Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches Books

Book SynopsisA collection of essays that explore, from a multiplicity of viewpoints, the philosophical and theological dimensions of the essence-energy distinction in Orthodox Christianity.Trade Review"A valuable addition to the dialogue between Eastern and Western Christianity, this book will be of great interest to any reader seeking a rigorously academic insight into the wealth of scholarly opinion about the essence-energy distinction." The American Journal of Biblical Theology, Vol 14, No 19 "...represents a model of honest and open theological and intellectual dialogue between theologians of the Christian East and the West, a quality ecumenical effort." G. Gispert-Sauch SJ, in Journal of Theological Reflection, Vol 77, No 6 "This collection of articles, which will be of great interest to scholars of Eastern Orthodox theology and Catholic-Orthodox dialogue, shows that the conversation [concerning the theological vision of Gregory Palamas] is set to continue." Thomas Cattoi, in Reviews in Religion and Theology, Vol 21, No 1 "Certainly, this volume deserves the attention of all those interested in conciliar discourse. Yet it also serves as a vital text that might direct the reader towards deeper understanding of the 'Uncreated Light' and related doctrinal concepts. The content and contours of this volume elevate the discussion of the divine energy-essence distinctions while the breadth and depth of perspectives serve to challenge the reader with a rich intellectual exercise. The writers of the ten essays walk carefully and critically across the subject matter while demonstrating the latitude in which the Christian tradition has travelled historically, philosophically, and theologically as it has sought to understand a doctrine at the center of the East-West divide. Accordingly, I would highly recommend this as a chief text for student and scholar alike." Ashley John Moyse, in American Theological Enquiry, Vol 7, No 1 "This book is not for the faint-hearted but the keenly interested will find it a worthy adventure." Christopher Villiers, in Theological Book Review, Vol 25, No 2 '...the contributors, and the editors, deserve credit for bringing some lucidity to a contentious and generally neglected discussion.' Stephen R.L. Clarke, Philosophical Quarterly, Vol 64, Issue 256, (July 2014) "This symposium inspired by David Bradshaw's brilliant and controversial book, Aristotle: East and West (2014), gathers together contributions from theologians of both East and West, who reflect on the book and its central contention about the crucial role of the uncreated energies in an Orthodox metaphysics, topped and tailed by contributions from Bradshaw himself, conclusions responding to the symposium." Andrew Louth, Theology, vol 117, issue 6, 2014 '...this work contains an ecumenical undertaking of very high quality on a subject that goes beyond the basics!' C.R., Etudes Theologiques Et Religieuses, 2015/3 "In Divine Essence and Divine Energies: Ecumenical Reflections on the Presence of God in Eastern Orthodoxy, theologians of other traditions discuss the distinction between the essence and energy of God, a key part of Orthodox spirituality not replicated elsewhere." -Church Times, 22nd January 2016 "This tension makes the book very interesting and confirms the actuality of the question."-Sergii Bortnyk, Thelogische Literaturzeitung No 139 Heft 6, June 2014 "This excellent collection of essays is indispensible for anyone who wishes to come to an informed view on an issue that is not merely of intra-Orthodox interest but is fundamental to our understanding how the Eastern and Western traditions relate to each other." -Norman Russell, Heythrop Journal, Vol. 57 No. 6, November 2016Table of ContentsForeword Introduction by Dr Christoph Schneider (IOCS) 1. Dr. Constantinos Athanasopoulos: St. Gregory Palamas, (Neo-)Platonist and Aristotelian Metaphysics: the response of Orthodox Mystical Theology to the Western impasse of intellectualism and essentialism. 2. Professor Roy Clouser: Pancreation Lost: The Fall of Theology. 3. Fr. Antoine Levy, OP: The woes of originality. 4. Prof. Dr. Georgios Martzelos: The significance of the distinction between essence and energies of God according to St. Basil the Great. 5. Professor John Milbank: Christianity and Platonism in East and West. 6. Dr N.N. Trakakis: The Sense and Reference of the Essence and Energies. 7. Metropolitan of Constantia - Ammochostos Vasilios (Karajiannis) PhD: The distinction between essence and energy according to St Maximus the Confessor. 8. Replies by Professor David Bradshaw. Biographies of Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisAn exposition of Orthodox systematic theology, ''Gazing on God'' is written from the point of view of the experience of the faithful, drawing on traditional icons and liturgy. By tracing the depth of some key Christian concepts -salvation, Logos, the Trinity- Andreas Andreopoulos provides a framework for the theology of experience. In the following chapters seven select icons are analyzed, in order to demonstrate the theological ideas and themes that may be revealed by studying Christianity through iconography. The analysis touches on topics such as time (the eternity of God, ''flat'' liturgical time), space, the Church as the Body of Christ, and the Trinity.''Gazing on God'' offers to all Christian traditions a demonstration that, while our understanding of the development of Christian views and attitudes is guided by the history of theological ideas, Christianity includes from the beginning a strong dimension of meta-linguistic knowledge, which is expressed in its liturgy, as well aTrade Review"The author takes us through his exhibition of chosen icons and shows how they convey biblical and theological truth, and so incorporate us into the life of the church though meditative looking, The author uses illustrations from his native Greek culture, and this introduces an approach that maybe fresh and unfamiliar [...] He shows us not only that there are varied ways of appropriating the tradition of faith, but also that faith has to be expressed and communicated within a specific culture and that each age has to discover its own language, images and experiences, in order to express faith in a way that lives." The Revd. Dr John Binns, Church Times, (Sept, 2014) "This is a gem of a book, and although it doesn't claim to give a full account of the theology of the icon, like the classic two-volume work of Leonid Ouspensky, a number of popular misconceptions are corrected. It is, as Andreopoulos writes, less about what we see as about who sees us (pp. 60 and 130)." Caroline Williams, in "The Association for the Study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East Bulletin", issue 62, winter 2014-15 "This is an excellent and interesting book that I hope will be read by anyone who is interested in iconography, and more broadly, anyone who is interested in the interaction of liturgy, aesthetics and theology. " Stephen Stavrou, in "Art and Christianity", vol.81, Spring 2015 Andreopoulos brings Art History to bear in a lively and relevant Theological fashion ... this is a stimulating work that would be a good partial introduction to Eastern Orthodoxy for Undergraduates and non-academics. Christopher Villiers, Theological Book Review, volume 26, no 1, 2014Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Perspective Part One: The Theology of Experience 1. Faith and Experience 2. Logos 3. Christ and the Trinity 4. Time, Space and Eternity in the Liturgy Part Two: An Icon Exhibition 5. Icons: The Way to Gaze on God 6. The Crucifixion 7. The Descent into Hades 8. The Protection of the Theotokos 9. The Life Giving Fountain 10. The Burning Bush 11. The Bogolubskaya 12. The All Seeing Eye of God Part Three: Holding the Gaze 13. After the Icon Exhibition 14. Towards a Meta-linguistic Theological Methodology Referenced Works