Dionysius Between Orthodoxy and Heresy

2012 will see at least two new studies that I am aware of on the person, work, and legacy of that mysterious character known to history as Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. Another was released in November of last year: Filip Ivanovich, Dionysius the Areopagite Between Orthodoxy and Heresy (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011), 187pp.

The publisher provides the following overview of this book:

Dionysius the Areopagite between Orthodoxy and Heresy aims to explore the thought of one of the most controversial characters of Christian history, Dionysius the Areopagite, and put it in a correct context, between pagan (namely Neoplatonic) philosophy on the one side, and Christian theology, on the other. In significant part, the book examines Dionysius Neoplatonic sources, but it also offers insights into the original points of his philosophy and theology, thus showing how he managed to achieve a masterful integration of pagan thought and newly revealed faith. The chapters of the book, taken together, try to offer a broad insight into the Areopagite s thought, through examining not just his intellectual background and milieu, but also some of the crucial features of his work, such as notions of hierarchy, deification, apophatic and cataphatic theologies, icon, and others. This work is of a multidisciplinary character, since Dionysius thought has been studied from different points of view, so the contributions range from philosophy and theology to history and art history. Dionysius the Areopagite between Orthodoxy and Heresy is intended for both specialists and non-specialists. Apart from being a collection of specific studies, it can also serve as an introduction to the Areopagite s thought, and will be useful to all those interested in late antique and early Christian philosophy and theology, patristics, and cultural studies in general.

European Orthodoxy in the Twentieth Century

We are living in a happy time when, as I have repeatedly noted on here, interest in, and introductions to, Orthodoxy continue to be published by major publishers. Now the academic publisher Peter Lang has just sent me another, a translation of a book first published in French in 2009: Christine Chaillot, ed., The Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century (Peter Lang, 2011, xviii+464 pp.).

About this book the publisher provides the following synopsis and table of contents:

It is common knowledge that the majority of the population of Eastern Europe belong to the Christian Orthodox tradition. But how many people have an adequate knowledge of the past or even of the present of these Orthodox churches? This book aims to present an introduction to this history written for a general audience, both Christian and non-Christian. After the 1917 revolution in Russia, communism spread to most of the countries of Eastern Europe. By 1953, at the time of Stalin's death, the division between Eastern and Western Europe seemed absolute. However, the advent of perestroika at the end of the 1980s brought about political changes that have enabled the Orthodox Church to develop once again in Eastern Europe. The foundation of the European Union in 1993 has had a broader significance for Orthodox communities, who can now participate in the future development of Europe. Some Orthodox Churches already have their representatives at the European Union in Brussels. These include the patriarchates of Constantinople, Russia and Romania, along with the Church of Greece and the Church of Cyprus. Today, Europe is becoming increasingly religiously diverse, even within Christianity itself. A growing number of Orthodox Christians have come to work and settle in Western Europe. An understanding of the history of the Orthodox communities in Eastern Europe in the twentieth century will contribute, in a spirit of informed dialogue, to the shaping of a new united Europe that is still in the process of expansion.

Contents:
Kallistos Ware: Foreword
Christine Chaillot: Introduction
Andreas Nanakis: History of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Twentieth Century
Grigorios D. Papathomas: History of the Church of Greece in the Twentieth Century
Andreas N. Mitsides: The Church of Cyprus during the Twentieth Century
Todor Sabev: The Orthodox Church of Bulgaria in the Twentieth Century
Predag Puzovic: A Short History of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the 20th century in Former Yugoslavia
Anastasios Yanoulatos: Some Notes on the History of the Orthodox Church of Albania in the Twentieth Century and its Resurrection from 1991
Mircea Pacurariu: The Romanian Orthodox Church in the Twentieth Century
Emil Dragnev: The Orthodox Church in Moldova in the Twentieth Century
Etele Kiss: A History of the Orthodox Church in Hungary in the Twentieth Century
Christopher Pulec/George Stránsk: The Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands & Slovakia
Antoni Mironowicz: The Orthodox Church in Poland in the Twentieth Century
Alexander Gavrilin/Baiba Pazane: The Orthodox Church in the Twentieth Century in the Baltic States: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia
Feodor Krivonos: The Belarusian Orthodox Church in the Twentieth Century
Sophia Senyk: The Orthodox Church in Ukraine in the Twentieth Century
Mikhail Vitalievich Shkarovsky: The Russian Orthodox Church in the Twentieth Century
Zaza Abashidze: The Orthodox Church of Georgia in the Twentieth Century

I look forward to seeing this reviewed in Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies. 

Introductions to Orthodoxy

In the last three years alone, at least five rather good introductions to Orthodoxy have appeared in English. Each has strengths and weaknesses. Among the latest is

Katherine Clark, The Orthodox Church (London: Bravo, 2009), 168pp.

This latest introduction is a very small book—no larger than one’s hand—by Katherine Clark, an American-born translator and teacher who lived in Greece for many years and eventually converted to Orthodoxy. Clark does a generally commendable job in explaining the basics of Orthodoxy.

There are, however, a few infelicities in this book, including the occasions where Clark describes sui generis practices observed in a handful of parishes in Greece and extrapolates from them to assume that all Eastern Christians everywhere celebrate services in the manner she observed. Her treatment of holy orders ignores deacons; her treatment of the Julian calendar mangles the dates for Christmas, and claims “all” Orthodox follow the Julian paschalion, which is false; and her sweeping treatment of clerical appearance incorrectly claims that all Orthodox priests are “always bearded” and “always clothed in long robes quite distinct from modern dress.” So one must use this book with some caution, and it will not rival, in my estimation, David Bell's recent introduction, which is superb.