The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity

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The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity (Blackwell Companions to Religion) by Ken Parry (Editor)

Review
"A masterful description of the major living traditions of Eastern Christianity. Its 24 chapters, each written by an accomplished scholar in the field, address the dominant ethnic and cultural categories of Eastern Christianity (Arab, Byzantine, etc.) along with their most characteristic features (liturgy, iconography, and hagiography). Each offers a concise, well-organized, and highly readable overview of the tradition in question, along with a representative bibliography ... Highly recommended. Academic libraries and theological collections; upper-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers." CHOICE

"A distinctive addition to the companion series and to its chosen sphere of knowledge." Reference Reviews

“Christian emigration, not least from the Middle East, means that there are growing communities of Eastern Christians in the West … Eastern Christians are now companions to Western; and the latter will learn much about the former from this Blackwell Companion.” Church Times

"The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity is quite unlike anything else available. It provides a scholarly and authoritative introduction to Eastern Christianity in its myriad variety, covering all the different geographical regions from the Balkans to China and reaching across to the States, and including all jurisdictions. It gives succinct accounts of their history and doctrine, with separate sections on liturgy, iconography and hagiography. Brilliant!"
Andrew Louth, University of Durham

"This latest addition to the Blackwell Companion series constitutes the most comprehensive, authoritative and elegant account of the Eastern Churches ever published. Its twenty-four chapters, each the work of a specialist, combine full accounts of the history and life of each church with a series of outstanding surveys of their liturgical, iconographical and hagiographical traditions. The surveys of Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox liturgies are a formidable achievement and will be invaluable to students of liturgy Eastern and Western. This work is a definitive synthesis which will stimulate interest in the Eastern Churches at a time when many of them are under threat because of political upheavals. It will also provide a starting point for the further study of their fascinating traditions. Scholarship will long be in the debt of Ken Parry, the editor and organizing mind behind this wonderful collection."
John Healey, University of Manchester

"A fitting companion volume to Parry’s The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity, this large enterprise will become an indispensable reference work for the study of Eastern Christianities from Egypt to China to USA. Particularly welcome is its emphasis on varying liturgical, iconographical, architectural, and hagiographical traditions."
Pauline Allen, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane

Product Description
This Companion offers an unparalleled survey of the history, theology, doctrine, worship, art, culture and politics that make up the churches of eastern Christianity.

• Covers both Byzantine traditions (such as the Greek, Russian and Georgian churches) and Oriental traditions (such as the Armenian, Coptic and Syrian churches)
  
• The volume’s in-depth articles are written by an international team of experts
  
• Contributes to our understanding of recent political events in the Middle East and Eastern Europe by providing much needed background information
  
• The Companion is designed to stand alongside The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christanity (Blackwell, 1999).

Book Description
This Companion offers an unparalleled survey of the history, theology, doctrine, worship, art, culture and politics that make up the churches of Eastern Christianity. Eastern Christianity - whether Catholic or Orthodox, Chalcedonian or non-Chalcedonian - has a history as complex and fascinating as that of Western Christianity, and yet since the split between the Churches, this history has remained unknown to many people. Over the last few decades there has been a growing realization that in order to understand the history of Christianity, it is necessary to understand this history of the Eastern Church. This Companion brings together 25 of the leading scholars in the field to discuss both the history of Eastern Christianity and its present relevance. It offers full coverage to the Byzantine traditions (Greek, Slav, Romanian, and Georgian) and the Oriental traditions (Armenian, Assyrain, Coptic, Ethiopian, Syrian, and Indian) as well as Orthodox, Catholic and Reformed communities.

From the Back Cover
Recent political events in the Middle East and eastern Europe have brought eastern Christianity to global attention. The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity provides an unparalleled account of the history and development of these vital Christian traditions, at the same time placing contemporary events in their full context. The Companion provides authoritative and lively essays on the main Eastern Orthodox traditions, such as the Greek, Russian, and Georgian churches, as well as the Oriental Orthodox traditions, including the Armenian, Coptic, and Syrian churches.

The in-depth articles of the Companion, which are written by an international team of experts, offer a comprehensive survey of the history, theology, doctrine, worship, art, culture, and politics that make up the churches of Eastern Christianity. The Companion can also be used alongside the respected Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity (Blackwell, 1999), providing detailed discussions and assessments to complement the Dictionary’s shorter entries.

About the Author
Ken Parry is Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University, Australia. He is the editor-in-chief of The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity (Blackwell, 1999) and has contributed to numerous other books and journals on Byzantine Christianity and the Christian East.