and Suggested Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisCyril Hovorun is Professor at University College Stockholm, Sweden.Trade ReviewThis is a hugely ambitious work that seeks to capture the heart of Eastern Christian theology by breaking the inappropriate models in which it is usually presented. Through an original reading of an amazing variety of texts, presented in several contexts that crisscross the centuries, Dr Hovorun achieves unique insights into an Eastern Orthodox theology ‘come of age’. -- Andrew Louth, Durham University, UKA massive collection of texts pertaining to a comprehensive array of themes illustrating the lived experience and theological reflection of Eastern Christians from the beginning to the modern period, together with incisive and illuminating analysis. Not only is this volume unparalleled as a sourcebook, but through his commentary, Dr. Hovorun shows how these texts can speak to us today. -- John Behr, University of Aberdeen, UKWith the help of the classical notion of categories, Cyril Hovorun has managed to draw together the voices of Eastern Christian tradition through time and space into an orchestra, arranging each voice so that it contributes to a symphony while retaining its uniqueness. Unshackled by a strict historical as well as a strict systematic approach, he has managed to offer a unique and richly annotated survey of selected gems from a rich but largely unknown tradition. -- Samuel Rubenson, University College Stockholm, SwedenTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Milestones Chapter 2: Dialectics Chapter 3: Salvation Chapter 4: Trinity Chapter 5: Incarnation Chapter 6: Church Chapter 7: World Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisJohn Chryssavgis is Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Honorary Professor at Sydney College of Divinity, Australia.Trade ReviewThe spiritual letters of Barsanuphius and John, two sixth century ascetics from the Gaza Strip, are extraordinary documents. They open a window into the heart of Early Christian monasticism. The exchange of question and answer touches on the hopes, fears and temptations of all kinds (even the most banal), experienced by every kind of persons—monks and laity alike. Here are the rugged rocks in which the honey drops of Desert Wisdom were distilled. John Chryssavgis does full justice to these unique letters of advice. Two wise and loving Christians speak from his pages. And as they do, the icy modern image of the monk as an exalted authority figure melts away to reveal a tenderness and a skill in one-to-one spiritual counsel that lifts the heart, even at distance of fifteen hundred years. -- Peter Brown, Emeritus Professor of History Princeton University, USAJohn Chryssavgis has translated into English the vast correspondence of Barsanuphius and John, and so he writes in this book from an exact knowledge of their teaching. He is in deep sympathy with their spiritual outlook. While placing the two Old Men in their historical context, he shows also the timeless quality of their answers. As Chryssavgis rightly points out, their counsel is not “scripted or prescriptive,” but consistently situational, involved, and full of loving tenderness. I am particularly moved by the way he associates solitary contemplation with social consciousness. The message of these elders, as the author presents it, is both simple and yet full of hope -- Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia Emeritus Professor of Theology, University of Oxford, UKAn insightful, encouraging, and challenging book! Dare one call a book these days “inspiring?” Indeed, yes. In this volume the Spirit is alive and well. Monasticism, early, medieval, modern, still has plenty to say to us today, but not only say—show rather than tell, live out in love rather than prescribe, teach embodied rather than lecture from a distant podium or pulpit. There is so much here! Barsanuphius and John guide us in the ways of true community, communion that offers transformation. -- Tim Vivian, Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies California State University (Bakersfield), USATable of ContentsForeword by Kallistos Ware, Metropolitan of Diokleia Introduction PART ONE: THE DESERT BLOSSOMS: Setting the Scene 1. Monasticism in Egypt and Palestine A Historical Framework 2. Luminaries of Gaza Prominent Personalities and Identities 3. Fundamental Concepts and Principles Looking Through a Window Frame PART TWO: THE DESERT BECKONS: Sitting by the Cell 4. Spiritual Direction Two Extraordinary Models 5. Fasting and Feasting: Sustained by God in the Wilderness 6. Mourning and Tears: The Way of Brokenness and Imperfection 7. Discernment and Compassion: The Way of Awareness and Authenticity 8. Solitude, Silence, and Stillness Echoes from the Barren Desert Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis volume brings together a set of fundamental contributions, many translated into English for this publication, along with an important introduction. Together these explore the role of Greek among Christian communities in the late antique and Byzantine East (late Roman Oriens), specifically in the areas outside of the immediate sway of Constantinople and imperial Asia Minor. The local identities based around indigenous eastern Christian languages (Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Georgian, etc.) and post-Chalcedonian doctrinal confessions (Miaphysite, Church of the East, Melkite, Maronite) were solidifying precisely as the Byzantine polity in the East was extinguished by the Arab conquests of the seventh century. In this multilayered cultural environment, Greek was a common social touchstone for all of these Christian communities, not only because of the shared Greek heritage of the early Church, but also because of the continued value of Greek theological, hagiographical, and liturgicalTable of ContentsContents: Preface; Introduction: the social presence of Greek in Eastern Christianity, 200-1200 CE; Sextus Julius Africanus and the Roman Near East in the third century, William Adler; Ethnic identity in the Roman Near East, AD 325-450: language, religion, and culture, Fergus Millar; Bilingualism and diglossia in late antique Syria and Mesopotamia, David Taylor; The private life of a man of letters: well-read practices in Byzantine Egypt according to the Dossier of Dioscorus of Aphrodito, Jean-Luc Fournet; Dioscorus and the question of bilingualism in sixth-century Egypt, Arietta Papaconstantinou; Palestinian hagiography and the reception of the Council of Chalcedon, Bernard Flusin; The Christian schools of Palestine: a chapter in literary history, Glanville Downey; Embellishing the steps: elements of presentation and style in The Heavenly Ladder of John Climacus, John Duffy; The works of Anastasius of Sinai: a key source for the history of seventh-century East Mediterranean society and belief, John Haldon; Greek literature in Palestine in the eighth century, Robert Pierpont Blake; Greek culture in Palestine after the Arab conquest, Cyril Mango; Some reflections on the continuity of Greek culture in the East in the seventh and eighth centuries, Guglielmo Cavallo; From Palestine to Constantinople (eighth-ninth centuries): Stephen the Sabaite and John of Damascus, Marie-France Auzépy; The Life of Theodore of Edessa: history, hagiography, and religious apologetics in Mar Saba monastery in early Abbasid times, Sidney Griffith; Why did Arabic succeed where Greek failed? Language change in the Near East after Muhammad, David Wasserstein; From Arabic to Greek, then to Georgian: a life of Saint John of Damascus, Bernard Flusin; Greek - Syriac - Arabic: the relationship between liturgical and colloquial languages in Melkite Palestine in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Johannes Pahlitzsch; The liturgy of the Melkite Patriarchs from 969 to 1300, Joseph Nasrallah; Byzantium's place in the debate over Orientalism, Averil Cameron; Index.

