I highly recommend this book to anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with the Catholic church. I was raised in a generic-Protestant environment in a family that never attended church. I was baptized and confirmed into the Catholic faith at the age of twenty-three. By the grace of God, I was chrismated into the Orthodox church at the age of twenty-nine. During the short period that I was Catholic, I learned everything I could about the Catholic church, including the history and dogmas. Well, this book is the missing history - the history that no one teaches about the Catholic church and where it strayed away from the one true faith.

Mr. Strickland connects all the dots to complete the picture of Protestant history. He explains where the Catholic church has deviated from the faith, the absolute mess their deviation has caused, and the continuing repercussions. Think of all the "Protestant" religions there are today. They all stem from the Catholic church. Every flavor of Christianity belongs to the Catholic church in some form, except the one true faith of Orthodoxy. The Orthodox church has been safeguarding the faith as it was handed down to the Apostles for over 2,000 years. Mr. Strickland makes clear where our paths diverged, what keeps up apart, and why the only way to reconciliation is complete repudiation by the Catholic church of all their teachings over the past 1,000+ years.

We've been warned, and it is a well known tactic that in order to shift public opinion from right to left it needs to be done in small steps. This is exactly what the Catholic church did, and it was driven initially by a very small group. The popes claimed more and more power until they ultimately declared themselves to be the Vicar of Christ, Christ's representative on Earth. This was not a teaching handed down from the Apostles, and it is found nowhere in scripture. Clearly, it is a purely human invention in order to manipulate and control others.

Mr. Strickland breaks down the various differences between Orthodox and Catholic by explaining the subtle changes Rome brought to their faith in relatively small doses. And, he does it by making very astute observations, such as Augustinianism vs. the Eastern Fathers. Simple comparison, but it explains so very much! This book isn't always an easy or straight-forward read, and you can get lost in the history if you're not careful, but I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a real explanation of the differences between East and West.

Love it

Excellent and balanced treatment

As a University History professor and adult reader, I had perhaps an increased interest in an Orthodox book woven into a historical setting. I stayed interested throughout the book and am looking forward to using as part of our church school's middle age class curriculum. This book while maintaining reader's interest, also teaches an important message of belonging in Christ and the restoration of forgiveness in Faith. I highly recommend it for both children and adults.

This is a powerful and and absolutely timely book on what it means to think and be an Orthodox theologian. This should be required reading in every seminary, and absolutely every Orthodox Christian should consider reading this book.

In the day and age of Google and social media, this book helps redirect the reader to shut out the screaming of the web and our inner desire to vomit up whatever ideas or opinions we possess. Instead, we should stop and consider what is true, where truth originates, and, most importantly, how to live the truth. The author begins by diving into the differences between Eastern and Western thought and worldview and how these differences cause misunderstanding today in the wider religious sphere. She then explores the historical role of the theologian and urges any who dare to dabble in theology to know themselves first. She gives a plethora of examples from the Church Fathers of how a theologian should speak and behave, reorienting the reader to live the spiritual life, not just talk about it.

This book was an absolute mic drop against one of my pet peeves (and one of the main reasons I've left most social media): the "armchair theologian" or the person who does not hesitate to give their opinions and arguments on the web to anyone and everyone regardless of their actual expertise in theology. The author describes the dangers of dabbling in theology when you have only the basic understanding of it, and the difficulties of discerning if what you're reading on social media actually comes from a true and reliable source. This doesn't just affect Orthodoxy and the discussion of God, but nearly every subject imaginable. Today, everyone has an opinion on everything whether it be God, the Church, medicine, psychology, politics, science, you name it. And preference is given to one's own opinion regardless of its accuracy or effectiveness. Everyone is suddenly an expert in all things whether or not they've actually spent the time and money studying the subject, and the result has been nothing short of ugly and hurtful in all aspects of our society. Theology is, above all, the most sacred of topics in that one is daring to talk about God, and this book argues that such a discussion should not be entered into lightly or by just anyone. We make the pearls of our faith out to be cheap when we cast them about without discernment, especially discernment of ourselves and our own ignorance and inabilities.

It's refreshing to read such a well-researched and scholarly work written by a female theologian with all the credentials to back her up. There are not enough women in this field, and I was so excited to read her work. It truly is a timely book. As technology shrinks our world and media makes the exchanging of ideas so rapid and vast, we need a book like this to help enlighten Western readers on the Eastern worldview and challenge the modern Christian internet debater to rethink their approach.

This book is masterfully written. I came away both encouraged and convicted. If you're Orthodox and enjoy discussing theology, go read this now.

It is my belief that Thinking Orthodox should be in the hands of every orthodox catechist, academic, and especially converts who, full of zeal, desire to be teachers and Theologians. Thorough, well researched and articulate, this is a much needed book for Orthodoxy in the age of mass communication.

The central thesis of the book is that Orthodoxy has a unique mindset, worldview, and way of being (termed with the greek *phronema*) that is unique from the rest of Christian tradition. And if it is not understood, distorts the faith and causes many pitfalls and dangers. Dr. Constantinou, an experienced bible scholar, author and podcaster, is well equipped to write this book.

And what a difficult book to write! Orthodox definitions of things like "Tradition" and "the Fathers" are notoriously slippery, and yet Dr. Constantinou navigates it with expertise, care, and clarity. She explains the unique Orthodox worldview, as it contrasts with the broad protestant and Catholic perspectives, and provides the historical basis for them all. She never tries to "dress up" the orthodox perspective to make it more palatable to a modern mind, but presents it in all its pre-modern beauty.

