The Orthodox Book Club

[Prawnik]

Hi, pachomi33! Welcome to TAW. I've heard of that first book, but haven't read it yet.

I've read "Being as Communion" - it is extremely deep, if you're anything like me, you'll have to read the first few chapters three times before you get any of it.

 

[Marjorie]

Hi new to this site. But has anyone recommended Being as Communion by +Zizoulios, and Ancestral Sin by Fr. Romanides? They really helped highlight the dogmatic differences with the West.Blessings

I've read Being as Communion-- I wrote my junior essay (for school) on its thesis as it relates to a novel we read (http://daphneisgood.tripod.com/essays/id7.html.)

VERY difficult book but it changed the way I view life itself.

In IC XC,
Marjorie

 

[walking.away.123]

The Orthodox Church and The Orthodoxy Way by Bp. Ware - goes without saying, but no one said it yet.
Facing East by Fredrica Mathews-Green - especially good for women in my opinion. I'm not one, but I just thought it would be.
The Book of Mystical Chapters by Fr. John Anthony McGuckin - selections from the Philokalia, for those who don't want to dive in too fast.
The second half of Christ the Eternal Tao by Heiromonk Damascene - The first half was a lot of poetry in the tradition of the DaoDeJing (Tao teh king) which I personally didn't prefer. The second half is an excellent overview of Orthodox spirituallity.

I've heard the Bible is pretty good, too.

DO NOT READ In the Spirit of Happyness by the monks of New Skete - I won't call it unOrthodox, but the first half sets out to tear down many things Orthodox belive in or practice (demons, the Jesus Prayer, ect.)

What would anyone recomend by Fr. Seraphim Rose?
bd

 

[xenia]

What would anyone recomend by Fr. Seraphim Rose?

Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future.

It's a good critique of the New Age movement.

 

[Prawnik]

Has anyone listed "Light in the Darkness" by Sergei Fudel? It is a sad and hopeful book, a very hard look at the Church in the darkest days of the Soviet Union, written by a man who twice spent time in prison for his faith.

 

[Nickolai]

DO NOT READ In the Spirit of Happyness by the monks of New Skete - I won't call it unOrthodox, but the first half sets out to tear down many things Orthodox belive in or practice (demons, the Jesus Prayer, ect.)

What would anyone recomend by Fr. Seraphim Rose?
bd

I don't recommend anyone have anything to do with NEW SKETE. They are rather UnOrthodox in their monastic practice as well as their theology. and rumor has it that they still honer the pope. (That is only a rumor, I have NOT been able to verify it.)

 

[xenia]

I am reading Salt of the Earth by St. Paul Florensky, about Elder Isodore. It is a wonderful book! You all will love it!

 

[Wiffey]

I just started reading the Orthodox Bible Study companion on the Epistle to the Romans, written by L. Farley. My husband and I are both looking forward to purchasing the Orthodox Study Bible when it is finished (both OT & NT).

 

[ufonium2]

DO NOT READ In the Spirit of Happyness by the monks of New Skete - I won't call it unOrthodox, but the first half sets out to tear down many things Orthodox belive in or practice (demons, the Jesus Prayer, ect.)

What would anyone recomend by Fr. Seraphim Rose?

Ugh! New Skete! They have made me seriously doubt whether we should put any stock in whether or not a group is "canonical."

A good place to read and read about Fr. Seraphim Rose is in the periodical "The Orthodox Word." It's published by the St. Herman of Alaska brotherhood in Platina, CA.

The also publish the Optina Elders series, which I can't recommend enough.

 

[xenia]

The Orthodox Word is my favorite magazine.

 

[Xpycoctomos]

Common Ground: An Introduction to Eastern Christianity by J. Bajis.

If you have any friends (especially protestants) who don't understand the Church's view on Sola Scriptura and Tradition and how and why we differ from the West (namely Catholics), this is a GREAT book. Pretty scholaryly, but not so much taht you get lost. It's kind of in a textbook fashion. You can get it from Amazon for as low as $7.50 used (totally worth it) and it is not just some quick Q and A pmaphlet but gives pretty good indepth explanations and background to the most important issues that a Western Christian asks about when confronted withe Orhtodox Christianity. It is also very honest yet charitable... especially towards Protestants, but it does not bash Catholics either.

Agian... Mountain of Silence... excellent book.. I need to read it again. Same goes for Great Lent.

John

 

[Rilian]

Anyway, to get off of the subject of bad novels written by Orthodox, let's talk about some good novels written by an Orthodox: Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

I'd gladly read either of them again for a book discussion (even though I'm reading them again now for Russian Lit).

Have you read Dead Souls by Gogol?

 

[ExOrienteLux]

Have you read Dead Souls by Gogol?

YES!!!! That book is hilarious!

On an Orthodox note, however, has anyone here ever read the periodical Road to Emmaus? I've seen an ad for it in some magazine I was reading (might have been Touchstone or First Things) and it looked good. I was wondering if I should shell out $25 per year for four issues, though...

