Theology


Christian Philosophy in the Patristic and Byzantine Tradition
By B.N. Tatakis

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Paperback (September 2007)
ISBN: 978-1-933275-16-1
Price: $22.95 + S&H (USD)

Hardcover (September 2007)
ISBN: 978-1-933275-17-8
Price: $32.95 + S&H (USD)

Tatakis is a real master of thought, a "philosopher who theologizes," or, putting it otherwise, a philosopher who takes theology seriously and brings out its insights dressed in philosophical form. The result is indeed a most fruitful synthesis of philosophy and religion; a philosophy of religion, or more accurately, a religious philosophy. It is a Christian philosophy, which is possible, because this is indeed the legacy of Byzantium, that priceless alabaster of Eastern Orthodox Christianity of which Tatakis has been a key exponent and interpreter. It is precisely this Greek Orthodox Christian synthesis that this volume explains in a straightforward, comprehensive and profound way. This work is a real companion to Tatakis' earlier work on Byzantine Philosophy, laying the emphasis on the content of Byzantine thought and its characteristic religious bent, Greek Orthodox Christianity, as distinct from its history and literature, which are more typical of the earlier work. There are certain overlaps between the two books, but this one brings out more clearly the Greek Orthodox theological dimension in Tatakis' thought which deserves to be explored much more than it has. It reveals the great soul of this extraordinary man who is both a philosopher and a man of faith and theology; and who, in spite of the exigencies of life (as he describes them very movingly in his last and most interesting book - the book of his life - published posthumously in 1993), has left us the strength and the aroma of the Greek Orthodox spirit and nobility.

 
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Order of Creation/Order of Redemption: The Ordination of Women in the Orthodox Church
By Fr. Michael Azkoul

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Paperback (January 2007)
ISBN: 978-1-933275-12-3
Price: $9.95 + S&H (USD)

An idea growing in popularity among some Orthodox over the last few decades has been the admission of women to the sacerdotal priesthood. The source for this idea is not the Scriptures, the Fathers, the Councils of the Church, but comes to us from the world, specifically the feminist movement. It has implications for the secularization of the Church. On one level, advocates view the ordination of women as something owed the female sex, a sign of the Church's repentance, so to speak, atonement for the centuries of female stereotyping and powerlessness, that is to say, denying her the right to creatively express her ingenuity, to exercise her freedom and to exhibit her dedication. Not unaware of the objections in holy Tradition to the ordination of women to the presbytery (and consecration to the episcopacy), the strategy of its proponents is to declare this innovation an "open question." It is, in fact, not a subject to be debated. The theological and ecclesial facts need only to be reviewed to make the point. This book provides an understanding of those facts based on the only authorities (criteria) available to us - the Scriptures, the Fathers and the Canons. They have unalterably defined the place of women in the Church from the beginning.

 
     

The Real Holy Grail: An Orthodox Response to Dan Brown's Deceptions in Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code
By Metropolitan Bishoy of Damiette, Kafr el-Sheikh, Barrary and the Monastery of Saint Demiana

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Paperback (January 2007)
ISBN: 978-1-933275-14-7
Price: $15.95 + S&H (USD)

Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code, by author Dan Brown, have deceived millions of people across the world with a plethora of lies about the one true God, Christianity, the Holy Bible, and the Christian Church. Dan Brown has achieved this by presenting the elements in his novels under the guise of fiction, while at the same time, claiming that they are factual. But even Brown's "facts," which he maintains are historically informed, are full of inaccuracies and historical discrepancies. What Dan Brown is describing in Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code can most certainly not be categorized as fiction, because in reality, the core and foundation of his writing is Theological and Christological. However, the Theology and Christology which Dan Brown has incorporated into his novels is a false Theology and Christology-it is grossly distorted and stridently far from the truth. This apologetic work sets out to provide the true Theological and Christological teachings of the Holy Orthodox Church in response to the deceptions in the selected writings of Dan Brown.

 
     

Essays on Orthodox Christianity and Church History
By Charles B. Ashanin

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Paperback (August 2006)
ISBN: 1-933275-08-1
Price: $17.95 + S&H (USD)

These essays were written at intervals during Dr. Ashanin's teaching career of thirty-five years. They were published in various publications as a response to the theological challenges which his generation had to face. He wrote them to elucidate the historical issues of my time from the Christian perspective. Although these essays were written in particular periods of time, they have present day relevance, because he tried to interpret the issues discussed in them under the aegis of the recurring, underlying themes. A Christian historian, while he observes all rules of the historical method and deals with his subject sub specie temporis, cannot escape awareness that there is another dimension which he cannot ignore, a dimension in all human aff airs to which he must pay attention in his writings, that of sub specie Aeternitatis. He must combine epis temology, the knowledge of things, with eschatology, the divine goal to which everything is guided by divine wisdom. In philoso phy, this aspect is known as teleology, the aim to which every thing leads. While these may not be found explicit in his writings, they are implicit in them, because his intellectual consciousness is imbued with this orientation, and it is inevitable that it is embodied in his work.