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Book SynopsisReligion and Politics in Interwar Yugoslavia explores the interaction between religion, nationalism, and political modernity in the first half of the 20th century, taking the case of the Serbian Orthodox Church as an example. This book historicizes the widely held assumption that the bond between religion and nationalism in the Balkans is a natural one or that this bond has been historically inevitable. It tells a complex story of how East Orthodox Christianity came to be at the core of one version of Serbian nationalism by bringing together the themes of religion, nationalism, politics, state-building, secularization, and modernity.Maria Falina reconstructs how the ideological fusion between Serbian nationalism and East Orthodox Christianity was forged. The analysis emphasizes ideas and ideologies through a close reading of public discourses and historical narratives while paying attention to individual actors and their personal histories. The book argues that the particular poTrade ReviewMaria Falina makes an important contribution to our thinking on religion and nationalism in the Balkans. ... [Religion and Politics in Interwar Yugoslavia] gives a voice to religious thinkers and shows how their responses to challenges posed by modernity and secular nationalism were integral to the dynamic phenomenon of modern nationalism. Religious thought is not secondary or subjugated to nationalism. * CEU Review of Books *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction 1. Religion and Serbian State- and Nation-building before 1918 2. New Church for the New State: ‘Liberation and Unification’ of Lands, People and Institutions 3. The Serbian Orthodox Church Faces the Challenge of Modernity 4. Climax: The Serbian Orthodox Church Enters Politics 5. Epilogue: The War Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFor Christians living as a persecuted minority in the Middle East, the question of whether their allegiance should lie with their faith or with the national communities they live in is a difficult one. This collection of essays aims to reconcile this conflict of allegiance by looking at the biblical vision of citizenship and showing that Christians can live and work as citizens of the state without compromising their beliefs and make a constructive contribution to the life of the countries they live in.The contributors come from a range of prestigious academic and religious posts and provide analysis on a range of issues such as dual nationalism, patriotism and the increase of Islamic fundamentalism. An insightful look into the challenges religious minorities face in countries where they are a minority, these essays provide a peace-building and reconciliatory conclusion for readers to consider.Trade ReviewSince Jesus raised a denarius and instructed his incredulous bystanders to "render unto Caesar what is Caesars" but "to God what is Gods" Christians have labored to understand and to practice a kind of duel citizenship. The faithful, Christian political witness is on trial today, hardly more so than in this book's focused region of the Middle East, where followers of Jesus continue to live "under Caesar's sword." This is why Christian Citizenship in the Middle East is an urgent book, not just for scholars of Jesus' homeland, but for disciples on political pilgrimage all throughout the world, under many Caesars, owing many obligations - some perhaps proper patriotism, others needing vigorous resistance. This book is an indispensable guide for such a time as this. -- Robert Joustra, Associate Professor of Politics & International Studies, Redeemer University College (Toronto, Canada)Topping headlines in today's news are reports of the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Many Christians who are able to flee are leaving their homes to escape danger. This tragedy requires serious investigation of its roots and causes. What better place to begin (or continue) the search for understanding than this book on Christian citizenship in the Middle East. It does more than assess the multi-dimensional crisis. Its authors point constructively to ways Christians can hold fast to their faith while making the wisest decisions possible to exercise their citizenship. -- James W. Skillen, Ph.D., Duke University, president (retired), Center for Public Justice, Washington, D.C.This book provides a provocative set of reflections on an important and timely theme: Christian citizenship as a response to the crisis arising in the Middle East. It begins a conversation that is essential to the preservation of pluralism in the Middle East that also extends to our own western societies. -- Paul S. Rowe, Professor of Political and International Studies, Trinity Western UniversityTable of ContentsForeword - Paul S Williams, British and Foreign Bible Society. Introduction; 1. Citizenship: A Christian Conception - Mohammed Girma, BFBS and University of Pretoria, South Africa; 2. The Bible and Patriotism - Nigel Biggar, University of Oxford, UK; 3. A Place to Call Home: Middle Eastern Christian Experience of Living on the Intersection of Two Allegiances - Issa Diab, Near East School of Theology, Lebanon; 4. The Contributions of Syrian Christians to Social Harmony - Najib Awad, Hartford Seminary, USA; 5. Displacement and Dual Identity: Faithful Presence Here and Now - Casey Strine, University of Sheffield, UK. 6. States, Citizens and Migration - Ben Ryan, Theos, London. Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisA Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2022 In 1935, Fascist Italy invaded the sovereign state of Ethiopia--a war of conquest that triggered a chain of events culminating in the Second World War. In this stunning and highly original tale of two Churches, historian Ian Campbell brings a whole new perspective to the story, revealing that bishops of the Italian Catholic Church facilitated the invasion by sanctifying it as a crusade against the world's second-oldest national Church. Cardinals and archbishops rallied the support of Catholic Italy for Il Duce's invading armies by denouncing Ethiopian Christians as heretics and schismatics, and announcing that the onslaught was an assignment from God. Campbell marshalls evidence from three decades of research to expose the martyrdom of thousands of clergy of the venerable Ethiopian Church, the burning and looting of hundreds of Ethiopia's ancient monasteries and churches, and the instigation and arming of a jihad against Ethiopian Christendom, the likes of which had not been seen since the Middle Ages. Finally, Holy War traces how, after Italy's surrender to the Allies, the horrors of this pogrom were swept under the carpet of history, and the leading culprits put on the road to sainthood.Trade Review'Three cheers for Holy War [which] has turned the caring Italian Army myth upside down and inside out in what is the perfect antidote to Louis de Bernieres’ Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. […] Holy War is the ‘go for’ book if you want to learn as much as you need to know about an invasion that helped shape the rest of the 1930s, a paving stone towards World War in 1939.' -- ColdType

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Book SynopsisExamines how modern Orthodox Christian thinkers have answered political, legal, and ethical questions. This book discusses the teachings of Orthodox Christian intellectuals of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It also underscores the various ways Orthodox Christian intellectuals have shaped modern debates over the family and society.Trade ReviewRarely have the riches of modern theology and theological anthropology been so incisively analyzed for their insights into the fundamentals of our modern political condition. -- Jean Bethke Elshtain, University of Chicago Crisp, informative, even-handed, and, above all, interesting. It is a joy to learn what riches there are in modern times in the major Christian traditions. -- Robert N. Bellah, University of California, Berkeley A useful resource and a powerful inspiration. -- Rebecca S. Chopp, President, Colgate University; Former President, American Academy of Religion Extraordinary and exciting book, which deserves a wide audience. -- Adam A.J. DeVille Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian StudiesTable of ContentsForeword Acknowledgments Contributors Introduction, by John Witte Jr. and Frank S. Alexander Introduction to the Modern Orthodox Tradition, by Paul Valliere Vladimir Soloviev (1853-1900) Nicholas Berdyaev (1874-1948) Vladimir Nikolaievich Lossky (1903-1958) Mother Maria Skobtsova (1891-1945) Dumitru Staniloae (1903-1993) Copyright Information Index to Biblical Citations General Index

