Through western eyes

This morning Jim and I finished the book
Through Western Eyes. Eastern Orthodoxy: A Reformed Perspective by Robert Letham. I would recommend this book to anyone who is living in a part of the world where Orthodoxy is the prime religion. And I would recommend this book to those who simply want a better understanding of what Orthodoxy is — what do the Orthodox believe and why? I was quite surprised by what I didn’t know as well as what I thought to be true.

From the back cover:

This book examines the history and theology of Orthodoxy from a Reformed perpsective. There are clear and significant areas of agreement — a common allegiance to the triune God; the person of Christ; the authority of Scripture and the truth of the gospel. At the same time there are many areas of disagreement, where it seems that Orthodoxy and Protestantism are at odds. However, there are also misunderstandings on both sides, where proponents of either position are not normally dealing accurately with what the other holds to be true. In drawing attention to the agreements and misunderstandings Robert Letham trusts that readers may come to a better understanding of exactly where the real differences lie. We can learn from Orthodoxy — if our assumption is that the most important thing is to grow in our knowledge of Christ.