Encountering the Mystery: Understanding Orthodox Christianity Today

Encountering the Mystery: Understanding Orthodox Christianity Today | Patriarch Bartholomew | The Mystery Unveiled

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Encountering the M...

	Encountering the Mystery: Understanding Orthodox Christianity Today Patriarch Bartholomew Doubleday, 2008 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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As Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I is the symbol of unity for the self-governing national and ethnic Orthodox Christian churches throughout the world. He is well known for his commitment to protecting the environment, and for opening communications with other Christians (especially the Roman Catholic Church) as well as with Muslims and other religious groups.

Written with personal warmth and great erudition, ENCOUNTERING THE MYSTERY illuminates the rich culture and soul of Orthodox Christianity. Bartholomew I traces the roots of Orthodox Christianity to its founding 2000 years ago, explores its spirituality and doctrine, and explains its liturgy and art. More especially, in a unique and unprecedented way, he relates Orthodox Christianity to contemporary issues, such as freedom and human rights, social justice and globalization, as well as nationalism and war.

With a recent rebirth of Orthodox Christian churches (particularly in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe), there has been great interest in understanding this important branch of Christianity with its close ties to the traditions of the early Church. As USA TODAY recently reported, Orthodox Christian churches throughout the country are drawing converts attracted by the beauty of its liturgy and inspired by its enduring theology and teachings. But for the general seeker, whatever their background, ENCOUNTERING THE MYSTERY is a rich spiritual source that draws upon the wisdom of millennia.

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Pleasantly Surprised

My first two fears was that this was either some narrow esoteric treatise in theology-speak; or it was going to be some sort of simplistic catechism which are legion. It was neither. Patriarch Bartholomew gets down to the spiritual essence of what the Church is about. The title contains the clue: mystery. Very often people want to understand God in concrete terms they can categorize and (unfortunately) manipulate. Throughout history God has been revealed to various persons in a multitude of ways. Much, but not all, has been summarized in the Bible which is the written record of those faith experiences. However, God is so transcendent and beyond anything that we conceive that in humility we have to realize that we haven't even scratched the surface in understanding God. Much of theological work has been to make God understandable in human terms. Some of that is very helpful, some is not. Ultimately, the Patriarch is trying to lead us to the idea that God is not a concept to be understood rationally, but a being with whom we are called into a personal relationship. A theologian is not someone who studies about God, but is a person who encounters God in a prayerful relationship. God cannot be encapsulated fully in creeds. God must be experienced and Bartholomew provides the reader with the perspective of a two thousand year old tradition. A perspective that regretfully many people of Western Christian traditions in America have not been exposed.

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The Mystery Unveiled

Patriarch Bartholomew has remained a bit of a mystery, even to the Orthodox faithful. His brilliant writing not only illuminates the Orthodox faith but also reveals the heart and mind of their present spiritual father. This book can easily be read by the layperson, and is an indication that in spite of the Orthodox clinging to their ancient faith and praxis, the faith still addresses well the challenges of our post-modern world.

straight from the source

For many Christians in the west, both Protestant and Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Christianity remains largely unknown, overlooked and even ignored. Orthodox believers constitute a family of fifteen self-governing and "autocephalous" churches that are united in liturgy and doctrine but administratively independent. By some estimates they number 300 million adherents. Whereas Rome fell in the late fifth century, Byzantine Christianity flourished for a millennium, from the time when Constantine established "New Rome" in what is today Istanbul until its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. In the United States, since the late 1980s, a steady trickle of mainly Protestant evangelicals have converted to Orthodox.

It's hard to imagine a better guide to the Orthodox than Bartholomew I (b. 1940). In 1991 he was elected as the Archbishop of Constantinople and the Ecumenical Patriarch who serves as the spiritual leader over the entire Orthodox communion. In Orthodox parlance he has no juridical authority but he enjoys a primacy of honor as the "first among equals." His personal background and sustained efforts over the last twenty years have earned him a reputation as an outspoken advocate of reconciliation among world religions, ecumenicity among Christians, and care for the environment. He's a Turkish citizen of Greek heritage, situated at the geographic, cultural, political and religious crossroads of Islam, Judaism and Christianity, and he's fluent in eight languages.

Bartholomew begins with a general introduction to Orthodox history, theology, and worship. He explains the aesthetic elements of Orthodoxy as seen in its architecture, icons and liturgy. He describes the influential role of monastic spirituality and the sacraments. I've always appreciated the Orthodox emphasis on "apophatic" theology, the notion that the transcendent God is beyond human definition and comprehension, yet truly immanent: "God as unknowable and yet as profoundly known; God as invisible and yet as personally accessible; God as distant and yet as intensely present. The infinite God thus becomes truly intimate in relating to the world" (186). In the last half of the book Bartholomew turns to matters of ecology, human rights, social justice, war and peace, and dialogue. Throughout his book he shares personal anecdotes about his childhood, seminary days, visiting the famous monastery at Athos, and his numerous ecumenical and environmental undertakings. This is a good book by a great man, but for an introduction to Orthodoxy there's still none better than The Orthodox Church by Bishop Kallistos (Timothy) Ware of Oxford, first published in 1963 and now available in any number of revised editions.

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