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Book SynopsisFrom sermons and clerical reports to personal stories of faith, this book features translated primary documents that reveals the lived experience of Orthodox Christianity in 19th- and early 20th-century Russia.Trade ReviewIt is extremely rare for a book to be accessible and of use to undergraduates, graduate students, outsiders to the field and specialists in the field, but I believe this book pulls it off. It belongs on the shelf of anyone with any degree of interest in everyday life or religion in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Russia. * Slavonic and East European Review *Coleman's collection . . . emerges as strikingly important as Orthodoxy moves into the twenty-first century. It serves as a caveat to those who want to see progress in modem terms when faith is timeless. Orthodoxy, as Coleman's collection makes plain, is a living response that transcends change and development. * Canadian Slavonic Papers *It would be difficult to overpraise this contribution to the literature on Russian history and Orthodox Christianity. . . . Abreast of the best scholarship, this volume is valuable for studies of Russian history and religion. . . . Highly recommended. * Choice *One moves quickly and with accessible ease through [these] essays by well-respected scholars toward understanding what tserkovnost ("churchness") was to the Russian Orthodox believer in the time of the tsars. Tapping Russian language sources hitherto available only to those speaking Russian, this book brings one closer to that soil whence grew and flourished a people hardened by a history of suffering. * Review of Metaphysics *Each of these sources tells its own touching story of real individuals behaving religiously. The result is a beautiful cluster of short stories, each with its own plot, character development, pathos, and crisis. * wordsbecamebooks.com *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsA Note on Spellings and DatesIntroduction: Faith and Story in Imperial Russia. Heather J. Coleman1. The Miraculous Healing of the Mute Sergei Ivanov, 22 February 1833. Christine D. Worobec2. The Miraculous Revival and Death of Princess Anna Fedorovna Golitsyna, 22 May 1834. Christine D. Worobec3: Monastic Incarceration in Imperial Russia. A.J. Demoskoff4: Letters To and From Spiritual Elders (Startsy) Irina Paert5: Sermons of the Crimean War. Mara Kozelsky6: The Diary of a Priest Laurie Manchester7: "Another Voice from the Lord": An Orthodox Sermon on Christianity, Nature, and Natural Disaster Nicholas Breyfogle8: Ukrainian Priest's Son Remembers His Father's Life and Ministry Heather J. Coleman 9: Akathist to the Most Holy Birth-Giver of God in Honor of Her Miracle-Working Icon Named "Kazan" Vera Shevzov10: A Nineteenth-Century Life of St. Stefan of Perm (c. 1340-1396) Robert H. Greene11: Written Confessions to Father John of Kronstadt, 1898-1908 Nadieszda Kizenko12: An Obituary of Priest Ioann Mikhailovich Orlovskii Laurie Manchester13: Not Something Ordinary, But A Great Mystery: Old Believer Ritual in the Late Imperial Period Roy R. Robson14: Orthodox Petitions for the Transfer of the Holy Relics of St. Stefan of Perm, 1909 Robert H. Greene15: Dechristianization in Holy Rus? Religious Observance in Vladimir Diocese, 1900-1913 Gregory L. Freeze16: Petitions to the Holy Synod Regarding Miracle-Working Icons Vera Shevzov17: Missionary Priests' Reports from Siberia Aileen Friesen18: Petitions to "Brother Ioann" Churikov, 1914 Page Herrlinger19: Archimandrite Toviia (Tsymbal), Prior of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra: Memoirs and Diaries (Selections) Scott M. Kenworthy20: From Ignorance to Truth: A Baptist Conversion Narrative Heather J. ColemanGlossary and AbbreviationsFurther ReadingList of ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is very much a book worth reading. It sheds interesting new light on sectarian practices in the countryside, and in the process forces us to revise the ways in which we think about the most basic aspects of rural life in imperial Russia. * American Historical Review *An analysis of a previously understudied phenomenon, the book constitutes a significant contribution to the study of Russian peasant, religious, and matrimonial history. * New Books Network *Drawing mainly on tax census and parish records, John Bushnell has produced an impressive study of marriage practices among Old Believer peasants in several districts in Vladimir, Kostroma, and Nizhnii Novgorod provinces between the early eighteenth and the mid-nineteenth centuries. * The Russian Review *Bushnell's study makes for remarkably interesting and engaging reading * Slavic Review *Bushnell is to be greatly commended for broadening the discussion on rural life in Russia. * Journal of Modern History *This archival study makes a very interesting and important discovery: many peasant women in the Volga region did not marry during the 18th and 19th centuries—at least until the emancipation of serfs when this study breaks off. . . . The data on marriage aversion that Bushnell has collected in this study are extremely valuable. . . . And Bushnell's conlcuding observation that this phenomenon was not limited to Old Believer settlements in the Volga region makes further study of peasant marriage avoidance all the more important. -- Georg P. Michels * Recensio *Table of ContentsIntroduction: What is the Opposite of Eureka?1. The Moral Economy of Russian Serf Marriage, 1580s-1750s: Serf Marriage Unregulated2. Nobles Discover Peasant Women's Marriage Aversion3. The Outer Limits of Female Marriage Aversion: Kuplia Parish in the 18th Century4. Kuplia Parish, 1830-1850: Separation, Collapse, Resumption of Marriage5. Spasovites: the Covenant of Despair 6. Baki: Resistance to Marriage on a Forest Frontier7. Steksovo and Sergei Mikhailovich Golitsyn: Marriage Aversion in a Context of ProsperityInconclusionBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is very much a book worth reading. It sheds interesting new light on sectarian practices in the countryside, and in the process forces us to revise the ways in which we think about the most basic aspects of rural life in imperial Russia. * American Historical Review *An analysis of a previously understudied phenomenon, the book constitutes a significant contribution to the study of Russian peasant, religious, and matrimonial history. * New Books Network *Drawing mainly on tax census and parish records, John Bushnell has produced an impressive study of marriage practices among Old Believer peasants in several districts in Vladimir, Kostroma, and Nizhnii Novgorod provinces between the early eighteenth and the mid-nineteenth centuries. * The Russian Review *Bushnell's study makes for remarkably interesting and engaging reading * Slavic Review *Bushnell is to be greatly commended for broadening the discussion on rural life in Russia. * Journal of Modern History *This archival study makes a very interesting and important discovery: many peasant women in the Volga region did not marry during the 18th and 19th centuries—at least until the emancipation of serfs when this study breaks off. . . . The data on marriage aversion that Bushnell has collected in this study are extremely valuable. . . . And Bushnell's conlcuding observation that this phenomenon was not limited to Old Believer settlements in the Volga region makes further study of peasant marriage avoidance all the more important. -- Georg P. Michels * Recensio *Table of ContentsIntroduction: What is the Opposite of Eureka?1. The Moral Economy of Russian Serf Marriage, 1580s-1750s: Serf Marriage Unregulated2. Nobles Discover Peasant Women's Marriage Aversion3. The