First Orthodox study guide. Straight forward, no exogesis. Great way for inquirer, cradle or chrismated-Orthodox to begin reading the Bible with Fr. Farley's New Testament guides.

I read this as I started my journey in Orthodoxy. It was just what I needed to help me understand and also feel why it felt so right. Mathewes-Green understood where I was and how Orthodoxy could become part of me.

It was an excellent guide and a very smooth book to read. Very clear and easy to read. I thought the book was great!

In Meditations for Advent, Fr. Papavassiliou begins by distinguishing Catholic Advent from Orthodox "Advent." I put Advent in quotations here because it is a Western term and not widely used in Orthodoxy. The three differences are start date (November 15th for Orthodox vs. 4th Sunday Before Christmas for Catholics), focus (Incarnation/First Coming for Orthodox vs. First and Second Comings of Jesus for Catholics), and the fact that it marks the beginning of the Church Year for Catholics, whereas September 1 is the start date for Orthodox Christians. After Fr. Papavassiliou makes these distinctions, we embark on a four part journey which focuses on Spiritual Preparation, the Scriptures, the Icon of the Nativity, and the Incarnation. The careful reader will notice that Fasting is missing, and that is because it was so thoroughly covered in Meditations for Great Lent that Fr. Papavassiliou didn't want to re-hash the same information in this book.

The first section of the book, Spiritual Preparation, is a quick stroll through the season and important feasts on the calendar. Each chapter in this section is chock full of hymns that will help expand your knowledge and deepen your appreciation of the beauty of Christmas. Section Two, which addresses the Scriptures, references Christological foreshadowing in Old Testament stories such as Jonah and the Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace. We FINALLY arrive at the section I was itching to read, a discussion of the Icon of the Nativity. I would have loved if Fr. Papavassiliou had addressed all aspects of the icon, but instead he focuses on the manger, the animals, and the star. The explanation from St. John Chrysostom on the star was mind-blowing to me and I will never view the star the same way again. The last section deals with Christ as the New Adam and coming into world as the Light that shines in the darkness of the world.

If you are an Orthodox Christian, then this is an essential book for your library. Even if you're not, reading this book will increase your understanding of Advent and, more importantly, increase your appreciation of what Christmas really is about. I would like to close with a quote from the book. "The Feast of the Nativity is a celebration of divine weakness overpowering human strength, of good conquering evil, of the light of divine knowledge dispelling the darkness of ignorance. This is not just a cause for an annual celebration, but is the strength of our Christian faith and the joy of divine Light which the darkness of evil can never extinguish."

The commentaries by Father Farley are very accessible and easy to read and understand. I am enjoying this commentary on Revelation very much and he goes into history and background, making this Bible book more interesting and not so scary. Highly recommended!

Having thoroughly enjoyed Meditations for Great Lent, I was eagerly looking forward to the second volume in Fr. Vassilios' Meditations series, and it did not disappoint. Delving into the depths of Holy Scripture and the Church's liturgical and iconographic tradition, the author takes us through the 40 day period leading up to Christmas, bringing to light the hidden gems of spiritual wisdom that characterise the often-overlooked Advent period. As I have come to expect from this author, the style is simple, to the point, but without being patronising or dumbed-down. As such, while this book analyses relevant Biblical and liturgical texts in greater detail than the first volume, it manages to do this without being heavy, convoluted or difficult to read.

Being a pocket book, it fits easily into your jacket pocket and can be read anywhere. In other words, you have no excuse not to get one. Make sure you do so before Nov 15th!

A little backgrounder so you understand where I am coming from.

I've struggled with religion for years. I've been in the nowhere man's land of agnosticism after dumping New Age nonsense after being a very strong believer in it as a teenager. I've bought so many Bibles and Qurans over the years trying to find a religion and a holy book translation that would click with me. Having long ago discarded Islam, that pretty much left me with Bible-based religions.

I've always objected to Protestantism; its absolutist and harsh, nasty God that demanded death from people and made the bar to get into heaven so high it felt impossible to reach. It's basically the only theology I have known, being an American. My mother's family are Roman Catholic and my mother left the Church at age 18 disillusioned so I was not raised in it. I dabbled in reading about it here and there and found some of it very wonderful but other parts of it left me with that bad taste in my mouth of the harsh, nasty God that reared its ugly head in Protestantism. I also object to modern political currents in the Church, especially since Vatican II. So that left me pretty much stuck. Lutheranism strikes me as a cult of personality.

I dabbled a tad in Judaism but didn't like the lack of teachings on the afterlife. It's really mostly concerned with earthly existence. Perhaps since because my mother died when I was 16 years old, I was much more concerned with eternity than other folks would be, and I have wanted not only answers to our existence, but also where we going when we pass from the earth.

So recently while recovering from surgery (and awaiting another one) I began dabbling in Christianity again. I bought a few study Bibles, one being the Orthodox Study Bible and a Protestant NIV Bible of travel size to read while on the road. Trying to put previous negative conceptions in mind aside, I began randomly reading closely parts of the NT (Acts and Romans thus far). Feeling like I had a little more basic understanding of what the Apostles taught, I began discussing religion with a couple Twitter acquaintances who are both Orthodox Christians. I had heard good things about it off and on so I began reading. In that, I bumped into this eBook on recommendation of someone else and I'm glad I made the purchase.

