Ed Smither
  • About
  • Posts
  • Media
  • Books
  • Selected Publications
  • Book Reviews
  • Popular Essays
  • Schedule

posts

Review of Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology

12/30/2013

 
Picture
During the Christmas holidays, I enjoyed working through this new book from Andrew Louth, a recognized Patristics scholar and professor emeritus at Durham University. In this work, Louth, a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church, offers an accessible and inviting introduction to Eastern Orthodox thought—one that is accented greatly by the Russian tradition. Published in the USA by evangelical publisher IVP Academic, Louth’s audience seems to be western evangelicals, especially those with an interest in liturgy and the inherited worship forms in the Orthodox tradition.

Though as an evangelical Protestant I find some of Louth’s theology unsatisfying (e.g., emphasis on Mary, icons, authority of church and tradition, some sacraments), this book provides a good look at the Orthodox contribution to global Christianity, including many elements that are quite compatible with evangelical worship and thought. Louth organizes the book around a number of theological themes--the Trinity, creation, Christ, sin-death-repentance, humanity, sacraments and icons, liturgy, and eschatology.

While there is much to appreciate about the book, I will briefly comment on three areas. First, Louth pays forward a lifetime of scholarship in Patristics and shows the historic development of the Eastern Orthodox tradition. A new student to church history will gain much from how Louth has surveyed things like Trinitarian and Christological developments, including key personalities and church councils in the process.

Second, I really appreciated Louth’s discussion in chapter 8 on time and the liturgy. Describing the church calendar, including the periods of Advent, Lent and others and their related liturgy and Scriptures, Louth presents the liturgical flow that shapes Christian worship. He summarizes: “In the Church Year, therefore, we have a conjunction of cycles that shape the year and enable us to move through the various elements constituting the events that add up to the engagement between God and humanity that culminated in the Incarnation” (Louth, 131). Such a liturgical framework seems useful to the church (including free church evangelicals) to remain Gospel-centered and focused on the complete story of salvation while also providing a means for spiritual "reset" throughout the year. 

Finally, the most insightful part of the book for me was Louth’s discussion in chapter 6 on what it means to be human and to bear the image of God. Beginning with the presupposition that Christ is the image of God in whose image we are made, Louth writes: “we have been created by God the Father in the image of the Word through the Word, so that, through the Word who created us we might come to the knowledge of God the Father—this whole process takes place by grace, that is through the Spirit” (87). He continues, “To be human is to be in the image, and being in the image, according to the image, entails a relationship to Christ, who is the image . . . Human kind is created according to an image—the Word of God—that we only truly know through the Incarnation. It is only through the Incarnation that we can truly understand what it is to be human . . . and it is unfallen humanity that we see in Christ. For the Word of God in becoming man, became what we were meant to be” (87). It follows that the goal of salvation (theosis in the Orthodox tradition) is to be conformed to the image of Christ—to become like Christ in his unfallen humanity.

    Archives

    November 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    April 2023
    January 2023
    February 2022
    August 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    September 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    July 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    August 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • About
  • Posts
  • Media
  • Books
  • Selected Publications
  • Book Reviews
  • Popular Essays
  • Schedule