Outer Limits of Female Marriage Aversion: Kuplia Parish in the 18th Century4. Kuplia Parish, 1830-1850: Separation, Collapse, Resumption of Marriage5. Spasovites: the Covenant of Despair 6. Baki: Resistance to Marriage on a Forest Frontier7. Steksovo and Sergei Mikhailovich Golitsyn: Marriage Aversion in a Context of ProsperityInconclusionBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAlong the way, readers learn a great deal about the relationship between the Russian church and the state, and about the inner logics of a major religious schisms, whose lessons apply to Russian history and beyond. Religious history is often neglected in the history of late imperial Russia, and this book also helps to rectify that imbalance. * New Books Network *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction1. Ritual and the Origins of Edinoverie2. Edinoverie Transformed, 1801-18553. A "Step to Orthodoxy" No More, 1865-18864. Crisis, Reform, and Revolution, 1905-19185. Lived Edinoverie, 1825-1917Conclusion: Decline, Disappearance, ReinventionAppendix A: The Rules of Metropolitan Platon, 27 September 1800Appendix B: Replacements for the Rules of Platon, 1917-1918BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThe Church of the Holy Spirit, written by Russian priest and scholar Nicholas Afanasiev (18931966), is one of the most important works of twentieth-century Orthodox theology. Afanasiev was a member of the Paris School of émigré intellectuals who gathered in Paris after the Russian revolution, where he became a member of the faculty of St. Sergius Orthodox Seminary. The Church of the Holy Spirit, which offers a rediscovery of the eucharistic and communal nature of the church in the first several centuries, was written over a number of years beginning in the 1940s and continuously revised until its posthumous publication in French in 1971. Vitaly Permiakov''s lucid translation and Michael Plekon''s careful editing and substantive introduction make this important work available for the first time to an English-speaking audience.Trade Review"Nicholas Afanasiev is perhaps the most important ecclesiologist of modern times in the Orthodox world. The Church of the Holy Spirit is a very important book, a magnum opus, demonstrating that Afanasiev himself is undoubtedly a major twentieth-century theologian.” —John McGuckin, Nielsen Professor of Early Ecclesiastical History, Union Theological Seminary“In a work that is scholarly yet accessible to the educated layperson, the late Afanasiev (1893–1966, St. Sergius Orthodox Seminary, Paris), Russian-born Orthodox priest and theologian, considers the evolution of the office of bishop in the Christian church. . . . Although completed more than 40 years ago, Afanasiev's book has a contemporary feel. Highly recommended for theology collections.” —Library Journal“The Church of the Holy Spirit is an outstanding Orthodox contribution to the understanding of the Church. . . . [It] offers Christians of different traditions a valuable look at the one Church as it was in the first centuries and as it may come to be again in the future.” —The Living Church“. . . [this] is an important part of the history of twentieth-century ecclesiology. Afanasiev's eucharistic ecclesiology challenged the scholastic theology and eucharistic practices of his own Eastern Orthodox Church, contributed to the theology of the Second Vatican Council, and influenced other theologians, including John Meyendorff and Alexander Schmemann, who studied with Afanasiev at St. Sergius in Paris.” —Worship“[Afanasiev] was one of the most creative, original, and provocative Orthodox writers in recent generations. Permiakov's very readable English translation will bring a much larger audience to Afanasiev's insights and lead to critical engagement with his arguments.” —Theological Studies"This felicitously translated posthumous work, The Church of the Holy Spirit (1971), is Afanasiev's magnum opus and it sets out to express his vision of the Church as the realization of the Eucharist by giving an historical account of earliest Christianity's 'eucharistic assembly' with all its constitutive ministries. The present translation makes a poorly known work easily accessible and it is therefore a gift of the authors both to contemporary scholarship, with its reassessment of Russian émigré culture and religious thought in a broad ecumenical perspective, and to the various churches indebted to Afanasiev's immense theological legacy.” —The Russian Review“[The Church of the Holy Spirit] is a seminal work on the church and the liturgy which offers a rediscovery of the eucharistic and communal nature of the church in the first several centuries.” —Theology Digest“. . . This welcome volume is the first time that Afanasiev’s seminal work has been made fully accessible to the English-language reader. Afanasiev was one of the major theological thinkers of the twentieth century. His training as a church historian, his strong belief in the centrality of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church, and his thorough grounding in patristics enabled him to be among the first theologians to initiate a profound renewal of Eucharistic ecclesiology, not only among Orthodox Christians, but within Catholic and Protestant traditions as well.” —Slavic and East European Journal“Published posthumously in Russian in 1971 and in French in 1975, The Church of the Holy Spirit—together with other pieces in West European languages—established its author among the most significant Orthodox theologians of the mid-twentieth century. . . . In the present book and some other writings, Afanasiev was directly addressing problems that he saw in the current life of the Orthodox church(es). His criticisms are amply surrounded by a positive ecclesiological vision as he draws hints towards reform from apostolic and early patristic sources.” —Modern Theology“This is the first time that the classic work of Fr. Afanasiev, originally completed in 1950, has been published in English. Fr. Afanasiev joins a line of Orthodox theologians who attempt to understand the Church—that ‘subject which is not a subject,’ according to Fr. Schmemann—beyond the standard, canonical, approach. His voice, in this edition’s English, sounds timely even now.” —The Journal of Ecclesiastical History

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Book SynopsisThe journal Put'', or The Way, was one of the major vehicles for philosophical and religious discussion among Russian émigrés in Paris from 1925 until the beginning of World War II. This Russian language journal, edited by Nicholas Berdyaev among others, has been called one of the most erudite in all Russian intellectual history; however, it remained little known in France and the USSR until the early 1990s. This is the first sustained study of the Russian émigré theologians and other intellectuals in Paris who were associated with The Way and of their writings, as published in The Way. Although there have been studies of individual members of that group, this book places the entire generation in a broad historical and intellectual context. Antoine Arjakovsky provides assessments of leading religious figures such as Berdyaev, Bulgakov, Florovsky, Nicholas and Vladimir Lossky, Mother Maria Skobtsova, and Afanasiev, and compares and contrasts their philosopTrade Review“Antoine Arjakovsky . . . has written a masterful history of Russian religious thinkers who left Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, took up residence in the West (mainly in Paris), and established a journal called Put’ or The Way. . . . In the end, Arjakovsky’s work is more than a history of the interwar Russian emigration and its periodical. It also is a thought-provoking reflection on some of the core values that led to separate Western and Orthodox civilizations, including such issues as papal primacy, the relationship of reason to faith, separation of church and state, and the critical importance of law in limiting government.” —The Catholic Historical Review“An important and little known period in Western intellectual history is explored in this study of the Russian émigré journal, The Way, which was published in Paris during the years 1925–40 and edited