At the Corner of East and Now: A Modern Life in Ancient Christian Orthodoxy - Softcover

Mathewes-Green, Frederica

4.03

302 ratings by Goodreads

9781585420445: At the Corner of East and Now: A Modern Life in Ancient Christian Orthodoxy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1585420441 ISBN 13: 9781585420445

Publisher: Putnam Pub Group, 2000

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A fascinating exploration of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Christianity's oldest faith, combines a light-hearted chronicle of the author's journey from hippiedom to being a pastor's wife, with an illuminating meditation on her church, its liturgy, and its tenets. Reprint.

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Review:

The wonderful title of this book gives a glimpse into its subject: a life at the crossroads of everyday life in America and the timeless rituals in a Christian Orthodox service. Full of information about this ancient church, Mathewes-Greene--author of Facing East and a columnist for Christianity Today--uses a style that is both quirky and intellectual, moving easily from the conversational ("this wasn't one of those woo-woo spiritual experiences where everything goes misty") to references to great Orthodox theologians and rich, distinguished prose. One example is her brief description of a young man she saw in California who believed he was Christ: "This is just someone's boy, someone's dreamer, who grabbed a sheet out of the linen closet and walked out of the suburbs, a nice young man breaking someone's heart, lost and gliding over the beautiful Santa Rosa Mountains in a private plane of bliss." While bearing the hallmarks of a fairly recent convert to the faith (some readers will have to adjust to her celebration of Eastern Orthodoxy at the expense of both Catholicism and Protestantism), the book makes a fine introduction to Orthodoxy for contemporary readers. --Doug Thorpe

About the Author:

FREDERICA MATHEWES-GREEN is a regular commentator for a US national radio station and a columnist on Christianity Today. She is also the author of Facing East (HarperSanFrancisco, 1997)

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