Books on Eastern Orthodox doctrine

[rgrove]

What are some good ones? Any good books that are along the genre of a Protestant "Systematic Theology"? I have many Protestant ones and a couple Catholic ones, but nothing from the Eastern Orthodox tradition.

In Christ,
Ron

[Soulfyre]

rgrove said:

What are some good ones? Any good books that are along the genre of a Protestant "Systematic Theology"? I have many Protestant ones and a couple Catholic ones, but nothing from the Eastern Orthodox tradition.

In Christ,
Ron

I recently spoke to PaxJohn. Of course, the Orthodox celebration of Christmas begins on December 25 (The Feast of the Nativity), and continues through Epiphany (January 6), so his particpation may be a little "spotty", but I am looking for him to compile something here. Meanwhile, he has an excellent website called St. Aristobulus Orthodox Links Page for Religious Topics--whew! But the site has excellent information and links. John also has a very wry (and enjoyable) sense of humor!

God bless you and thank you for your faithful participation,

Matthew (soulfyre)

[Mysterion]

You're not going to find any sytematic theology in Orthodoxy, (as you learn more about Orthodoxy you will find out why). I would start with Daniel B. Clendenin's, Eastern Orthodox Theology: A Contemporary Reader
You can get that from Amazon, or Borders. From there you can check out material by the contributors, which includes some of the most important Othodox Theologians of the modern era.

Bishop Kallistos Ware's book is good too.

[rgrove]

I've been reading quite a lot of EO and early church literature lately. I did find something that looks to be similar to a western style systematic theology.

Holy Cross Bookstore

The Experience of God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Volume One: Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God by Dumitru Staniloae

The Experience of God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Volume Two: The World – Creation and Deification by Dumitru Stanilaoe

UPS says they should get here next Tuesday. Another very helpful resource for me has been John Damascene's "An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith". It can be found online at the bottom of this page:

www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-09/TOC.htm

Very interesting reading. I'll be doing a review of it sometime soon.

Yours In Christ,
Ron

[rgrove]

Okay. My wife is no longer working because of the complications with the pregnancy and we don't really intend for her to go back to work afterwards so I can't buy books like I have in the past any longer (twelve years of dual income no kids to one income and kid is a big swing! )... Anyhow, I'll list what I have below and if there's anything that is a "must have" please let me know. Otherwise I think I'm pretty much done with basic purchases for the time being.

- The Philokalia - All four volumes
- The Experience of God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Volume One: Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God by Dumitru Staniloae
- The Experience of God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology,Volume Two: The World - Creation and Deification by Dumitru Staniloae
- Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes By John Meyendorff
- Catholicity and the Church by John Meyendorff
- Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey
- Gregory Palamas: The Triads
- Symeon, the New Theologian: The Discourses
- Maximus Confessor: Selected Writings
- Fundamentals of Orthodoxy by Vladimir Lossky
- The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church by Vladimir Lossky
- The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 1 by Jaroslav Pelikan
- The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 2 by Jaroslav Pelikan
- On the Holy Icons by St Theodore the Studite
- Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works
- Theodoret of Cyrus: Commentary on the Letters of St Paul, Volume One
- Theodoret of Cyrus: Commentary on the Letters of St Paul, Volume Two
- The Way to Nicaea - Volume One By John Behr
- The Nicene Faith: Formation Of Christian Theology - Volume Two By John Behr
- The Westminster Handbook to Patristic Theology By John Anthony McGuckin
- Little Russian Philokalia: Abbot Nazarius of Valaam By Fr. Seraphim Rose (Translator)
- Little Russian Philokalia : St. Seraphim of Sarov By Fr. Seraphim Rose (Translator)
- St. John Chrysostom: Baptismal Instruction By Paul W. Harkins (Translator)
- The Apocalypse: In the Teachings of Ancient Christianity By Archbishop Averky Taushev
- The Primacy of Peter: Essays in Ecclesiology and the Early Church By John Meyendorff (Editor)
- Isaiah Through the Ages By Johanna Manley (Editor)
- The Way of a Pilgrim By WALTER J. CISZEK (Foreword), HELEN BACOVCIN (Translator)
- At the End of Time: The Eschatological Expectations of the
Church


In addition, I already owned the Ante-Nicene, Nicene, and Post Nicene church fathers collection. I'm still waiting on delivery from St Vladimir's Seminary Press (they haven't exactly been quick...) and a couple from Amazon (not surprisingly mostly from St. Vladimir's Press as well). If there is a *MUST HAVE* book I'm missing here then please let me know.

Yours In Christ,
Ron

[melinky]

Ron, you amaze me with your ability to read and retain so much, so rapidly! While I've always enjoyed reading and used to go through a book or two a week (before my son was born, LOL) I've never been able to easily retain what I've read.

Melinda

[rgrove]

I anticipate having the same problem with time after my son is born.

I'm actually pretty thick which is one of the reasons I read a lot. I generally need to see multiple perspectives on something before it really starts to sink in and I can discuss something intelligently. I read many books over the course of several months on Reformed theology before I actually came to understand it. I have more books on Baptism from different perspectives than most people have any topic... (I didn't go from Roman Catholic to Baptist overnight, it took several years for that to happen actually). I have even more books on eschatology from even more perspectives than Baptism as I found out how much of an indirect impact eschatalogical beliefs impact other beliefs (primarily via hermeneutics). In any case, it's all to overcome my thickness. I see Kenny, for example, catching onto many things much quicker than I ever did (which I compensated for by reading a lot).

Yours In Christ,
Ron