Theology

This splendid translation of Elisabeth Behr-Sigel's essays on issues related to the ministry of women in the church is a cause of joy and gratitude for English-speaking people interested in orthodox Christianity. If the present volume did nothing more than to widen and deepen discussion among the Orthodox concerning the community and ministry of women and men in the church, this alone would be sufficient reason to offer its author, and its English translators and publisher, our greatest gratitude.

Vladimir Lossky established himself as one of the most brilliant of Orthodox scholars in the years between his departure from Russia and his death in 1958. His uncompromising faithfulness to Scriptural and patristic tradition, coupled with his constant concern for an articulate Orthodox witness in the West, makes his works indispensable for an understanding of the theology of the Eastern Church today.

This is the first book to provide an affordable translation of the major doctrinal poems of St. Gregory of Nazianzus. Included are poems on the Trinity, Creation and Providence, Angels and the Soul, the Person of Christ, Human Nature and poems debating the Christian understanding of marriage and virginity.

The three documents translated in this volume, "Against the Monophysites," "Concerning the Three Chapters," and On the True Faith," are significant imperial documents reflecting the conclusion reached in that theological program. Although they failed to convince the monophysites or reconcile them to the imperial Church, they articulate the interpretation of Chalcedon's Christological definition, upheld by Orthodox theologians even today, and set the stage for the Christological definitions of the Fifth Ecumenical Council.

The position which Gregory and Macrina eventually reach corresponds essentially to that of St Paul, namely that our bodies will rise again as bodies, but in a finer and more glorious form than we have now. Expressing this belief in terms of Greek silence, the dialogue assumes that the same physical elements which compose our present bodies must be reassembled in our resurrection bodies; otherwise our bodies would be recreated rather than raised.

The author states that "freedom carries with it the ultimate possibility of taking precisely this risk: that man should deny his own existential truth and authenticity, and alienate and distort his existence, his being." Morality reveals what man is in principle, as the image of God, but also what he becomes through the adventure of his freedom: a being transformed, or "in the likeness of God."

In this collaborative effort, Fr John and Lyn Breck provide practical, theological, and pastoral thinking on complex matters: the use of embryonic stem cells, gene therapy, new definitions of sexuality and marriage, treatment of addictive behavior and substance abuse, and end-of-life care. Taking us through the stages on life's way, the authors show us how the ancient, vital wisdom of the Orthodox Church inspires and informs contemporary life.

On September 18, 1999, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios was enthroned as the sixth Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Certainly, this historic and majestic event was the beginning of a new era for the Church in America. It was also the inauguration of an archpastoral ministry that would be both an embodiment and a bearer of a call to faith. This volume is a select compilation of addresses and lectures over the first five years of the Archbishop's ministry that highlight this call.

A reflection on Truth-as identified with Jesus Christ and in response to relativism-opens a discussion on how Orthodox Christians read tradition and discern dogma.

In "Creation and the Patriarchal Histories: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Genesis," Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon shows clearly how the proper understanding of Creation and the Fall informs all of Christian doctrine, and how the narratives of the patriarchs from Noah to Joseph pave the way for the salvation history that continues in Exodus.