Just Published - The Explanation of the Epistle of St. Paul To the Galatians by Blessed Theophylact

This volume contains Blessed Theophylact’s commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians. Although St. Paul wrote this letter to address the particular issue of circumcision that was troubling the young churches of Galatia, its purpose goes much deeper. A central theme of the Epistle is the question of the essence of the Christian life—is it based on correct practices or on faith? St. Paul explains the purpose of the Judaic law, and the necessity of moving beyond its practice to the new, very different life based on faith in Christ. The depth of the Apostle’s care for his flock is evident as he strives to draw them away from the old understanding of sin, into the new knowledge of the glory and love of Christ.


See Chrysostom Press

The Eastern Church in the Spiritual Marketplace: American Conversions to Orthodox Christianity

Amy Slagle is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Southern Mississippi.

“Her study is an important contribution to several fields. It adds significantly to the treatment of conversion in the sociology of religion, which has tended to focus mainly on Protestantism and secondarily on Catholicism. The book is extraordinarily well written and organized, combining data and theory with an ease seldom found in academic prose.” —Andrew Buckser, Professor of Anthropology at Purdue University and co-editor of The Anthropology of Religious Conversion

“This is a fascinating collective biography of American spiritual seekers. Slagle’s study simultaneously broaches issues of personal identity, ethnicity in religion, what it means to be American, and the conflicting roles that race might play in the process of conversion to Orthodox Christianity in twenty-first century America.” —Roy R. Robson, Professor of History and Director of the Honors Program at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

The Eastern Orthodox converts in this study are participants in what scholars today refer to as the “spiritual marketplace” or quest culture of expanding religious diversity and individual choice-making that marks the post-World War II American religious landscape. In this highly readable ethnographic study, Slagle explores the ways in which converts, clerics, and lifelong church members use marketplace metaphors in describing and enacting their religious lives. Slagle conducted participant observation and formal semi-structured interviews in Orthodox churches in Pittsburgh, PA—the “Holy Land” of North American Orthodoxy—and Jackson, MS, in the Bible Belt—where the Orthodox Church in America has marshaled significant resources to build mission parishes.

Relatively few ethnographic studies have examined Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the U.S., and Slagle’s book fills a significant gap. This lucidly written book is an ideal selection for courses on the sociology and anthropology of religion, contemporary Christianity, and religious change. Scholars of Orthodox Christianity, as well as clerical and lay people interested in Eastern Orthodoxy, will find this book to be of great appeal.

See Northern Illinois University Press