 
     

The Church's Identity Established through Images according to Saint John Chrysostom
By Protopresbyter Gus George Christo

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Paperback (March 2006)
ISBN: 1-933275-05-7
Price: $22.95 + S&H (USD)

Since the topic of ecclesiology is central to current theological dialogues, the rich ecclesiological doctrine of St. John Chrysostom provides an invaluable contribution to such discussions. This work establishes Chrysostom's conception of the Church through various human, social and natural images. The unquestionably scriptural nature of Chrysostom's imagery offers a clear perception of the Church's origins, connections with the Old Testament, and its relationship to the Triune God, the Saints and Martyrs of both Covenants, humanity and creation in general. All things are renewed in the unconquerable Church of God. This new creation embodies the apostolic faith in Jesus Christ, the correct manner of worshipping God and interpreting Scripture, and has christological and apostolic roots. Furthermore, the Church's blameless, virtuous, orderly and sacramental character, its oneness, nobility, heavenly setting and way of life, its exclusion of all sin, heresies and the devil, and its positive and saving effects upon people and the cosmos, are all concretely revealed and experienced in the local Church under the oversight of a canonical, orthodox bishop.

 
     

Against Those Unwilling to Confess that the Holy Virgin Is Theotokos
(Original Greek Text and English Translation).
By Saint Cyril of Alexandria
Edited and translated with an Introduction by Protopresbyter George Dion. Dragas

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Paperback (September 2004)
ISBN: 0-9745618-7-8
Price: $13.95 + S&H (USD)
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The term Theotokos helped to establish the truth that Jesus Christ, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was the preexisting Son of God who also became man without ceasing to be God in order to recapitulate in Himself the entire humanity and work out an eternal salvation for it. The point here is that Jesus Christ is the same Son of God who as true God "was born" ineffably and eternally from the Father and as true man was born in time and according to the flesh from the Virgin for the completion of the ages. Jesus Christ is one person who unites in Himself two natures, the divine and the human, and thus deifies the human by leading it to participate in the perfections of the divine. The term Theotokos brings out all these aspects of the mystery of the Incarnation and stresses its soteriological import. St. Cyril was not the first to use this dogmatic term Theotokos in a Christological dogmatic sense. Several theologians before him, including St. Athanasius and the Cappadocians, as well as conciliar Church documents, had used it in their writings. St. Cyril defended its propriety and explained its dogmatic significance for the Church's doctrine of Christ, because Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople denounced it as unacceptable. In the debate that ensued, it became obvious that Nestorius entertained a false doctrine of Christ, which eventually led to his condemnation. It was he who became an innovator and deviator from the Church's Tradition and not St. Cyril as some contemporary scholars have asserted. The present text can be described as a model of Patristic theological discourse. It is an anti-heretical treatise, which refers to a central dogma of Christian theology, the doctrine of Christ. Its importance lies, first, in that it demonstrates that dogma and exegesis are intertwined in Patristic theological thought and discourse; and second, that it shows that Patristic dogma is rooted in the biblical witness, and that the Fathers handled the Scriptures in a different way than the ancient heretics and many of our contemporary biblical scholars.

 
     

An Outline of Orthodox Patristic Dogmatics
(In Greek and English).
By Protopresbyter John S. Romanides
Edited and translated by Protopresbyter George Dion. Dragas
(with a Preface by Metropolitan Methodios of Boston)

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Paperback (May 2004)
ISBN: 0-9745618-4-3
Price: $15.95 + S&H (USD)
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The late Professor John Romanides developed a critical and highly original Eastern Orthodox approach to Christian theology. He identified his approach with the Christian Roman ecumene that was centered in Constantinople, New Rome. His views on Christian "Romanity" and "Roman Orthodoxy" have earned him the title of "Prophet of Roman Orthodoxy" and have given rise to a school of committed followers and to much discussion. This book is Romanides' first Outline of Orthodox Patristic Dogmatics, which is published for the first time in the original Greek and in English translation. It represents a concise introduction into his understanding of the basic tenets of the Eastern Orthodox Faith and its fundamental differences from those of Western (Augustinian or Franco-Latin) Christian theology. It covers such doctrines as God's relation to the world, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of the Church, the Church's Holy Tradition and the restoration and perfection of humanity in and through this Tradition. It will serve as an introduction into this theologian's original vision of Patristic Orthodoxy, which is the basis of his reappraisal of Christian theology and history. Its value lies in its concise, coherent and comprehensive character.

 
     

Ecclesiasticus I
Introducing Eastern Orthodoxy.
By Protopresbyter George Dion. Dragas
(with a Preface by Metropolitan Methodios of Pisdia)

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Paperback (March 2004)
ISBN: 0-9745618-3-5
Price: $13.95 + S&H (USD)
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The central theme of the Church provides the basis for the collection of statements and essays in this book. They were produced for various occasions and are designed to reach the lay Christian. Two or three of them, however, attempt to go deeper into the wonderful but complex mystery of the Church. Orthodox Christians will find them useful in considering some central perspectives of their ecclesiastical heritage. It will help non-Orthodox Christians to acquaint themselves with Orthodox ways of thinking concerning the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and, thus, facilitate contemporary dialogue and rapprochement. This provides starting-points for further thought, discussion and inquiry.

     


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