The Orthodox Way Paperback – September 1, 1995

I grew up half heartedly calling myself a Christian. My family didn’t go to church except on rare occasions and I wasn’t very familiar with the Bible. I felt like something was missing from my life. As a young adult, I wanted myself to believe in Christianity but was struggling with my belief. At 25, I started my independent study of both the Bible and some other supplemental readings. Reading the Bible and this book have opened my mind and my heart to God in a deeper way than ever before. This book specifically articulates things that I’ve felt in my heart my whole life but haven’t been able to put words to. I’m 26 now, go to church almost every Sunday and really get something out of it, whereas before it always felt awkward, and I felt out of place. I needed to have a deeper understanding of Christianity to appreciate what it all meant. I am thankful Bishop Ware took the time and effort he put into sharing his understanding of Christianity with others. My life feels fuller now and I’m happy to have found this book. I do recommend for “new” believers like myself; lifelong ones can probably get a lot out of it as well. Give it a try if you want something to supplement your regular Bible study, or want to see what Christianity is really about.

Coming to the Eastern Orthodox Church from a non-denominational evangelical Protestant background (i.e. "regular Americanized Christianity"), reading this book was like re-learning my religion, except this time, the source is not "youth leaders" or "pastors" but the ecclesiastical authority, which traces its unchanged teachings back 2,000 years to Jesus Christ Himself."The Orthodox Way" reminds me of C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" because it is capable of expounding the Christian faith in a way that non-Christians can find compelling and satisfying (just look at what it did for the "lifelong agnostic-Buddhist" reviewer), but whereas Lewis uses the Moral Law as the main topic of his presentation, Kallistos Ware's topic is the practical aspects of the faith, the faith as something you do. "Christianity is more than a theory about the universe, more than teachings written down on paper. It is a path along which we journey - in the deepest and richest sense, the way of life." (pg. 7-8)Reading this book answered some questions I always had, such as: "why does God exist in three persons instead of just one?", "What would Jesus be doing if man had never become fallen and in need of a Messiah?", "what does the Holy Spirit actually do?", and so on. Answers like these are given in a very thoughtful and nuanced way and both Scripture and Church Fathers are invoked.If you are a Western inquirer into Orthodoxy, buy both this book and "These Truths We Hold", by the monks of Saint Tikhon's Monastery in Pennsylvania. The latter contains a history of the Orthodox Church and also information about Orthodox worship, including feasts, fasts, icons, sacraments, monasticism, and (of course) the liturgical ceremonies. Read the signposts and begin walking upon the Way with courage.

I bought this book when I first converted to the Orthodox Faith. I noticed a lot of people had recommended it and so I figured it would be a good idea to get my foot in the door. Well, the book is very informative for sure. However, there are parts that I had to read several times over to try and actually grasp what Metropolitan Kallistos (Timothy Ware) was saying. With my understanding of Orthodoxy at a minimum, it was a challenge at first.I have since been in the Orthodox faith for a little over a year now, and I still go back and read this book from time to time about specific topics that I'm writing about or talking to others about. Now that I have been in the faith and learned more, the book makes more sense than when I originally read it. So I recommend maybe having a base established before diving into this book. At least that was the case for me, and I'm sure there are many out there who picked it right up and read right through it with no problems at all.It has some really fascinating points in it about many different topics, but basically just the basis of the Orthodox doctrine. It mainly focuses on God and how He has had a relationship with us, and how He wants us to have a relationship with Him. It covers the mysterious, prayer, incarnation, Trinity, and some other things; I can't remember off the top of my head.But I highly recommend anyone to read this book. It has really helped me in understanding more about the Orthodox faith.

I first purchased this book nearly a year ago as an addition to my growing collection of Orthodox reading material. Though not baptized orthodox, I have been curious about the tradition, its history and forms of worship, and this book was an AMAZING looking glass into those very things. It was an easy but rewarding read for me; however, I have an educational background in philosophy and religion, so these things may have helped me a bit. To others, it may seem a bit dense, but personally I believe that bishop Kallistos Ware does a superb job at making the profoundly mystical theology of the orthodox faith accessible for any reader. I have begun reading it over a second time, flipping through to sections underlined. The author provides wonderful passages from both orthodox and non-orthodox sources at the beginning and end of each chapter. All in all, a great read if you are curious about orthodoxy and some of the theological tradition associated with it!