This book explains in layman's terms not only this man's journey to Orthodoxy but also the basic tenets of the faith which I crave to understand. Thus far, it seems to be as I was told; a much more humane, loving expression of Christianity than the harsh Protestantism that we Americans are so often dominated by. Standards and morals, yes, but not cruelty. I feel that the history of the early Church presented by the author in this book well establishes the legitimacy of the Orthodox Church as the true, original Church with the most accurate teachings to those practiced in the earliest days of the Church. I am not finished reading this book and already it has helped me understand scriptural errors made by Protestant theologians in the Bible which not only render some sections of scripture as nonsensical, but present the harsh and unloving God that I objected to.

I didn't meant to write my life story here, but I thought my journey as a confused person trying to find answers would be helpful to others. I am nowhere near making up my mind on a faith, but this book is great and is written in plain, easy layman's language and guides you through the history and theology of the Church, as well as justifications for the tenets of the faith. I've only begun studying Orthodoxy.

If you want to understand Orthodoxy, this is a good place to start.

As a man who grew up in a religion similar to Judaism, I did a lot of research and came to the same conclusion. The Orthodox church is the original church. Father Bernstein has done an excellent job in his research far beyond his contemporaries. I also came through the various Protestant denominations. Excellant

Surprisingly human and "natural", Orthodox Nuns in Greece understand the living-out of holiness in Christ, aided by their holy Eldress Abbess, who brings Christ Jesus to be among them with loving grace and help. Each family can take what is lived here, and make a "paradise on earth" with the Lord Jesus Christ being praised each moment and unconditional loving of one another in Christ! We are disconcerted, however, by the introductory remarks which praise the lamented and late Fr. Seraphim Rose with his Gnostic "toll house theory". Metropolitan Philip has recommended "Beyond Death" by Dr. Trabulsi which exposes the pagan roots of this heinous teaching contradicting the very essence of Christ's victory of Satan and Death! We pray fervently that many more hierarchs will join him in condemning this teaching which leads to despair and the exaltation of Satan over our Savior Jesus Christ, Who in fact routed him and all his minions along with Death itself!

Thus far I have enjoyed Fr Farley's Orthodox and hence conservative commentary on the Gospel of John. We are using it for our Church's Bible Study on the Gospel of John. The book works well for both group and private study. Highly recommended! And check out his short easy to follow Podcast "the Coffee Cup Commentaries" on Ancient Faith Radio.

The book used with the Orthodox Study Bible helps Christians better understand the Old Testament. The only problem I found was that in the ebook, the word "Lord" was omitted over and over. This was expecially noticeable during Bible study with those who had the paper book.

The lives of the Holy Russian Royal Family is truly inspiring. To show such humility, patience, and love to their captors was something that one would not expect from a Tsar. The book itself was well written - made me feel as though I was right there. It's important for us to read this and find out the truth about these Holy Martyrs. I would recommend this to anyone but especially to anyone wishing to become a better mother or father.

A great account of the time spent and blessings received at a monastery. Thank you for sharing.

I would encourage everyone to visit one of these holy places and meet the people who have given everything to follow Christ.

I am NOT a big fan of Bible commentaries (primarily because they skewdly present the theology of the editor/writer), but this companion to the Bible is truly for everyone: "written for your grandmother and for your plummer, ... average lay person and professional".

Lawrence Farley makes the original Greek text come alive. His easy-reading introduction to each Pauline epistle letter, his knowledge of the linguistic idiosyncracies, familiarity with hellenistic culture makes reading 1st and 2nd Corinthians ENJOYABLE and INSIGHTFUL.

Just one example to illustrate where this book shines above many commentaries. Its accuracy is not overbearing with copious footnotes (footnotes are non-existant) and the explanation of the text is very non-technical for the understanding of the average reader. The chapters are broken into easily readable and thematic sections. Italics are used in the Bible text to show words not present in original Koine Greek but linguistically and logically necessary. Bold text is used in the commentary section to repeat the words or phrases from the biblical passage.

While reading thru the last chapters of the 2nd Corinthians (sections dealing with the collection for the Jerusalem church and Paul's emotional self-vindication) I was able to make sense of the difficult and often seemingly convoluted reading. Case in point: 2 Cor 10:15 "not boasting in things beyond measure, in the toils of others, but having hope that as your faith grows, according to our rule, we shall be magnified abundantly by you." The word RULE has nothing to do with our common understanding of rule as regulation, neither is it referring to the Rule of Faith. Rather, as Farley astutely comments this rule is referring to the line marked out for each runner of a race to show how one is to stay within the lines or RULES.

In conclusion, pastor Farley's fresh translation and accompanying notes to the biblical text is like having a grandfather nearby slowly and patiently read and explain God's Word. What a refreshing experience!

Great book, and in very good shape. For those who are reevaluating their evangelical experience, this book is for you!

A wonderfully refreshing glimpse into the monastic life of love, sacrifice, and their everyday experience of the unseen world. Whatt a sweet and inspiring book! I've already given away every copy I've bought!

Fr. James Gurguis helps us go back to the early Church and compare the pre-suppositions of the Christians of the first few centuries with our own assumptions today. For many committed Christians, this will be a surprising discovery and one that could change the way they look at their own church including its doctrine and practices.

Loved it. I love history and have not read much about Romania and this book really did it. Again if you like history a must to read.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I found it very inspiring and it gave me a better understanding of the monastic way of thinking.

This was a delightful read and gave a solid Biblical understanding of why Same-sex marriage is wrong. And it did not condemn same-sex attraction. Many people struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction or even unwanted opposite-sex attraction, and the book provides helpful tools in the struggle to do, not just what we want, but what we want to want. The struggle is too hard alone and there are those who can walk along side in the struggle, the journey, many who have even struggled with the same issues.