Have you read or skimmed For the Life of the World: by

[gtsecc]

The more I learn about the differences in understanding of the faith, the more I think this book gets at the heart of it.

[Aymn27]

I've read it - it was good. Not one I read over and over again though. Helped me to understand Orthodox theology somewhat better.

[contriteheart]

Yes, I've read parts and skimmed other parts. For the life of me, I can't really remember what it said. Sigh...

-Grace

[SumTinWong]

Nope, who is it by?

[gtsecc]

Nope, who is it by?
Alexander Schmemann

Possibly considered the best book in print on understanding a sacramental world view.

[SumTinWong]

I ahve a whole stack of Orthodox friendly books if anyone is interested in paying the frieght on them I will send them to you free of charge as I have no use for them. They were sent to me and I bought some of them during my inquiring process a few months ago. I will get the titles tonite.

[gtsecc]

While Schmemann is Orthodox, the book was intended for a non-Orthodox audience - particularly a protestant, non-liturgical and non-sacramental audience.

[SumTinWong]

Right, with hopes I am sure of getting others to view the sacraments the way the Orthodox do, right?

[gtsecc]

Right, with hopes I am sure of getting others to view the sacraments the way the Orthodox do, right?
Not exactly.One thing it does is show that Christianity is sacramental. So, non-sacramental Christians will get a better understanding of that.But Anglicans are sacramentalist, so this book applies perfectly to Anglicans, especially those who don't understand it.The other thing is that it shows that some of the western Church analysis has made some mistakes in its understanding of sacraments. For example, often Western scholarship focuses on the Eucharistic prayers after the preface. But Eucharist means thanksgiving, and the preface contains the thanksgiving, so it isn’t really a preface, it is part of the whole. Schmeman also does a great job of showing that the everything is part of the Eucharist, the people, the liturgy, - you can’t have one with out all these things, which is different than a western idea of essentials like the words of institution. Further more, while Roman Catholics center on the words of institution as the words of change, Anglicans and Orthodox focus on the epiclesis.In other words, one of the best books on Anglican sacramentalism, is written by an Orthodox Theologian, and wasn’t really intending to do just that, but did.

[AngCath]

I've read through it and I think it is a great book about living a sacramental life.. if you're looking for some in-depth Orthodox theology then I'd recommend reading any of Vladimir Lossky's books.

[gtsecc]

I've read through it and I think it is a great book about living a sacramental life.. if you're looking for some in-depth Orthodox theology then I'd recommend reading any of Vladimir Lossky's books.
The intent of this thread is to recomend a great book on sacraments to Anglicans who are tno sacramentalists, not for me to learn more about the Eastern Orthodox view of sacraments.

[AngCath]

The intent of this thread is to recomend a great book on sacraments to Anglicans who are tno sacramentalists, not for me to learn more about the Eastern Orthodox view of sacraments.

didn't mean to stray off topic :)

[gtsecc]

didn't mean to stray off topic :) No problem, we can talk about lossky in another thread.