She sometimes hits hard, though never callously, especially against self styled internet theologians. But I think her critique is warranted, and much needed. If there is any critique I can level, it is that the last two or three chapters can become a bit repetitive as she drives home her point. But it is a point well worth driving home.

I came away from this book with a better understanding of the faith, its beauties and its challenges. Also, I came away chastised, in a very positive sense. Much of my own carelessness in "theologizing" was made apparent. This book consistently made me want to put it down and go pray, because it made it abundantly clear that the good of a theologian is utterly dependent on his or her relationship with God. And, if "The true theologian is he who prays" I cannot think of a higher compliment to give.

Well written and researched, scary to see what Papist actions caused!

Love this book so much that I bought another as a gift...🙏🙏🙏

I really like the Julian version. It make it so much easer to explain why I celebrate christmas and on a different day from the new calendar.

To a recovering Calvinist Protestant, and Western-science-trained modern like myself, this book is nothing less than a software update for the mind.

From the Introduction, Dr Constantinou starts overwriting the dominant Western ways of thinking: Rationalism, which is no more than a surrender to the Enlightenment and its human-centric way of approaching every question, whether earthly or divine. Protestantism vs Catholicism, which is an argument between close cousins sharing the exact same frame of reference and terminology. And on it goes - and the reader starts to realize that the mental ground on which he or she stands is not as stable as it feels.

In contrast to the rationalistic, Western worldview (which, again, encompasses both atheistic scientism and evangelistic Protestantism), Dr Constantinou reveals the Orthodox phronema: a model of the world in which Scripture is a product of the Church, the Church is the direct product of God’s own grace, and Christ interprets all of reality, not the other way around.

It’s a difficult software update to explain. But this is, without exaggeration, a mind-shifting book.

It is not always an easy read. Though Dr Constantinou, despite her many degrees, no doubt had every intention to make it approachable, the book is at times pretty slow going, especially for readers who may not be familiar with basic philosophy or theology. Still, the labor is worth it. The reader will come away with a clear realization of just how far the Western water in which we swim has crept into the cracks of one’s way of thinking.

This is a powerful and and absolutely timely book on what it means to think and be an Orthodox theologian. This should be required reading in every seminary, and absolutely every Orthodox Christian should consider reading this book.

In the day and age of Google and social media, this book helps redirect the reader to shut out the screaming of the web and our inner desire to vomit up whatever ideas or opinions we possess. Instead, we should stop and consider what is true, where truth originates, and, most importantly, how to live the truth. The author begins by diving into the differences between Eastern and Western thought and worldview and how these differences cause misunderstanding today in the wider religious sphere. She then explores the historical role of the theologian and urges any who dare to dabble in theology to know themselves first. She gives a plethora of examples from the Church Fathers of how a theologian should speak and behave, reorienting the reader to live the spiritual life, not just talk about it.

This book was an absolute mic drop against one of my pet peeves (and one of the main reasons I've left most social media): the "armchair theologian" or the person who does not hesitate to give their opinions and arguments on the web to anyone and everyone regardless of their actual expertise in theology. The author describes the dangers of dabbling in theology when you have only the basic understanding of it, and the difficulties of discerning if what you're reading on social media actually comes from a true and reliable source. This doesn't just affect Orthodoxy and the discussion of God, but nearly every subject imaginable. Today, everyone has an opinion on everything whether it be God, the Church, medicine, psychology, politics, science, you name it. And preference is given to one's own opinion regardless of its accuracy or effectiveness. Everyone is suddenly an expert in all things whether or not they've actually spent the time and money studying the subject, and the result has been nothing short of ugly and hurtful in all aspects of our society. Theology is, above all, the most sacred of topics in that one is daring to talk about God, and this book argues that such a discussion should not be entered into lightly or by just anyone. We make the pearls of our faith out to be cheap when we cast them about without discernment, especially discernment of ourselves and our own ignorance and inabilities.

It's refreshing to read such a well-researched and scholarly work written by a female theologian with all the credentials to back her up. There are not enough women in this field, and I was so excited to read her work. It truly is a timely book. As technology shrinks our world and media makes the exchanging of ideas so rapid and vast, we need a book like this to help enlighten Western readers on the Eastern worldview and challenge the modern Christian internet debater to rethink their approach.

This book is masterfully written. I came away both encouraged and convicted. If you're Orthodox and enjoy discussing theology, go read this now.

Father Andrew Stephen Damick writes in a very accessible manner. I would highly recommend.

John Strickland has easily become one of my favorite writers. His ability to convey historical and biblical truth is matched with accessibility for those unversed in such subjects. I highly recommend this book and cannot wait for the third and fourth book.

Our women’s Bible Study Group is studying this and we are learning so much! It is truly deepening our preparation for the Nativity.

It is an easy to read and well researched explanation of how we arrived at what Western Christianity has become and how secularism is its new religion

This is an awesome potent work to help us into a life of prayer. I highly recommend it!

4.5 stars. I loved this book, the sweet and beautiful stories, the mix of holiness and humor in the nuns' lives. I found it touching how Constantina ended the book with Sister Marcella's death. I would have preferred to read this in text, as audiobooks don't seem to be for me, but I still feel like I got a lot out of it.
"Go and cling to a man who fears God, and from the fact that he fears Him, he will teach you to do likewise."

Very meaningful and thought provoking.

The faces look to Caucasian.

The outside is beautiful but the inside could use a nice built in red cloth.
Thank you.