Part One of this book displays a well-defined and compact discourse concerning the Early Church, the Church of the Seven Councils, and the struggling Church in a state of siege and persecution.

Part Two makes evident the faith and worship of the Orthodox Church. In this section, Timothy Ware discusses the principles behind Orthodox Liturgy, the Sacraments, and God's relations with the individuals that constitute the invisible body of the Church. As a reader I discovered the the little things that engendered big friction between the East and the West. Also I found valuable information about the rise of communist Russia, the internal and external dissent between Orthodox Churches during this period, and the prevalence of a faith that has remained nearly unchanged throughout the ups and downs of its long history.

So I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Church History, or for someone who simply wishes to look at the Orthodox Church from the pen of an Orthodox writter.


No longer trustworthy.   July 25, 1999
 39 out of 64 found this review helpful

After its latest revision, Bishop Kallistos (Timothy Ware)'s book no longer provides a good starting point for those generally unfamiliar with the original Christian Church, its history, and its doctrines. This revised edition shows signs of compromise with the general melt-down of bygone Christianity going on in Great Britain. For example, His Grace says that the question of female priests is seen by the Orthodox as an open question; one wonders what in the world he can be talking about, since there isn't a hint of this development in any of the sources of authority the Church understands as binding. (Can you say "when Gehenna freezes over"?) Here, he must be trying to appeal to the culture around him. Additionally, his approach to the lamentable ecumenical efforts in which the Ecumenical Patriarchate is engaged is deplorable: it is simply inconsistent with the Church's history for its hierarchs to participate in WCC events that include pagan prayers, etc., even if only as observers. A non-Orthodox who read this edition at my suggestion came back to me with the notion that Bishop Kallistos' teaching regarding the relationship among the various "Christian" bodies differed from what I had previously explained. That was true, since I had repeated the Church's nearly 2,000-year-old insistence that it is the one, true Way. In this regard, Bishop Kallistos' attempts to be "understanding" are simply going to mislead the heterodox regarding what they are missing (i.e., the New Testament fellowship of Christ). The unbroken witness of the Church disagrees strongly with his "friendly" opinions. (If it didn't, the decision of the New Romans in the fifteenth century that they would rather remain Orthodox and suffer conquest by the Muslims than apostatize to Papism in exchange for military assistance would make no sense.) In sum, this is not a good place to start someone who might be interested in joining "the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic" (that is, the Orthodox) Church; as to anyone else, well, why do they need to know about the Church, anyway? This revision is a great disappointment. Get an earlier edition.


The Number ONE book on Eastern Orthodoxy   January 31, 2004
 36 out of 39 found this review helpful

"The Orthodox Church," by Timothy (Bishop Kallistos) Ware, is (and has been for decades) the number one book in the English language on the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith. It appears on virtually all recommended reading lists and bibliographies. (Not surprisingly, the number two book is "The Orthodox Way," by the same author.)

The cover states that this title is "a clear, detailed introduction to the Orthodox Church written for the non-Orthodox as well as for Orthodox Christians who wish to know more about their own tradition." I couldn't have said it better myself.

This volume is divided into two sections. Part one covers the history of the Church from the beginnings at Pentecost through Byzantium (the Seven Councils and the Great Schism), then the conversion of the Slavs, the Church under Islam, the Russian Church, and on into the twentieth century. Especially sobering is the author's summary of events surrounding the eastern European Orthodox Churches under communism. Coverage of the growth of the Orthodox Church in North America helps explain the current state of things.

Part two discusses faith and worship and covers such important topics as: Holy Tradition, God and humankind, the theology and structure of the Church, and detailed explanations of various components of Orthodox worship (including sacraments, feasts, fasts and private prayer). The final chapter, entitled "The Orthodox Church and the Reunion of Christians," explains various views within the Church concerning the ecumenical movement and the World Council of Churches, and highlights dialogues with various church bodies including Roman Catholics, Old Catholics, Anglicans, and other Eastern Christian bodies such as the Coptic Church and the Armenian Orthodox Church.

An extensive, annotated list of further reading, organized by topics, such as "The Early Church and Byzantium," "Orthodox Theology," and "Liturgical Worship," will be extremely helpful for those who wish to dig more deeply into specific areas of interest.

While this may indeed be the definitive introductory book on Eastern Orthodoxy, it would certainly be more accessible to readers with some background in the Bible, Church history, or with some experience in liturgical churches. As the author suggests at one point, there is no better introduction to Orthodoxy than to actually attend an Orthodox Divine Liturgy. Those who have attended Orthodox services (or who have been members of the Church for a while) are likely to be those who are most drawn to this excellent book.


A specious apologia   March 31, 2005
 20 out of 46 found this review helpful

Most Roman Catholics or individuals who are members of other christian denominations, for the most part, know very little about the Orthodox Church. This can be said for many Orthodox faithful themselves, too, especially in the todays secular society. And those who are interested in educating themselves about the Orthodox Church, considering the view held by themajority of the other reviews, would presume that this book is an excellent choice in providing an introduction to the history and beliefs of the Orthodox Church. Unfortunately that is not the really the case, since Timothy Ware, particularily in his re-telling of the history and to a lesser degree in his explanation of theological matters, has a tendecy to gloss-over, misrepresent, and erroniously define and explain, important events and subjects.

This is quite evident as soon as one begins to read the opening pages of the book. Firstly he quotes the anti-papist Othodox theologian Alexis Khomiakov (quoted throughout the book) describing the Pope (ie., the successor of St. Peter) as "the first Protestant" and the "father of German rationalism." Quotes, to be sure, not grounded on any historical or theological facts, but based upon the opinion and belief that any idea, custom, person, dogma or article of faith whose origin is western in nature, especially since the Great Schism, is contrary to that of the True Faith, held of course, by the Orthodox church. While it would be unfair to say that Timothy Ware holds steadfast to this view, since he professes to be an ecuminist, he nevertheless endlessly quotes and cites historians and theologians who adamently do.

A telling example of how he glosses over important historical events that are crucial to understanding the nature of the Church are noticable in Chapter One. After just six pages describing the beginning of the Church, the reader is instantly brought forth with the topic of "The Church of the Seven Councils." There is virtually no mention whatsoever of the importance of Apostic Succession in determaning Patriarchates, since, undoubtably, this would later put in question the position of Constantinople-originally subject to the metropolitan authority of Heraclea-amongst Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria. That being said, throughout this book evidence that does not fall in line with the typical and current view held by the Orthodox Church in similar instances is simply ignored.

His chapter on the Great Schism is the most telling in the entire book. It is intellectually dishonest and many of the facts are distored, if not unmentioned. Initially the five grievances -fasting on Saturday, not beginning Lent till Ash Wednesday (instead of three days earlier as in the East), not allowing priests to be married, not allowing priests to administer confirmation, and the addition of the Filioque to the creed-brought forth by Photius are minimized to two:the Papacy (not included in the original five) and the Filioque. So much for consistancy.

These are just some of the examples one can cite in defending the fact that Timothy Ware's book is neither a viable or worthy introduction into such a topic. Rather, the book entitled "The Eastern Orthodox Church" written by Adrian Fortescue is a much more intellectually consistant and historically accurate presentation-if one is seriously considering learning more about this subject instead of just reaffirming previously held convictions.