Recommended Books about Eastern Orthodoxy

by David E. Sumner, Ph.D.

            If you are interested in learning more about Orthodoxy, here is a list of recommended books that have helped us the most. St. George has a bookstore, and St. Seraphim Eastern Orthodox Bookstore, 1615 N. Delaware, has an excellent collection of books and resources. I might add, however, that you really can’t “read” your way into Orthodoxy. To fully experience its rich treasures of spirituality, you have to worship and participate in its life. Worship is central to Orthodox life: to know and love God is to worship God. Come join us any Sunday.

Recommended Books About Orthodoxy

The Orthodox Church by Bishop Kallistos Ware, Penguin, 1997. ISBN 0-14-014656-3. Bishop Ware is the pre-eminent living theologian and apologist for Orthodoxy today (in any branch of Orthodoxy, I think).  He is a retired theology professor from Oxford University and a former Anglican who converted to Orthodoxy as a young man. Part I explains the history of the Eastern Orthodoxy and Part II explains the beliefs and worship of the Orthodox Church today. Since its first publication in 1963, this book has gone through five reprints to become the standard introduction to the Orthodox Church in the English-speaking world.

The Orthodox Way by Bishop Kallistos Ware, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2003. ISBN 0-913836-58-3. This readable book is the general account of the doctrine, worship and life of Orthodox Christians. It discusses basic Christian theology from an Orthodox perspective in a somewhat  more practical way than The Orthodox Church.

Thirsting For God In A Land of Shallow Wells by Matthew Gallatin, Conciliar Press, 2002. ISBN 1-888212-28-4. Matthew Gallatin tells about his spiritual and intellectual journey to Orthodoxy. He graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (a very conservative Protestant seminary) and formerly pastored a nondenominational, charismatic church. He is now a philosophy professor. This engaging spiritual biography was the first book I read by a convert to Orthodoxy and it started me on my journey.

Becoming Orthodox: A Journey to the Ancient Christian Church by Father Peter Gillquist, Conciliar Press, 1992. ISBN 0-9622713-3-0. Peter Gillquist is the former Campus Crusade for Christ leader and author who led  2,000 evangelicals in several congregations into the Antiochian Orthodox Church during the 1980s. This book tells that remarkable story in Part I. Gillquist discusses “Orthodoxy and the Bible” in Part II. He is now the director of missions and evangelism for the Antiochian Orthodox Church.

Coming Home: Why Protestant Clergy Are Becoming Orthodox by Father Peter Gillquist, Conciliar Press, 1995. ISBN 0-9622713-2-2. These engaging short essays by 18 former pastors from other denominations offers a window into the diverse backgrounds from which they came. They include former Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, Assemblies of God, Plymouth Brethren, Church of Christ and nondenominational charismatic pastors.

Facing East: A Pilgrim’s Journey into the Mysteries of Orthodoxy by Frederica Mathewes-Green, Harper, 1997. ISBN 0-06-065498-8. Frederica is a former Episcopalian and her husband is a former Episcopal priest and now pastor of an Orthodox church near Baltimore. This book tells about her and her husband’s journey into Orthodoxy in the early 1990s. She weaves a beautiful, moving and funny portrait of her own experience as a cautious convert. A popular speaker and author in the Orthodox Church, she has her own website and many of her recent articles at www.frederica.com.

 The Illumined Heart by Frederica Mathewes-Green, Paraclete Press, 2001. ISBN 1-55725-286-6. In this short book, Frederica discusses early Christian practices of prayer, fasting and alms-giving as aids to total transformation in Christ.

A Faith Fulfilled: Why Are Christians Across Great Britain Embracing Orthodoxy? by Michael Harper, Conciliar Press, 1999. ISBN 188821212-8. Harper is a former Anglican priest and author in England who became an Antiochian Orthodox Christian at the age of 65 in 1997. He was also a leader in the English charismatic renewal movement. This autobiography tells his journey. Another one of my favorites on this list.

The Inner Kingdom: Volume I of the Collected Works by Bishop Kallistos Ware, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004. ISBN 0-88141-209-0. This is a wonderful little book I just finished reading recently. It’s a collection of previously unpublished essays or talks by Bishop Ware about the spiritual life. He talks about God, creation, salvation, and prayer from the Orthodox perspective.