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by Daniel B. Clendenin
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Baker Academic (1994-11)
ISBN: 0801025885
EAN: 9780801025884
Dewy Decimal #: 200
Paperback: 176 pages
SKU: 092808009
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: some underlining...minor wear on cover
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
An explanation and appraisal of Orthodoxy compares its essential theological themes with doctrines of evangelical Protestantism.
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Customer Reviews
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Good but not great
Rating  (3)
Date: 2007-08-28
I picked up this book for cheap and had a free weekend so I figured I would give it a read. I think the author does a good job of finding common ground and explaining some of the theology of the Orthodox church. Which in all fairness was his goal . . . But he sticks with the things that we can easily share common ground on and makes it look like the divisions are simply semantics. I thought it convenient that he left out all he other stuff that makes peoples heads spin. I mean when you get to the end of the book you are kinda thinking well why don't we all just hold hands and sing a chorus or two. Thats not even close to the reality of things I am afraid.
So while I wasn't so impressed it was an OK read. His perspective was interesting. And it provides a good book for me to give to my in-laws when trying to explain to them that I really haven't gone off the deep end by joining the Orthodox church "See mom . . we really are just the same . . . .just different decorations . . . " and that I am thankful for. it helps that it is written by a protestant. However if you want real church history and a real overview of the church and her theology I am going to have to concur with everyone else that "The Orthodox Church" by T.K. Ware is far and away a much better source.
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Useful
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-08-07
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I am very grateful for Clendenin for assembling his collection of essays by prominent Orthodox theologians and historians, since many are out of print in their original publications. See here for that useful collection: Eastern Orthodox Theology: A Contemporary Reader.
However, this book I found to be rather curious and misleading at the end. It is always tricky to critique someone else's religious tradition (although I attempt it all the time), and I am not sure that the author has been completely successful in representing the views of eastern Christianity with accuracy, which then leads to me to wonder which version of Orthodoxy he rejects.
He leaves aside discussions of the saints, Mary and the sacraments (mysteries) as the subject of discussion after one has already examined the nature of tradition, scripture, deification, icons and negative theology (Apophaticism). This makes some sense since they are the distinctive doctrines that most Protestants, especially Evangelicals, have very little exposure to via their Roman Catholic friends (or, more likely, based upon the wild Romaphobic stereotypes adrift in the evangelical subculture). On the whole he is presents a very sympathetic view of Orthodoxy, agreeing that a sense of wonder and mystery should accompany the more analytical, logical theological structure of his own tradition. On the whole I think he is fair.
My only questions would surround the following point. He mentions that the dividing difference between Orthodox and Evangelicals is ecclesiological, but, unless I missed it, he never goes into that point in the previous chapters, leaving me a little lost to the point. If it is so important, why was it overlooked? Perhaps he means that since Orthodox reject the branch theory of Church history (what I would see as "Bride of Frankenstein" ecclesiology, with everyone have a body part of the bride), Orthodox somehow deny the work of God in the lives of non-Orthodox Christians, Catholic or Protestant. But Orthodoxy does not teach that. It surprises me that he would make such a claim, especially since he was the editor of the above-mentioned collection of essays. I would assume he actually read the authors to make the editorial decisions involved. So while Orthodox indeed claim to be the only and true Bride of Christ, it does not follow that the Holy Spirit is limited to the boundaries of that Church. The Spirit blows where it will. Or, as Bishop Kallistos Ware has said, "We are bound by the sacraments. God is not bound by them."
Buy this book, but also take the time to read other works on the subject, including these helpful resources: Common Ground: An Introduction to Eastern Christianity for the American Christian, The Orthodox Way, How Are We Saved?: The Understanding of Salvation in the Orthodox Tradition, Discovering the Rich Heritage of Orthodoxy.
Regarding his statement that the quality of Muslim treatment toward Orthodox is "a matter of some debate" is more than off the wall. Please refer to The Dhimmi: Jews & Christians Under Islam.
My other review often are about ecumenical topics, so they also may be useful.
May all be one.
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America's "fourth major religion" introduced
Rating (4)
Date: 2006-05-17
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
Orthodox Christianity is little known to mainstream Americans, be they Christian or otherwise. It seems an exotic import from Russia, Greece, and the Balkans, and as foreign to American Protestantism or even American Roman Catholicism as Tibetan Buddhism. Moreover, there's a great deal of skepticism and even outright rancor directed at Orthodoxy by many Protestants and Roman Catholics. The former see it as unbiblical (whatever that charge means) and the latter see it as a challenge. Finally, too many Orthodox in this country take such an exclusivistic position when it comes to salvation (only the Orthodox Church is the one true church) that they only encourage wariness or dislike by non-Orthodox. (Each of these positions is reflected, by the way, in earlier amazon.com reviews of this book.)