by Nikolai Berdyaev. Antoine Arjakovsky’s scholarly history, translated from Russian, demonstrates convincingly that The Way was one of the most brilliant journals ever produced by Russian theologians and thinkers.” —Journal of Ecclesiastical History"The Way, Antoine Arjakovsky's magisterial study of the Russian emigration of the interwar period, published in French over a decade ago and already translated into Russian, is now available to the English-speaking world thanks to a new translation by Jerry Ryan. This is a work of major importance that will become a standard point of reference for everyone with an interest, scholarly or otherwise, in the philosophical, political and religious culture of the Russian intelligentsia in exile." —Times Literary Supplement“This is the story of an important journal, which is now receiving increased attention from scholars, but it is more than that. It presents the work of a creative and diverse group of theologians thrown together by political accident in a foreign land, and shows how their struggle to make sense of this has a continuing and contemporary message for the church.” —Journal of Theological Studies“The Way is a product of Arjakovsky’s dissertation, and the book’s objective is threefold: to give a wide audience access to this little-known journal, to explain the resurgence of interest in the journal in both Russia and France since the early 1990s, and to elaborate a synthesis between historical truth and the accuracy of memory. He succeeds in all three: the book is an extensive and well crafted synthesis of the articles published in the journal, with a skillfully explicated analysis set within the historical context of both the journal’s own time as well as current interest in the journal for the last couple of decades.” —Fides et Historia“To the credit of Antoine Arjakovsky, The Way seems to manage the impossible: a tempered, meticulous parceling out of the diverse theological and philosophical debates surrounding the influential Parisian expat journal Put’ (The Way) and its various (mostly Russian) contributors . . . an invaluable resource for those interested in the discussions, agreements, and conflicts of the intellectual circles of interwar exile, be it from a literary, philosophical, theological, or diasporic perspective.” —Slavic and East European Journal"Arjakovsky’s study reveals a poorly known Christian exile community in its intellectual complexity. His chronicle depicts the richness of a Slavic theology and philosophy usually presented in the West through a series of pious clichés. It also reveals the dynamics of an immigrant community struggling to maintain its (idealized) traditions and cautiously adapt to its new political-religious environment in a fragile intellectual enclave in Montparnasse. Few communities have negotiated this perilous retrieval and adaptation with such metaphysical glory." —America“This is a remarkable but demanding, even daunting, history of the Russian religious-philosophical emigration in interwar France . . . [Berdiaev and Maritain’s] profound personalist defense of human dignity and human rights is a legacy that Arjakovsky rightly deems worth remembering (not least in Putin’s Russia). The Way as a ‘locus of memory’ (Pierra Nora) forms yet another conceptual layer of this rich, rewarding, and complex book.” —Slavic Review“Arjakovsky is adept in situating the intellectual-theological milieu of The Way against the background of contemporary Francophone thought, and he makes the important case that French thinkers such as Jacques Maritain, Jean Daniélou, and Henri de Lubac were inspired in part by the institute and its journal to encourage the patristic study, liturgical reforms, and ecumenical initiatives of the Second Vatican Council.” —The Living Church“ . . . in the majority of themes he touches, from the internal divisions of the church and the exiles, to the theological content of the work of Florovsky and Bulgakov and the philosophies of Berdyaev, Shestov, Frank, and others, Arjakovsky is on firm ground, showing a mastery of the various subjects that arise throughout the contributions to the journal over the decade and a half of existence. . . . Arjakovsky’s book is important and valuable, perhaps even more now than in the past, and worthwhile as a guidebook to this important period in intellectual and religious history.” —H-Catholic, H-Net Reviews

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Book SynopsisPermiakov's lucid translation and Plekon's careful editing and substantive introduction make one of the most important works of twentieth-century Orthodox theology available for the first time to an English-speaking audience.Trade Review"Nicholas Afanasiev is perhaps the most important ecclesiologist of modern times in the Orthodox world. The Church of the Holy Spirit is a very important book, a magnum opus, demonstrating that Afanasiev himself is undoubtedly a major twentieth-century theologian.” —John McGuckin, Nielsen Professor of Early Ecclesiastical History, Union Theological Seminary“In a work that is scholarly yet accessible to the educated layperson, the late Afanasiev (1893–1966, St. Sergius Orthodox Seminary, Paris), Russian-born Orthodox priest and theologian, considers the evolution of the office of bishop in the Christian church. . . . Although completed more than 40 years ago, Afanasiev's book has a contemporary feel. Highly recommended for theology collections.” —Library Journal“The Church of the Holy Spirit is an outstanding Orthodox contribution to the understanding of the Church. . . . [It] offers Christians of different traditions a valuable look at the one Church as it was in the first centuries and as it may come to be again in the future.” —The Living Church“. . . [this] is an important part of the history of twentieth-century ecclesiology. Afanasiev's eucharistic ecclesiology challenged the scholastic theology and eucharistic practices of his own Eastern Orthodox Church, contributed to the theology of the Second Vatican Council, and influenced other theologians, including John Meyendorff and Alexander Schmemann, who studied with Afanasiev at St. Sergius in Paris.” —Worship“[Afanasiev] was one of the most creative, original, and provocative Orthodox writers in recent generations. Permiakov's very readable English translation will bring a much larger audience to Afanasiev's insights and lead to critical engagement with his arguments.” —Theological Studies"This felicitously translated posthumous work, The Church of the Holy Spirit (1971), is Afanasiev's magnum opus and it sets out to express his vision of the Church as the realization of the Eucharist by giving an historical account of earliest Christianity's 'eucharistic assembly' with all its constitutive ministries. The present translation makes a poorly known work easily accessible and it is therefore a gift of the authors both to contemporary scholarship, with its reassessment of Russian émigré culture and religious thought in a broad ecumenical perspective, and to the various churches indebted to Afanasiev's immense theological legacy.” —The Russian Review“[The Church of the Holy Spirit] is a seminal work on the church and the liturgy which offers a rediscovery of the eucharistic and communal nature of the church in the first several centuries.” —Theology Digest“. . . This welcome volume is the first time that Afanasiev’s seminal work has been made fully accessible to the English-language reader. Afanasiev was one of the major theological thinkers of the twentieth century. His training as a church historian, his strong belief in the centrality of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church, and his thorough grounding in patristics enabled him to be among the first theologians to initiate a profound renewal of Eucharistic ecclesiology, not only among Orthodox Christians, but within Catholic and Protestant traditions as well.” —Slavic and East European Journal“Published posthumously in Russian in 1971 and in French in 1975, The Church of the Holy Spirit—together with other pieces in West European languages—established its author among the most significant Orthodox theologians of the mid-twentieth century. . . . In the present book and some other writings, Afanasiev was directly addressing problems that he saw in the current life of the Orthodox church(es). His criticisms are amply surrounded by a positive ecclesiological vision as he draws hints towards reform from apostolic and early patristic sources.” —Modern Theology“This is the first time that the classic work of Fr. Afanasiev, originally completed in 1950, has been published in English. Fr. Afanasiev joins a line of Orthodox theologians who attempt to understand the Church—that ‘subject which is not a subject,’ according to Fr. Schmemann—beyond the standard, canonical, approach. His voice, in this edition’s English, sounds timely even now.” —The Journal of Ecclesiastical History

