Three Views on Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism (review)

The collapse of communism in Europe allowed the iron curtain to be drawn back on the lands and peoples of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and ushered in a new era of global encounter between Eastern and Western Christians. The meeting has not always been amicable, but it has forced both parties toward discovery and self-examination. This book, Three Views on Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism is part of the publisher's Counterpoints series, which seeks to enhance the mutual interaction by bringing together advocates of divergent theological positions.

The editors of this volume attempt a kind of symmetry in form with one author each from the Orthodox and Evangelical camp putting forward the case for compatibility, against compatibility or for possible compatibility. In this way the book is arranged into five chapters, as no evangelical affirming compatibility is represented in the volume. After a major essay for each position, the other authors then give their response, allowing for interchange, correction, or clarification. The primary author is then given the final word of response to the challenges of the others.

One of the difficulties of the book is in defining what or who an evangelical is. Editor James Stamoolis, who has made a spiritual pil-grimage from Orthodoxy to Evangelicalism, gives a largely historical account of the American evangelical movement, tracing its roots from a rejection of theological liberalism as first expressed by the 'Fundamentalists'. This movement later grew less reactionary and gained self-awareness with its own expression of social engagement in the world. In his own essay, Orthodox Bradley Nassif notes that 'the theological features of evangelicalism today embraces a wide array of denominations and churches, ranging from Reformed to Wesleyan, charismatic to Pentecostal, Baptist to Catholic, thus revealing evangelicalism as a transdenominational, transnational movement' (p. 35). Ultimately Nassif focuses his own essay on criteria based on four central themes suggested by evangelicals themselves, '1) the centrality of the cross – crucicentrism; 2) the centrality of the Bible – biblicism; 3) the centrality of conversion – conversionism; 4) the centrality of evangelism – activism' (p. 33). Readers will sense that these definitions are essentialist in theology and limited to American cultural expression, but will nevertheless sympathise with the difficulty of adequately defining evangelicalism today.

Each author makes a useful contribution to the book, although Nassif's essay (Orthodox perspective, asserting compatibility), demonstrating an impressive conversance in Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism honed by years of inter-faith dialogue, stands head and shoulders above those of the other contributors. His thorough and nuanced arguments will bring insights for both camps toward compatibility.

Michael Horton's contribution (evangelical, incompatible) makes ample reference to the creeds, Church Fathers, and Reformers and thereby refutes the general criticism that Evangelical theology suffers from historical amnesia, but one gathers the impression that he is more at home with confessional Protestantism of the sixteenth century than with contem-orary expressions of evangelicalism. This notwithstanding, Horton is able to address contentious issues such as the nature and pervasiveness of sin, justification vs. theosis, and the place of Scripture and Tradition in ecclesiastical authority. Horton is also willing to admit that evangelicals can learn from the Orthodox Church, especially in its emphasis on the convergence of eschatology and ontology toward cosmic redemption and restoration in Pauline theology.

Father Vladimir Berzonsky's contribution (Orthodox, incompatible)is important in that it reflects a long tradition of allegorical and meta-phorical hermeneutical method, which is consistent with the more traditional expressions of the Orthodox churches of Europe. Berzonsky consistently demonstrates how a text may be understood variously. However, he uncritically accepts the interpretations of the Church Fathers without sufficient emphasis on the importance of understanding the hermeneutical presuppositions and criteria that support a particular theological view. In one particularly enlightening exchange, Berzonsky asserts that 'Church as building becomes a temple, set apart to be made holy – prelude and paradigm of the world become church. The structure is cruciform – using the Hagia Sophia as a...