Daniel Clendenin's _Eastern Orthodox Christianity_ has the great merit of introducing the "fourth major religion" to Americans in a reader-friendly and remarkably accurate (for an outsider) way. Other introductions to Orthodoxy are just as good (e.g., Timothy Ware's _The Orthodox Church_), but they're written by insiders. Clendenin is an evangelical Protestant who spent some years teaching in Moscow and absorbing the doctrines and liturgy of Orthodoxy. He writes with a great deal of sensitivity and sympathy.
Clendenin begins with a short history of the Eastern Orthodox Church and its break with the Western Latin Church. Then he focuses on its doctrine, dealing chapter-by-chapter with its understanding of God, the importance of icons and incarnationism, pneumatology, and theological anthropology. He concludes with a couple of chapters that spell out his reservations about Orthodoxy, and his reasons for remaining a Protestant, in spite of his agreement with many aspects of Orthodoxy. (An earlier reviewer who criticized Clendenin's "uncritical approach" apparently skipped these chapters.)
Clendenin is particularly good in his discussion of apophasis, and his analysis of Orthodoxy's skepticism of rational "worded" theology and its embrace and celebration of mystery. His chapter on anthropology, in which he focuses on theosis--a much neglected Christian fundamental here in the West--is also masterful.
The chapter on icons isn't as well thought-through. A Protestant confused about the significance of icons for Orthodox Christians isn't likely to get a great deal of clarification here. Clendenin also occasionally cites Patristic quotations already cited by secondary authors, rather than going to the original texts themselves, and this is a bit troubling. But it must also be pointed out that one of the remarkably refreshing features of his book is his generous quotations of early Greek Fathers who aren't often studied in the West.
All in all, Clendenin's book is an invaluable resource for outsiders interested in the "fourth major religion" in this country. Highly recommended, particularly when read along the accompanying anthology _Eastern Orthodox Theology: A Contemporary Reader_.
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Could have been better
Rating (3)
Date: 2006-03-06
2 out of 9 customers found this reveiw helpful
I think the author did a lot of work on this book and it is helpful but it really reads like a book written by someone trying to convert Protestants to Orthodoxy. The mystery is why Clendenin is still Protestant. The book does not make, as I recall, one criticism of the theology or practice of Orthodoxy. For Protestants who would like to examine Orthodoxy biblically (e.g., evaluate the biblical underpinnings of icons, pro and con) this would not be a good choice. I would recommend "The Three Great Churches" (Rials) or "the Gospel According to Rome" (McCarthy). Even though the latter is about Catholicism, many of the issues are the same for Orthodoxy. All that said, this book and its companion (the reader) are very helpful and illuminating for those wanting to understand Orthodoxy from a theologian's perspective. The graphics are very good and it is very well documented.
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Orthodoxy from a cultural and historical perspective. Very solid but not comprehensive.
Rating  (5)
Date: 2006-02-09
2 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
Daniel B. Clendenin has done his research. Not only does he have the credentials (Ph.D. in Theological and Religious Studies, Drew University) but he has also spent some years teaching religion at the Moscow State University (right after the communist soviet union collapsed in '91) right in the heart of Slavic Orthodoxy - (Moscow has also the nickname of the 3rd Rome, in christian history).
Considering that Clendenin has been and still is a Presbyterian, it is very assuring to read this book and realize how non-polemical and theologically un-biased it is. A great companion for this read is Clendenin's other book "Eastern Orthodox Theology - A Contemporary Reader."
This book is written from a Protestant and Western perspective. Basically Clendenin tries to explain Eastern Orthodoxy to the average Western man and woman or your average Protestant churchgoer. A lot of this introduction has to do with the cultural and mystery/mystic-driven aspect of Orthodoxy.
He starts the book with two chapters on church history, a great foundation necessary to understand the early development, isolation, and ethos of Orthodoxy.
The following four chapters are discussions and explanations of four important aspects of the Orthodox faith and theology:
3) Apophatic theology and the mystery of God,
4) Christ's image and the use and meaning of icons in Orthodoxy,
5) On the authority of Scripture and Christian Tradition, and
6) Theosis - a very Orthodox term and concept.
The last chapter (#7 - "Hermeneutics of Love") presents balanced analysis and questions challenging the Orthodox believer as well as the Protestant Christian. This chapter is the one where I had the most to learn from.
As a result of reading this book and the companion I have a much better understanding of Orthodoxy (as a Protestant Christian) and have things to talk about with my Orthodox fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Other books I would recommend on the topic of Orthodoxy are Timothy (or Kallistos) Ware - "Orthodox Church" and especially "Orthodox Way."
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