When author and theologian John P. Burgess first travelled to Russia, he was hoping to expand his theological horizons and explore the rebirth of the Orthodox Church since the fall of Communism. But what he found changed some fundamental assumptions about his own tradition of North American Protestantism. In this book, Burgess asks how an encounter with Orthodoxy can help Protestants better see both strengths and weaknesses of their own tradition. In a time in which North American Protestantism is in declinemembership has now fallen to below 50% of the population Russian Orthodoxy can help Protestants rethink the ways in which they worship, teach, and spread the gospel. Burgess considers Orthodox rituals, icons, saints and miracles, monastic life, and Eucharistic theology and practice. He then explores whether and how Protestants can use elements of Orthodoxy to reform church life.
About the author
John P. Burgess is James Henry Snowden Professor of Systematic Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), he was previously Associate for Theology in the Office of Theology and Worship. Among his books is After Baptism: Shaping the Christian Life, published by Westminster John Knox Press.