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Book SynopsisIn late antiquity the rising number of ascetics who joined the priesthood faced a pastoral dilemma. Should they follow a traditional, demonstrably administrative, approach to pastoral care, emphasizing doctrinal instruction, the care of the poor, and the celebration of the sacraments? Or should they bring to the parish the ascetic models of spiritual direction, characterized by a more personal spiritual father/spiritual disciple relationship? Five Models of Spiritual Direction in the Early Church explores the struggles of five clerics (Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzen, Augustine of Hippo, John Cassian, and Pope Gregory I) to reconcile their ascetic idealism with the reality of pastoral responsibility. Through a close reading of Greek and Latin texts, George E. Demacopoulos explores each pastor''s criteria for ordination, his supervision of subordinate clergy, and his methods of spiritual direction. He argues that the evolution in spiritual direction that occurred during this perTrade Review“George E. Demacopoulos’s excellent scholarly study of spiritual direction in the early church sheds new light on the role of the spiritual guide. That role has deep roots in monasticism. Five Models of Spiritual Direction in the Early Church shows how, when monks left their monasteries to become priests and bishops in the cities of the late antique world, they were able to translate their spirituality into something appropriate for those who came under their pastoral care. . . . This is an extremely interesting book with a firm grasp of the scholarly literature.” —Commonweal“Five Models of Spiritual Direction in the Early Church puts spiritual direction on solid historical ground by showing its importance in the early centuries of the church as well as exploring the different ways spiritual direction was conceived by bishops and theologians. Using five prominent figures from the early church (Saints Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzen, Augustine, John Cassian, and Gregory the Great), Demacopolous crafts a nuanced study that shows how the widening gulf between monasticism and laity in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries translated into different expressions of spiritual direction.” —Cistercian Studies Quarterly“Demacopolous is the first to examine the impact of ascetic bishops on pastoral practice. To address his concerns he presents literary studies of five figures: Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzen, Augustine, Cassian, and Pope Gregory I. . . . Mastery of a wide variety of sources is evident throughout Demacopolous's study . . . this book is solid and will be quite valuable to historical theologians, church historians, students of Christian spirituality and of the priesthood.” —Theological Studies“The strength of this publication clearly lies in the meticulous and respectful examination of the style and policy adopted by key ecclesiastical officers as they considered methods of advocating for Christian polity. It explores spiritual direction in its wider-namely, more social and political-dimension by analyzing fundamental criteria for ordination by bishops, supervision of subordinate clergy, and ways of receiving spiritual guidance by clergy and laity alike. . . . This book is of critical importance and deserves attention. It will long appeal to scholars of late antiquity and medieval theology, to students of the history of monasticism and spirituality, as well as to those actively engaged in pastoral aspects of contemporary Christian ministry.” —Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies “George Demacopoulos . . . has rendered a stimulating investigation on spiritual direction in the early church. A focused study on the spiritual formation strategies of pastors, the work is driven by the underlying question: how was spiritual formation affected when ordained clergy became monks or when monks became ordained clergy? . . . Five Models of Spiritual Direction is a well-researched and well-written monograph on a largely neglected area of patristic studies. It should be listed as suggested reading in graduate-level patristics courses and seminars, especially for students studying early church pastoral mentoring and leadership.” —Criswell Theological Review“Following on the work done by Conrad Leyser, Andrea Sterk and Claudia Rapp on the role of bishops in Late Antiquity and the ways in which, by the end of the sixth century, culture was beginning to shift towards something more characteristic of the Middle Ages, this book studies five authorities whom the author believes to have been influential in that process. This is not a work in spirituality or in spiritual direction in the conventional sense of the term. Above all, he examines the techniques used in achieving pastoral goals.” —The Downside Review“The book explores the growing tensions arising from the legalization of Christianity after Constantine between clerical and ascetic pastoral traditions. As long as we continue to protect our discipline as one that must remain essentially contemplative and trusting, we may perhaps grow in good ways through the challenges presented by Five Models of Spiritual Direction.” —Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care“The subject matter of this book is the pastoral oversight exercised by the bishop, and the increasing influence of the monastic model on Episcopal practice in the fourth to sixth centuries . . . an interesting and thought-provoking attempt to map a significant development within the life of the Church as it grappled with the pressures of mass religion on the one hand, and an individualized spirituality on the other.” —Journal of Theological Studies“The author is to be commended for an excellent contribution to scholarship. Aside from the specific focus on spiritual direction, readers will find that each chapter also provides valuable introductions to the life and writings of the five patristic writers . . . this study will prove useful not only to the specialized researcher, but also to readers broadly interested in Late Antiquity, Patristic studies, and Pastoral Theology.” —Journal of Eastern Christian Studies“Is the pastoral office primarily one of activity, administration, and busyness? Or is it one of contemplation, quietness, and prayer? Which of these ideals should predominate in the life of a parish pastor? What ideal should predominate in the lives of his flock? These are issues and struggles which permeate the work of pastors. Demacopoulos’ book gives the opportunity to view that struggle in another time and place with perspectives and answers different than more current and familiar responses.” —Concordia Theological Quarterly

