www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Books Reading List for a Beginning Byzantine

My family loosely attends a Ruthenian Byzantine Church. I was wondering if anyone could provide me with a list of books that would be a good introduction to everything Byzantine: The Divine Liturgy, Eastern Spirituality and/or Theology, if there is an Eastern Catholic Catechism, etc. I am trying to grow in my own knowledge of the Byzantine Church and would like to have things to read with my wife to help her, God willing, in moving toward the Byzantine Church as well.

Blessings,

The Ukrainian Catholic Church has a catechism, "Christ our Pascha". Available online for free or in book form for purchase. That would be my 1st go to. In terms of very brief history and providing a map of the Eastern Catholic Churches, I would recommend "The Eastern Catholic Churches: A Brief Survey" by Ronald Roberson. It is pretty dry but very comprehensible. Both these books are both read in small chunks at a time.

My other suggestions are actually by Eastern Orthodox writers who will occassionally make criticisms of (what they perceive to be) Catholic positions.

The Orthodox Way by Bishop Kallistos Ware is on spirituality and my second recommendation.

Also "The Year of Grace of the Lord" by "A Monk of the Eastern Church" (AKA Fr. Lev Gillette) is something I would highly recommend. It is a spiritual commentary on the liturgical year. His work and Ware's tends to be more ecumenical and can be easily read by non orthodox.

The Eucharist by Alexander Schemann is a great commentary on the Divine Liturgy. Schemann criticizes Rome a lot (sometimes I agree, disagree, or just think he is over stating his case), but his work is incredibly insightful.

For understanding Orthodox/Catholic differences, I would highly recommend ""His Broken Body" by Cleenwerck. He is Orthodox but very much interested in unity with Rome. He covers all major issues of disagreement and is mostly fair to Catholics. He has a lot of unique opinions that others in his communion may not share and certainly Catholics would also disagree with some of his characterizations, but his work is comprehensive and will give you a rough mental overview.

I hope this helps.

Devin

Is the divide between Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox related to theological issues? I understand the obvious ones, the EO denying papal infallibility, the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception, etc. But are there any Eastern positions that the EC Churches hold that EO deny? I was always led to believe that Eastern Catholics were literally Orthodox Christians in communion with Rome?

Complicated question. But yes, there are theological issues that divide Eastern Catholics from the Eastern Orthodox. Papal supremacy and infallibility are the easiest to mention. Officially "Roman Catholics" and "Eastern Catholics" have the exact same dogma and doctrine but different ways of expressing the same mystery. But individual Eastern Catholic prelates and members of the laity may have their own opinions of such matters. A difficulty in delineating the differences between Catholic and Orthodox positions is having a good grasp on what each Church actually teaches. Original Sin is something that both hold but individual saints, bishops, Popes and theologians within each community have expressed different takes on the idea. Some Catholic understandings of Original Sin is closer to certain Eastern Orthodox understandings while others are farther apart.

In regards to your original questions, I have thought about it a bit more. I would buy the Ukrainian Catechism and the Book by Lev Gillette. The Eastern Church's new liturgical year starts September 1st. Lev Gillette's book (addressed to both Orthodox and Eastern Catholics) is a book of spirituality based on the liturgical year. So you could in the course of the year read it little by little and gain a great understanding of the liturgical calendar and spiritual insights into the Eastern Way of thinking. The Ukrainian Catechism has 1001 paragraphs. If you were to read three a day. It would take you a little under a year to get through. With both books, you could gain a good gasp on Eastern Catholic thinking. After that, you could branch out unto other reading.

Excellent. I will order the books next paycheck. I really appreciate this!