- Home
- Studies in Eastern Christianity
- religion
- Icon of the Kingdom of God
Preparing your PDF for download...
There was a problem with your download, please contact the server administrator.
Icon of the Kingdom of God
An Orthodox Ecclesiology
Series: Studies in Eastern Christianity
Imprint: Catholic University of America Press
What is the Church? Some would answer this question by studying the Scriptures, the history of the Church, and contemporary theologians, thus addressing the theological nature of the Church. Others would answer based on statistics, interviews, and personal observation, thus focusing on the experience of the Church. These theological and experiential perspectives are in tension, or at times even opposed. Whereas the first might speak about the local church as the diocese gathered in the Liturgy presided over by its bishop, the latter would describe the local church as the parish community celebrating the Liturgy together with the parish priest, never experiencing a sole liturgy that gathers an entire diocese around its bishop. Whereas a theologian might abstractly describe the Church as a reflection of the Trinity, a regular church-member might concretely experience the Church as a community that manifests the Kingdom of God in its outreach ministries. Radu Bordeianu attempts to bring these two perspectives together, starting from the concrete experience of the Church, engaging this experience with the theological tradition of the Church, extracting ecclesiological principles from this combined approach, and then highlighting concrete situations that reflect those standards or proposing correctives, when necessary.
Without pretending to be a complete Orthodox ecclesiology, Icon of the Kingdom of God addresses the most important topics related to the Church. It progresses according to one’s experience of the Church from baptism, to the family, parish, Liturgy, and priesthood, followed by analyses of synodality and nationality. Arguing that the Church is an icon of the Kingdom of God, this volume brings together the past theological heritage and the present experience of the Church while having three methodological characteristics: experiential, Kingdom-centered, and ecumenical.
Radu Bordeianu is professor at Duquesne University and editor of It Is the Spirit Who Gives Life: New Directions in Pneumatology (CUA Press).
"Fr. Radu's excellent book contributes to the study of Orthodox ecclesiology in significant ways. It offers an informed, grounded, and balanced overview of the current state of Orthodox ecclesiology and a strong treatment of the relationship between ordained ministers and the priesthood of all believers. It also makes a valuable contribution to Orthodox-Catholic dialogue by raising anew the possibility of Orthodoxy's responsible reciprocation in the allowance of the practice of limited inter-communion between Orthodox and Catholics, as the Catholic Church has permitted since Vatican II."
~Will T. Cohen, University of Scranton
"Fresh, original, erudite, and anchored in primary and secondary sources, Radu Bordeianu's Icon of the Kingdom of God presents an Orthodox view of the Church representing the voices of both theologians and the people. Bordeianu's study is an instant classic."
~Nicholas Denysenko, Valparaiso University
"Bordeianu's experiential and kingdom-centered Orthodox ecclesiology is refreshing in its focus on the concrete reality of the Church as experienced by the author through his own pastoral and ecumenical ministry in a North American context. The courageous solutions found in this book - e.g. holding on to infant baptism while respecting the religious growth of Orthodox teenagers, promoting active participation of the lay faithful in both the liturgy and the leadership of the parish, respecting the authority of the bishop while pleading for pan-orthodox rapprochement and promoting intercommunion for interfaith couples in specific local contexts - are however not invented by the author but derived from his rich knowledge of Scripture, the Church fathers, ecumenical dialogue statements, and his favorite theologians, Afanasieff, Schmemann, Staniloae, and Zizioulas. Thanks to the great writing skills of the author the book remains however easily digestible."
~Peter De May, KU Leuven, Belgium
"Radu Bordeianu has established himself as the most important Orthodox ecclesiologist of our time. In Icon of the Kingdom of God, Bordeianu synthesizes the various strands of Orthodox ecclesiology throughout history, informed by ecumenical insights and with an eye toward the lived experience of the church. He offers one of those rare books that bridges the theological and the experiential, which is why it should be read not only by students of theology but by all those who care about their local church."
~Aristotle "Telly" Papanikolaou, Fordham University
" Icon of the Kingdom of God is a first-rate work of ecclesiology. While some studies settle into simply repeating what dead theologians have previously written, Bordeianu is bold in tackling contested issues such as deaconesses, ecumenical rapprochement, and intercommunion. That being said, he approaches all of these questions with a close eye to tradition, always seeking to articulate his position by drawing upon the abundant resources of inherited theology, both East and West. Throughout the course of his study, Bordeianu aims to carry forward the bright flame of tradition without falling back into traditionalism, which 'supposes that nothing should ever be done for the first time' (ibid.) In my opinion, he succeeds admirably at this goal, even though I disagree with some of the conclusions that he draws. Catholics who are interested in Orthodoxy will find this study to be particularly valuable, but ecclesiologists of all stripes should consider adding it to their library."
~Catholic Books Review
Related Books
