Book Review: Light from the Christian East: An Introduction to the Orthodox Tradition

Review by D.A.D. (Pseudonym)

Light from the Christian East is an introduction to the Orthodox tradition. It is a book for western Christians who want to learn more about Eastern Orthodoxy. It is helpful in giving historical background to explain reasons for differences in western thinking and eastern perspective. Written in a strongly theological manner, it is tedious reading, yet interesting in its details.
Author’s Right to Discuss Topic

James R. Payton, Jr. received his Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo in Canada. He is a professor of history at Redeemer University in Ancaster, Ontario. He has studied and been in dialogue with Eastern Orthodoxy for many years and has written extensively on Protestant-Orthodox relations. He is president of Christians Associated for Relationships with Eastern Europe. Dr. Payton does not state his current church affiliation, but he favors Orthodoxy to a fault. His insistence on the need for the West to learn from the East is well founded, yet tiresome. In any case, his passion shows through his writing.
Application and Reflection

Reading this book has been timely and informative for me. It is amazing how God networks people and circumstances to bring about His purposes. After six years of living in this part of the world, I have collected bits and pieces of an understanding of Orthodoxy, but never was accountable to find a thorough resource. I chose this book because I realized my lack of knowledge and understanding. Two weeks after I started reading the book, an English student approached me after class and said, “Please tell me the difference in Orthodoxy and Protestantism.” I have since had several interesting and in depth discussions with other Orthodox friends. In general, this book has helped me in two ways: 1) It has given me an understanding of specific Orthodox beliefs that I need to know, and 2) it has made it easy to bring up conversations regarding spiritual issues by saying, “ I’m reading a book about Orthodoxy…tell me what you think…” The information and conviction I have gained by reading the book has helped already and will definitely be useful in the future as I add to my collection.
Dr. Payton covered an immense time period as he walked through history explaining the development of Orthodoxy. He then spent much time delving into the theology behind the differences in the Christian East and Christian West, as he calls it. The Christian East is the part of the world that was influenced by Hellenistic thinking, Byzantine, the fall of Constantinople and Greek language. The Christian West is the part of the world influenced by Roman thinking, law, justice, individuality, and Latin language. This term encompasses Roman Catholics and Protestants, including all the subsets of the latter. Questions of merit and debt, satisfaction and payment, justification and condemnation were all natural in this realm, whereas in the East, the focus was on the struggle between light and dark, the process of salvation, and communion with God. It is significant that by 1453, in the East, all but one Orthodox church had fallen under the domination of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. They remained in oppressive environments for more than half a millennium, but they survived. The free Russian Orthodox church was generally controlled by Tsars. All in all, the Christian church in the East has been shaped by different experiences and questions than the Christian church in the West.
For our purposes, I want to outline only the distinctions that make a difference to me in our current setting, namely: salvation issues, church, tradition, icons, and prayer. These are the things I learned and my responses as well.
Ransom. (p. 127) To whom was the ransom paid? Western Christianity says that since God is the judge of human sin on the final day, the ransom to free mankind from punishment is paid by Christ to God. In Orthodoxy the ransom is understood as paid to the devil. This is commonly but not universally embraced. The idea is that Christ offered Himself to Satan in place of mankind, over whom Satan had dominion. In the end Christ had the victory and Satan lost both humanity and the ransom. No scriptures references were given. Why spend time pondering this, when we know Who has already won?
Resurrection. (p.128) Dr. Payton states that Western Christians place more emphasis on the suffering and death of Jesus as the finishing work of salvation. He states that the Orthodox look to the resurrection of Jesus as primary importance. That is why Easter Day is such an elaborate celebration. I do not agree that Christians in the West put more emphasis on Good Friday than on Easter Sunday. Yet, Jesus did not come back to life without having died first.
