Book Recs?

[seashale76]

Hey all,

I'm a newbie here at CF. I am currently reading The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware, and I was wondering if any of you had any recs for other books about Orthodoxy? This one was hard enough to find and I finally tracked a beat up copy at a local Barnes and Noble. In the past few months I've been wanting to learn more about Orthodoxy and despite my best efforts to ignore the issue it keeps coming back to my mind. I almost attended a Divine Liturgy at a Greek Orthodox church near my home one Sunday but chickened out in the parking lot and went to my usual church instead.

I've had a bit of a spiritual crisis, for lack of a better description. I am discontent and I also have the additional struggle of being married to an agnostic who doesn't care at all about religion. If it's not too much to ask, I would appreciate any prayers for God's direction.

[choirfiend]

Hey seashale,

Welcome to TAW! Hope you can find lots of answers here!
There's a sticky at the top of the forum that houses a book list!
There should be a lot of recommendations there--let me know if you can't find it. Most people shop for Orthodox books online--amazon usually has good deals.

Good luck, and God bless!

[Orthosdoxa]

Greetings, friend

I know all too well about "spiritual crisis". Been there, done that, and thank God it led me to Orthodoxy.

The book you have is a good start. Also see my web page http://stienekel.tripod.com/ for some good Orthodox links. If you were to order books from amazon, hmmm... I like "Facing East" and "Becoming Orthodox" for very basic beginner stuff. But there are many other wonderful ones, too. Anything by Fr. Alexander Schmemann would be a winner, though perhaps a bit steep for beginners. But then again, maybe not.

Fasten your seatbelt... the journey to Orthodoxy is beyond amazing!

Please feel free to ask us anything about Orthodoxy. We poor sinners aren't perfect, but we do love to share our faith and will do whatever we can to help you.

LK

[knee-v]

I just finished reading a few books. I'll give you my $0.02 on all of them (there are only 4):

2 of them are geared toward Anglicans, written by former Anglicans (and Episcopalians too). One of them is called "Anglican-Orthodox Pilgrimage", edited by Franklin Billerbeck. It consists of 7 breif stories of people's journey from Anglicanism to Orthodoxy. It had some pretty good insight.
The other is called "A Faith Fulfilled", by Michael Harper, subtitled "Why are Christians Across Great Britain Embracing Orthodoxy?". The first half of the book is about his life in the Anglican church and why he decided to embrace Orthodoxy. The second half gets into some doctrine and history. While I was reading the first half, my mind kept wandering. But in the second half, the book kept my attention quite well.

A third book is called "Searching for God in a Land of Shallow Wells", by Matthew Gallatin. I had gotten the impression from a lot of people that this book is the best thing since sliced bread. Although I thought it was a very good read, I didn't quite get see things that way. I'm not trying to discredit the book. I thought it was an excellent book, with a LOT of insight into a lot of things. But read it for yourself and see what you think.

And finally "Becoming Orthodox", by Peter Gillquist. Now THIS is a story to read. It is about how a core group of evangelicals went from Campus Crusade style preachers to embracing the Orthodox faith, along with thousands of people under their leadership in their own "Evangelical Orthodox Church", a group that they founded in an attempt to be a part of the "orthodox church" that they had yet to discover at that point.

So that's 4. And there are many more out there.

[gzt]

I think it's best to read things like Fr. Schmemann's For the Life of the World rather than convert testimonies. For the Life of the World is a great short book that'll introduce you to a new way of thinking about the Christian life. Another great book is Beginning to Pray by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom. A third easy accessible book that will introduce you to an Orthodox way of life is The Orthodox Way by Bp. Kallistos Ware [the same guy who wrote the book you just read]. Those three books are simple, cheap, short, and amazing.

[Maksim]

"The Orthodox Way" is another good book if you like Timothy Ware's writing style. Check out some of the books and lists people have put together on Amazon.com for ideas, there is really a lot more out there in print on Orthodoxy than one might think.

When you are ready for it, I definitely suggest going to a Liturgy and contacting a priest. I understand the feeling of "chickening out," as it took me a long time to go to a Liturgy and speak to a priest. But it was well worth it in the end. You can learn a lot from books but eventually you have to go to the source :)

[Kolya]

Welcome to TAW!
And so my $0.02 worth.
For some short essays on Orthodox Beliefs, these are all on-line: www.fatheralexander.org (http://www.fatheralexander.org)
Kolya

[NewToLife]

I'd second the Orthodox Way as a fine book on Orthodoxy, in my opinion superior to Bishop Kallistos the Orthodox Church which you are currently reading.

[seashale76]

Sorry it took me such a long while to get back to my own thread here. Thank you all very much for the recs and I also found the other book thread you mentioned. Expect to hear from me again. Likely with questions. ;) Thanks again, it was very helpful.

[contriteheart]

The most helpful book to me personally was Eastern Orthodox Christianity, A Western Perspective by Daniel Clendenin.

With love in Christ,
Grace

[Photini]

The Mind of the Orthodox Church by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos
and Orthodox Spirituality also by him.

[The Prokeimenon!]

Read the Psalms, every morning and night when you pray. Then read those other books. :)

Moses

[gzt]

And you should read the daily Gospel and Epistle readings, it goes without saying.

[Shubunkin]

I just ordered two books, The Orthodox Church, by Timothy Ware; and The Orthodox Way, by Kallistos Ware.

Hope I spelled those correctly. :)

[Shubunkin]

Read the Psalms, every morning and night when you pray. Then read those other books. :)

Moses

Psalms are my favorite for reading everyday. ^_^

[Shubunkin]

And you should read the daily Gospel and Epistle readings, it goes without saying.


Yes, those too!! :clap:

[choirfiend]

I just ordered two books, The Orthodox Church, by Timothy Ware; and The Orthodox Way, by Kallistos Ware.

Hope I spelled those correctly. :)

And Timothy Ware and Bp Kallistos Ware are of course the same person...:)

[Vasya Davidovich]

And Timothy Ware and Bp Kallistos Ware are of course the same person...:)
Although, by convention he would be Bishop KALLISTOS.

We generally leave off last names with bishops and monks, and render the bishop's name in all-caps.

[Eusebios]

Hello seashale and welcome to TAW :)
Much excellent reading has already been recommended, so I will not burden you further in that regard. What I will do is strongly recommend that you contact a local Orthodox priest and speak with him about your situation. I would also recommend attending Divine services, perhaps a Great Vespers prior to a your first Divine Liturgy. I'd also recommend finding an English speaking parish, unless of course you sre versed in Greek, Slavonic, Arabic or Romanian, in which case a more "ethnic" parish would be fine as well. Most all OCA and Antiochian parishes are English speaking.
Orthodoxy is best experienced and understood via Orthopraxis.
May our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ grant you fulfillment as you continue to seek Him.
In Xp,
Eusebios.
:bow: