www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Having a hard time finding theological resources...

I'm trying to learn about the East right now, and as someone with a brain too big for his head I'd like to dig into some theology. I know that you guys don't take as much of an academic (and cataphatic) approach to theology, but I do really wonder where all this info is seeing as there ARE scholarly theologians in the Eastern Churches. I'm canonically Roman right now, but I fare much better practicing an Eastern spirituality and I want to switch over, but the whole intellectual side of things is holding me back. I'm kind of feeling caught between holiness and the things I love. How much do the Byzantine Catholics share with the Romans when it comes to theology and scholarship? And am I just having a hard time here because I speak English and all the major works tend to be in languages the majority of the Orthodox speak or something? I mean, it's kind of odd when there's such a huge disparity in my Google searches between Western and Eastern theology. I can barely find things on a lot of topics. And I'm not sure about books either. I know of a few, but still.

I love Western theology, but dislike Western spirituality. I love Eastern spirituality, but dislike the lack of Eastern cataphatic theology --- although I do actually like the mystical and apophatic approach, it's just that cataphatic stuff is basically a hobby of mine. I feel really torn.

I should probably mention that I tend to get hung up on head knowledge, so maybe this is all a good complement for me. I just really like to understand how things tick though. I'm probably autistic, if that makes it clearer for you how I feel.

There is a wealth of material available from a variety of sources, although I would accept the fact that Eastern theology does take a different tack than Western - and not just in its terminology.

I would always advise one begin at the beginning, and look at 'Christ in Eastern Christian Thought' by John Meyendorff, and follow it up with Norman Russell's 'The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition'.

Otherwise, Greeks such as Nellas, Mantzaridis, and Yannaras, and Russians like Evdokimov are all contemporary and proffer work on a variety of theological issues.

Thank you. I guess a part of my problem is being so used to the Latin method from my Protestant and Roman Catholic background, and the fact that a part of me thinks of that specifically when I think of theology. Obviously I can't expect that out of the East.

Well, luckily I was introduced to the Byzantine Rite shortly after my First Communion in a Latin Rite Church, so I have just as much religious education between the two Rites. Sure, the Byzantine Rite may have changed a bit since those days, but it's for the more ancient, and the more theological. Much like the changes in the Latin Rite were supposed to do.