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Book SynopsisEastern Orthodox and Anglicans is a study of inter-Orthodox relations, the role of the Anglican Church, and the problems of Orthodox nationalism in modern age. Trade Review“This interesting and important new book offers the first dedicated scholarly investigation into major movements of ecumenical contact among Anglicans and Orthodox between the First World War and the Second World War. Bryn Geffert draws on substantial archival work in English and Russian to write what he calls ‘the story of efforts toward rapprochement by two churches and their ultimate failure to achieve formal unity of intercommunion.’ . . . Above all, this is a cautionary tale about the difficulties inherent in connections among churches with very positive intentions but no ability to speak with one voice.” —The Living Church“Geffert examines political entanglement and territorial aims as well as complex theological issues with clarity and precision. The conclusion contains insightful reflections on the ecumenical longue durée and relations among the principle Christian traditions during the Cold War and beyond.” —The Russian Review“This is a nostalgic book. It describes the time when Western Christians were encountering the Orthodox Church often for the first time, meeting refugees from Russia after the Communist Revolution and extending invitations for conferences and church celebrations to each other. This book describes these early encounters in the period between the wars . . . the encounter of Eastern and Western Christianity described in this book has been rich and creative, usually warm and friendly, and has contributed much to the life of the churches.” —Theology“This detailed study of Anglican-Orthodox relations in the early years of the ecumenical movement not only traces their development but also analyses the motives which impelled each side to seek closer relations. This illuminating study of the complex dynamics of inter- and intra-church relations is of contemporary relevance as well as of historical interest. Members of the International Commission for the Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue who have not yet read it should certainly do so. . . .” —The Journal of Ecclesiastical History“The history of the contacts between Orthodoxy and Anglicanism for the last century-and-a-half is competently recounted in Geffert’s interdisciplinary account. The work is a model of bibliographical organization. . . . The narrative is engaging and clear, with an occasional Russian word in parentheses to convey the flavor of a pungent remark.” —Journal of Ecumenical Studies“Geffert is to be congratulated for the massive amount of research that has gone into this history of the ecumenical efforts toward rapprochement between Anglicans and Orthodox in the period of the 1920s and 1930s, especially in the years between World War I and World War II . . . the great strength of this book lies in its investigation of countless secondary sources. . . .” —Anglican Theological Review“The author is to be congratulated for the massive amount of research that has gone into this history of the ecumenical efforts towards rapprochement between Anglicans and Orthodox in the period of the 1920s and 1930s, especially in the years between the two great world wars.” —Anglican and Episcopal History“Geffert’s work superbly illustrates a moment when institutional alignment seemed possible, but failed. Despite the outcome, his book deserves close attention for the sources it probes and the era it depicts.” —Church History“[Geffert’s] meticulous study, based on archival and published sources, provides a thorough treatment of factors inclining interwar Orthodox and Anglicans to dialogue. Nevertheless, the myriad reasons given for the impossibility of Orthodox-Anglican church unity necessarily overwhelmed ambitions of closer east-west church ties.” —The Slavic Review“Geffert’s book will become required reading for anyone seeking to understand the complicated web of relationships with the Orthodox that developed between the wars. It is also a timely reminder to historians of the ecumenical movement that ‘nontheological factors’ in church divisions are not completely dead, not least where church appointments depend in some measure on the civil power.” —The Journal of Modern History

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Book SynopsisIvan Sergeevich Gagarin analyzes questions of nationality and religious identity in nineteenth-century Russian history as reflected in the life of Jesuit priest Ivan Gagarin. A descendent of one of Russia's most ancient and politically powerful families, Father Ivan Gagarin, S.J. (18141882) dedicated his life to creating a union between the Orthodox and Catholic churches that would preserve the dogmatic and traditional beliefs of both.Traditional understandings of Russian identity have emanated from the perspective of the dominant Orthodox religion; this captivating study uses the unionist work of Gagarin to illumine Russia''s national identity from the perspective of Roman Catholicism. Seeing his unionist proposals as necessary for the preservation of Russian stability, Gagarin found himself in frequent opposition to the Orthodox Church. While Gagarin believed that Church union would preserve Russia from the threats of communism and revolution, the Russian Orthodox Trade Review“Beshoner presents a well-researched and evenhanded examination of the evolution of Gagarin’s thought within the context of the political and theological debates of the time. He shows that the fascinating story of Gagarin, the 'Don Quixote of Catholicism,' exemplifies the futility of all-encompassing projects for the nation’s salvation. His book is richly documented, and he makes generous use of archival material from France, Italy, the Vatican, and Russia. The book is an important resource for scholars interested in the Westernizers/Slavophile controversy, in problems of Russian national identity, in mutual misconceptions between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican, and in ecumenical politics in general.” —Slavic Review"...the only book-length treatise on Gagarin in English. This book is highly recommended for library collections in Slavic studies and ecumenism." —Catholic Library World“…handsomely produced….” —Modern Greek Studies Yearbook“The strength of this book is found in the fact that it finally offers scholars the continuous account of the entire life and times of Gagarin together with a discussion of this work, all in one volume. Students of the Russian Jesuit will also be grateful for the complete listing of Gagarin’s treatises, both major and minor.” —Orientalia Christiana Periodica“...a fascinating story that will be of particular interest to readers who follow current efforts to reestablish the communion that will enable the Church to, in the words of John Paul II, ‘breathe again with both lungs.’” —First Things“Beshoner’s meticulous analysis makes a valuable contribution to the scholarship on religious and church history in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. Above all, it provides a full, well-researched account of a prominent Russian Catholic publicist, stripping away rhetoric and polemics to give a coherent account of his views and how he came to them. ...[A] pioneering monograph.” —American Historical Review“[R]ichly detailed discussion ... full of materials likely to be new to scholars interested in pre-Reform Russia, in which Gagarin was formed, and the post-Reform Russia that he tried to influence. Beshoner has thoroughly investigated archival sources in Russia and the West and mastered the very large literature.” —Russian Review“Jeffrey Bruce Beshoner surprises readers with an intriguing book that includes nationalism, diplomacy and religion. It provides a multifaceted look into the history of Russia compared with the rest of Europe during the nineteenth century. Beshoner’s work transcends the history of nineteenth-century Russian Orthodoxy. It delves into nationalism, diplomacy, politics, and religion and would be an enlightening supplement to any Russian, nineteenth-century, or religious history course. Beshoner’s wording is intelligent, yet not too academic for younger readers. He clearly defines and shows Gagarin’s motives, writings, and experiences. Ivan Sergeevich Gagarin: The Search for Orthodox and Catholic Union would prove beneficial in graduate-level courses, as well as in some upper level undergraduate courses.” —History: Reviews of New Books“Beshoner’s presentation of Gagarin is valuable and extensive. It gives us another historical example of a division within Christian experience that still troubles many.” —Journal of the American Academy of Religion“...fascinating and thoroughly researched.... The volume is a valuable resource for understanding some misguided approaches of Catholicism toward Orthodoxy.” —Theological Studies

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