 

[Apostolos]

how about Eudokimov's The Holy Ghost in the Orthodox tradition?

 

[Euphrosynos]

If you believe that Orthodoxy is the true faith and not a universalist, there are some great books and reviews at the http://www.EuphrosynosCafe.com with new ones every month!

 

[Grand_Duchess-Elizaveta]

If you believe that Orthodoxy is the true faith and not a universalist, there are some great books and reviews at the EuphrosynosCafe.comwith new ones every month!

Hi, Euphrosynos! I haven't seen you here before. I hope we see more of you. We need more clergy.

 

[Suzannah]

St. Paul Florensky's "Salt of the Earth: the life of Elder Isidore".

This book, like no other, brings you into the heart, as opposed to the abstract mind, of Orthodoxy. Talk about "personal relationship with Jesus"....Elder Isidore explifies this to an extent I have rarely seen....

 

[Euphrosynos]

Thank you Elizabeth. I have been here before and unfortunately was as rude as I was being treated by others. Now that I have been ordained, I try not to act so unChristian. BTW the direct link to the Euphrosynos Cafe book club is on the newly designed portal page at http://euphrosynoscafe.com/portal/index.html

I want to apologize to those of you I have sparred with here before and I humbly ask your forgiveness. Most of those threads got deleted for not being SCOBA/SCOOCH friendly, so luckily my past behaviour is not on display. Group hug or Slavic triple-kiss, whatever your preference.

P.S. The EUphrosynos Cafe does now have a World Orthodoxy section if any of you are interested. It can be found at http://euphrosynoscafe.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=12

 

[Suzannah]

Thank you Elizabeth. I have been here before and unfortunately was as rude as I was being treated by others. Now that I have been ordained, I try not to act so unChristian. BTW the direct link to the Euphrosynos Cafe book club is on the newly designed portal page at http://euphrosynoscafe.com/portal/index.html

I want to apologize to those of you I have sparred with here before and I humbly ask your forgiveness. Most of those threads got deleted for not being SCOBA/SCOOCH friendly, so luckily my past behaviour is not on display. Group hug or Slavic triple-kiss, whatever your preference.

P.S. The EUphrosynos Cafe does now have a World Orthodoxy section if any of you are interested. It can be found at http://euphrosynoscafe.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=12

Well, I wasn't here then, so I have no idea what you are talking about. I'm happy to see you here....God bless you!

 

[Julio]

Dear ones in Christ,

There are six books which comprise, by far, the very best of my spiritual reading over this past year, and which have not yet been mentioned in this thread:

1) Monastic Wisdom: The Letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast. Florence:St Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery, 1998. [Reading this book, one understands why the priest entreats God during the Divine Liturgy that he will grant us sobriety of soul...]

2) Archimandrite Ioanichie (Balan). Shepherd of Souls: The Life and Teachings of Elder Cleopa, Master of Inner Prayer (1912-1998). Platina: St Herman's Press, 2000. [I have become acustomed to give a copy of this book to our catechumens while I prepare then for baptism because I know of no better way for them to enter in contact with something far beyond our poor Church life --the everyday implications of the very life and phonima of the Holy Church-- short of moving them to Sihastria or Ostrog!]

3) Elder Cleopa (Ilie). The Truth of Our Faith: Discourses from Holy Scripture on the Tenets of Christian Orthodoxy. Thessalonica/London:Uncut Mountain Press, 2000. [Suffice it to say that which the people said of Our Lord when the fullness of time had come, and the Word dwelt among us: "He speaks as one with authority".]

4) Protopresbyter Dumitru Staniloae. Orthodox Spirituality: A Practical Guide for the Faithful and a Definitive Manual for the Scholar. South Canaan:St Tikhon's Seminary Press, 2002. [This is like a mirror, and a powerful examination light, to help us comb the depths of our souls, our affections, and our motivations.]

5) Protopresbyter Radomir Nikchevich and Vesna Nikchevich. The Mystery of the Wonderworker of Ostrog. Cetinje:Svetigora, [date?]. [Both the story of the transformation of the young man who comes to the Ostrog Monastery, to the relics of the saint, genuinely seeking, as well as the introduction to the life and miracles of St Basil --glory of Orthodox Montenegro-- cause a radical shift in the outlook of as many of us as may have a flawed expectation (and experience!) of the life in Christ, and cause in one the burning desire to live supernaturally, by God's grace.]

6) Demetrios Aslanadis and Monk Damascene Grigoriatis. Apostle to Zaire: The Life and Legacy of Blessed Father Cosmas of Grigoriou. Thessalonica/London:Uncut Mountain Press, 2001. [Again, the life of the Church, the mind of the Church, shine through every page, and teach us converts to never settle for less than what has been handed down to us from the days of the Apostles, no matter how preacarious our situation; for to do otherwise, reveals a profound lack of faith in the power of God, who could make the desert flourish, and cities become deserts.]