Welcome to the Orthodox Church—its history, theology, worship, spirituality, and daily life. This friendly guide provides a comprehensive introduction to Orthodoxy, but with a twist: readers learn by making a series of visits to a fictitious church, and get to know the faith as new Christians did for most of history, by immersion. Mathews-Green provides commentary and explanations on everything from how to “venerate” an icon, the Orthodox understanding of the atonement, to the Lenten significance of tofu. It’s the perfect book for inquirers and newcomers, but even readers who have been Orthodox all their lives say they learned things they never knew before. Enjoyable, easy-to-read, and leavened with humor, Welcome to the Orthodox Church is a gracious guide to the ancient faith of the Christian East.

The FIRST EVER Orthodox Study Bible presents the Bible of the early church and the church of the early Bible. Orthodox Christianity is the face of ancient Christianity to the modern world and embraces the second largest body of Christians in the world. In this first-of-its-kind study Bible, the Bible is presented with commentary from the ancient Christian perspective that speaks to those Christians who seek a deeper experience of the roots of their faith. Features Include: Old Testament newly translated from the Greek text of the Septuagint, including the Deuterocanon New Testament from the New King James Version Commentary drawn from the early Church Christians Easy-to-Locate liturgical readings Book Introductions and Outlines Index to Annotations Index to Study Articles Full-color Maps

The success of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code has raised new interest in Mary Magdalene and in the Gospel of Mary. Here, the author examines Mary Magdalene's influence on the beginnings of Christianity and asks what was her impact and her message? And furthermore, what became of her and her ideas? Esther de Boer studies the Gospel of Mary (the only Gospel to be named after a woman) to discover what it reveals about Mary Magdalene and to determine the origin of its portrayal. She argues that the Gospel of Mary is not a Gnostic writing but is more closely related to the writings of Philo, the letters of Paul and the Gospel of John. She demonstrates that esteem of Mary Magdalene did not just belong to the Gnostic tradition but to a broader Christian context. In order to determine this context, the study identifies the different portrayals of Mary Magdalene in the New Testament, analyses their concepts of discipleship and their views on women, and investigates their historical 'reality'. Esther de Boer concludes that the portrayal of Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of Mary is close to that in the Gospel of John, and investigates the possibility that she is concealed in the Johannine disciple loved by Jesus.

The nature of Christ is a very important subject that caused a serious dissension within the Church in the fifth century, in 451 AD. When the theological dialogue started as an effort towards the unity of churches, the subject had to be discussed. Therefore, our Orthodox Church found it necessary to issue a book which presents its concept in this regard in a language fit for theological dialogues. This subject (the Nature of Christ) was taught by me to the students of the Seminary "St. Mark Theological College" in 1984 in the form of lectures which I delivered to them in St. Bishoy Monastery, Sheheit Desert, as part of the courses of comparative Theology. The lectures were printed merely for the use of the students. The same lectures were afterwards translated into English in Ottawa, Canada, in 1980 and became available in English only for six years... We had to print them in Arabic for the students of the Seminary and its branches and for the benefit of those who are interested in theological studies whether ministers or ordinary individuals.. and whoever has the desire-from other churches to be acquainted with our concept of Christology. The first theological dialogue we attended on this subject was in Vienna, Austria in September 1971 AD convened by the ProOriente Group. In this dialogue we reached a theological formula that was accepted by our Catholic brothers and those in the old Oriental orthodox churches: the Syrians, Arminians, Ethiopians and Indians. It was an important dialogue indeed, for the dissension that occurred in the fifth century had distorted the face of every church before the other.. But now the way is open for a common understanding. Then, there was an official agreement with the Catholic churches after 17 years of differences (since 1988), based on the previous understanding. The agreement was recorded in a concise "Statement" which you will find at the end of this book. There was another dialogue, in more detail, with our brothers in the Byzantine Orthodox Churches in St. Bishoy Monastery, Sheheit Desert in 1989 AD. It was attended by the theologians of twenty Orthodox Churches and was followed by another meeting of the priestly representatives of the Orthodox churches in Chambesy, Geneva, in 1990. Now, seeing it is necessary to make our people acquainted with the details and evidences that prove our concept of the Nature of Christ, and since the Pro-Oriente Group is convening a religious conference for the representatives of all Churches at the end of October 1991 to present to them the Agreed Statement on Christology. And since we were asked to present a paper on the subject and deliver it as a lecture in the conference. Therefore, we proceeded to print the former lectures delivered in the Seminary in 1984 as a book to be presented to the conference and to be available in Arabic and in English for all who are interested. Pope Shenouda III

This new edition of the bestselling Orthodoxy & Heterodoxy is fully revised and significantly expanded. Major new features include a full chapter on Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movements, an expanded epilogue, and a new appendix ("How and Why I Became an Orthodox Christian"). More detail and more religions and movements have been included, and the book is now addressed broadly to both Orthodox and non-Orthodox, making it even more sharable than before.