Saturday, December 27, 2008

Historical Studies of the Russian Chruch Abroad

New web site on historial studies related to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) launched!

Friday, December 19, 2008

The Orthodox Church: An Introduction to the History, Doctrine, and Spiritual Culture

"This is an unparalleled introduction to the Orthodox Church. Comprehensive in its scope, surveying the history and present state of the Church, it is also bold and fresh in its presentation of Orthodox theology and yet, or rather thus, truly traditional. Fr. John McGuckin's inspired and challenging vision of Orthodoxy reveals a Church entering upon a 'new spring,' ready to address the concerns of the modern world, intellectually, politically, and socially, grounded in God's philanthropy for all his creation." John Behr, St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary "Fr. John McGuckin has succeeded here in an almost impossible task: to offer us a concise, evocative, sympathetic, yet historically sophisticated portrait of the history, faith, and practice of the Orthodox Churches in one highly readable, constantly informative volume. Poet and scholar as he is, McGuckin writes gracefully and engagingly, yet with a theological and spiritual depth that invites all of us to reflect more deeply on what is most fundamental to the Christian faith. The book seems bound to become a classic." Brian E. Daley, SJ, University of Notre Dame "This volume will be the classical introduction to Orthodoxy at least for most of this century. McGuckin is, in an ascending and unifying order, scholar and poet, convert and Romanian Orthodox priest. The book's content is clearly set in a twenty-first century context, while being deeply scriptural, patristic and byzantine. The aroma of Orthodoxy wafts through its pages. It serves as the gateway to this Christian community for outsiders and insiders alike, because it is faithful and insight-filled while also ancient and up to date." Frederick W. Norris, Emmanuel School of Religion
See: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1405150661.html

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Slavonic-English Dictionary Project

"In the frames of 2008 International Year of Languages, it is planned to build a Slavonic to English dictionary. It will be available for free online. It will include around 5’000 words.
While the modern family of Slavic languages includes some 15 languages, the archaic Church Slavonic remains in use in the church services. Many medieval East-European chronicles and other materials were written in this language. The reference materials for the present dictionary are taken, in general, from old books, printed in the Russian Empire before 1917 (for before the eighteenth century, Church Slavonic was in wide use as a general literary language in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine)."
For information on this project see: http://www.slavonic-english.com/index.htm