The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware

 The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware (Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia)

London: Penguin Books, 1991 (first published 1963)   ISBN 0140135294

This book is a useful (if slightly dated) introduction to the structure, beliefs and history of the Orthodox faith. Those of us brought up in a Western Christian tradition (Anglican in my case) may see the Orthodox Church as remote and exotic: I well remember that when a Greek Orthodox church opened in the city I grew up in being amazed at the chanting, icons and incense that accompanied their services and festivals - very different to my experience of Church.

Of course what I didn't know then, but this book explains, is that Orthodox services are in fact a link back to the earliest forms of Christian worship. Orthodox theology is based around the Bible and the decisions of the first seven Ecumenical Councils of the Church, believing that this is enough for true worship, "neither adding anything, nor taking anything away."

What does this mean in practice? It means an acceptance by those that are Orthodox that the great mysteries of the Christian faith are not to be interpreted or re-interpreted, but are to be accepted and lived. That there is no separation between belief, prayer and worship, that they all form part of being an Orthodox Christian: you can't claim to be one if you don't attend to those three things. That the clergy and the laity together guard the Tradition of the Church: there is no Pope, as the Church runs in a collegiate fashion, with the Holy Spirit determining the path forward through discussion and consensus.

Mysticism plays a much greater role in Orthodox life that Western Rites, as does the body. The belief that both the body and soul are made in the image of God means that actions and physical rituals are as important a part of Orthodox belief as thoughts and prayers. So while outwardly similar to Roman Catholicism, Orthodox have different emphases to living a life in Christ.

There are also of course deeper divisions, Filioque being a major one. What might seem a minor difference in words in the Creed actually is a major theological difference. Orthodox belief places the Father as the unique source of Godhead, with the Son and the Holy Spirit as part of the essence of the Father ("the divine is indivisible in its divisions"). If one states (as the Western Tradition does) that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, then there is no longer a unique source of Godhead. This seemingly technical issue is one of the two major divisions between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church.

The second division centres around the figure of the Pope, and specifically the power he has drawn to himself. The Orthodox Church has always had a hierarchy of the Patriarchy, and the first in that hierarchy has always been the Bishop of Rome. However, the Orthodox Church is a deeply ecumenical church - no one person, Bishop or Patriarch can decide Church dogma. Rome may be first among equals, but the idea that any one person can be infallible, or that they could command others in their beliefs, is anathema to the Orthodox.

Ware writes about modern ecumenical possibilities - while he writes in a hopeful tone, fundamentally the Orthodox stand firm in their belief that they are guardians of the true Tradition, so if other Churches don't move to them, it's unlikely that there will be a communion of Orthodox with Roman Catholic or Anglican. Since the publication of this book, it has been interesting to see particularly within the Anglican community a move to explore more deeply what the Orthodox Church has to offer, from actions such as installing icons in churches, to a move of people and priests to convert to Orthodoxy.

The other (first) half of this book deals with the history of the Orthodox Church. The division of the Church into Orthodox and Roman Catholic came about around the Millennium. Ware explains how the geo-political arena both widened the divisions (once most of the Orthodox lands came under Islamic domination their ability to engage with Western Christianity was limited), and created the unique structure of Orthodoxy as we know it today (Islamic domination made the Church not only the centre of religious identity, but also of national identity).

The national nature of many Orthodox churches is both a blessing and a curse: unlike Rome, Orthodox churches were keen to translate liturgy into local languages, so that believers could be fully involved in worship, but the temptation to support national leaders to the detriment of humanity in general has been a temptation to which church leaders have often succumbed. Ware uses the Communist domination of Eastern Europe to demonstrate both the willingness of people to be martyrs for the Church, as well as be fellow travellers for secular governments who wish to control and even crush religion.

Overall this is an excellent book for those who wish to understand an important part of the Christian Church. It's well-written, informative and learned. I feel it might be the start of a longer journey for me (thankfully the book comes with a useful bibliography and index for those of us who wish to go further).

Cheers for now, from

A View Over the Bell