Further Study in Reply to Kurt Aland and Werner Elert's magisterial Eucharist and Church Fellowship in the First Four Centuries . Christians were very much of one mind that they participated in the body and blood of Christ and were born again in union with Jesus through participation in baptism for remission of sins (little kids, too, and babes in arms) and regeneration. He skimps out on the Eucharist part, but does show that baptism was more than a "me and Jesus" affair. His explanation of what it means to be "called out" (ekklesia) is very good, however.

His ending discussion on gender, God the Father and idolatry is interesting, but I am not sure where he goes with it. He writes that we are not to think God is a male, so males run the show. It is unclear if he means that woman can therefore lead the Eucharistic assembly as the bishop or elder, or if he means that men and women are otherwise equal, or what. Maybe I need to reread him. Be that as it may, I think it is not a proper use of liturgical theology, if this is what he means to say, that woman can officiate the Eucharist since we are all one in Christ with no male or female, rich or poor, etc. The elder/priest/bishop represents Christ, serves as an icon of Christ. I am not entirely convinced that this excludes woman from that role, but I would not make that sort of argument based upon talk of God as Father. It has everything to do with Jesus and his role, not the Father. When St Paul says that we function as images of the Father and not vice versa, this is not what he is writing about, so I wonder where to apply Hurtado's theme. Since the book is about liturgy, it seems to apply it there, but he never comes out and says it that way. On this point, see Speaking the Christian God: The Holy Trinity and the Challenge of Feminism, This Is My Name Forever: The Trinity & Gender Language for God and Women and the Priesthood.

Lastly, in the context of his argument about gender he seems to say we cannot use images in worship, citing Exodus. Yet he could go on to cite a few verses further where God commands Moses to use images and he fails to see that post-incarnation we very much may image God in Christ, along with the saints, who are deified by his grace alone, which is done very early on as seen at Dura Europas and Rome. Seems a little truncated in the conclusion department. And that the book lacks an index is unacceptable. Seriously, what text of a scholary nature should go without an index? A major pet peeve! Still definitely worth the read.

Exploring the Inner Universe

Exploring the Inner Universe
by Archimandrite Roman Braga

Fr. Roman Braga, a priest-monk of the Romanian Orthodox Church, confessor for Christ and a founder of modern Orthodox monasticism in both the U.S. and South America, has blessed us with the publication of this book, part biography, part interview and part essay- all very edifying. The depth of his words come not only from a life spent nurtured in the monastic tradition of Orthodoxy, with its emphasis upon humility, love, work and prayer. For over 11 years he was imprisoned under the Communist regime in Romania, including several years in solitude confinement. Most of the others went insane, yet like so many confessors of the Faith before and since, Fr. Roman delved into his heart through prayer to meet God. In fact, he says it was his prison experience that turned him into a monk, so to speak.

Although 85 years old, I spoke with him recently at the Dormition of the Mother of God monastery and he is still quite stong. While reading the prayers in commemoration of the faithful departed, I stood behind him, looking at the scars on his head from the beatings he took years ago. I asked him once, what he would do if he saw any of his old guards who were so cruel to him. He simply said without hesitation, "I have seen them. I love them." That is where this book is coming from. Please read this book. Each sentence is full of love, humility and penetrating truths like the brush strokes of an icon of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I also ask that you consider reading two other modern classics that will certainly uplift and inspire you to love God and neighbor with a renewed sense of God's presence and will in your life: Mountain of Silence and Father Arseny. Both are true gems waiting in the field for you to uncover. If not now, when?

Conversations With C. S. Lewis: Imaginative Discussions About Life, Christianity and God

Conversations With C. S. Lewis: Imaginative Discussions About Life, Christianity and God
by Robert Velarde

Since my teen years Lewis has played a large role in forming and articulating my thoughts about not only religion, but academics, literature and much else. I try to read as much as I can about the man to gain new insights from his thought, and this book is one of the best introductions in that regard. Reminiscent of Peter Kreeft's Socrates Meets Jesus: History's Greatest Questioner Confronts the Claims of Christ, Velarde's main character finds himself in dialogue with Lewis while at hospital. They begin to wax philosophical, and Lewis takes Tom on a journey that recounts the main historical, philosophical and theological developments in Lewis' life, all the while in dialogue with Tom's own doubtful worldviews.

Again, this has been one of the more enjoyable books about Lewis (and theology/philosophy) that I have read in a while because while it is engagingly written it cuts to the existential importance of the ultimate questions, and does so in a manner that is not preachy or cheesy. It's also a very quick read if you want it to be. It really should be turned into a film.

If you are interested in Lewis and have read most of his books, you may find these useful as well: Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis, The Life and Faith of C.S. Lewis: The Magic Never Ends, Narnia & Beyond: Chronicles of CS Lewis, The Magic Never Ends - The Life and Work of C.S. Lewis, THROUGH JOY AND BEYOND, The Magic Never Ends: An Oral History of the Life and Work of C.S. Lewis (the book) and C. S. Lewis: Images of His World.

Wishing you the best on your journey further in.