Deification (Theosis). (p.132) To answer the question, “Are you saved?” a Christian from the West might say that by an instant of faith alone, one can be justified by God and therefore be saved. Whereas a Christian from the East might say, “I trust that by God’s mercy and grace I am being saved.” Because of the influence of ancient Rome with the importance of human reason and legality, the Western Christian understanding of how a person is accepted as righteous in God’s court is justification. That is enough, at least for Evangelicals. Orthodox require much more. In simple terms, they require sanctification and glorification as well. Their word is deification with the connotation of “participating in the divine nature” (II Pet. 1:3-4). Deification is the assured result of salvation. It is the process by which humans increasingly receive likeness to God. It depends on grace, but is a life-long struggle. Basically, Orthodoxy treats the application of salvation as a process, and Western Christians treat it as a step.
To this I would simply say, according to Hebrews 6:19, hope is the secure anchor. We can be sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. I can be 100% sure that I will have eternal life with God. This is difficult for my Orthodox friends to grasp, yet they desire this kind of confidence.
Church. (p.166) Orthodoxy stresses that a person can be a Christian only in connection with other Christians. To consider someone a Christian apart from his or her regular involvement in a church is not conceivable. As one bishop stated, “Salvation is social and communal, not isolated and individualistic.” Only in the church can people receive the sacraments which are essential to deification. From the Orthodox perspective, “individualistic Christianity” is an oxymoron. The statement is that Jesus gives His salvation to people in concert with and interaction with the others of the church. No verse is given. Dr. Payton explains the bent on individualism in the West as, again, being part of our ancient Roman heritage. Eastern cultures did not pass through the Enlightenment, effects of the French and American revolutions, and the changes of immigration to the new world.
In response, I understand the value of church fellowship. It is necessary for healthy Christian growth. Yet, faith itself is a personal decision. A person can confess with his mouth in a group, but he must believe with his heart individually.
Icons. (p.178) The opponents of icons (iconoclasts) denounced religious imagery as a violation of the second commandment (Ex. 20:4-5). Supporters (iconodules) justified pictures in churches as a help to those who could not read, which, in the sixth century, was a majority. The issue came to a head during the sixteenth century with Protestant reformers citing idolatrous abuse instead of pastoral help. Dr. Payton gives an interesting review of God’s gifting various artisans working on the tabernacle (Ex. 31) and the temple (I Kings 6). He does not, however, address the problem today of people attaching such meaning to artwork that they kiss it, bow down, and generally focus on the art rather than God Himself.
Tradition. (p.193) Orthodoxy continues the pattern of the ancient church in which Scripture and tradition work together to preserve, shape, and transmit the apostolic message. In the West, Scripture alone has become the only unquestioned authority, with Catholics saying Scripture plus tradition. Dr. Payton gives an interesting overview of the situation in the early church. By the time the Gospels and the apostles’ letters were written, the apostolic message had been preached and passed on for several years. Therefore a tradition of Christian proclamation had developed prior to the first New Testament writings. The church existed before the writings of the New Testament and continued during the period in which the various works were accepted into the New Testament canon (fifth century). And the church lasted until the completed biblical canon became available to all. It could thrive because it held to what the apostles taught. So for Orthodoxy, Scripture exists within Tradition. Dr. Payton states that Orthodoxy emphasizes that the same Spirit Who inspired the apostles, has continually indwelled the church since the day of Pentecost. Therefore, the Spirit Who guides the church and keeps it faithful to the apostolic heritage supersedes tradition.
This sounds ideal. It would be ideal. But it is not an accurate picture of today’s society. If the Orthodox churches in our city lived by the Holy Spirit according to this description, there would be no need for other denominations. I cannot criticize the fact that tradition is what kept the Christian church alive for many centuries in the East, during Turkish occupation and communism. But somewhere along the way the freshness of a personal relationship with God Himself was traded for a set of traditions. Dr. Payton did not deal with specifics, as I had hoped, regarding traditions such as incense, robes, and holy water.
Prayer. (p.206) Dr. Payton opens his chapter on prayer by saying that both Western and Eastern Christians alike, deal with the challenge of living a life devoted to God in the midst of a society and culture that calls us away from Him. True. And he then enters a discourse on praying without ceasing. But it comes across as simply a lecture on the value of repeating what he calls “the Jesus Prayer” one thousand times a day. (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”) He defends this practice against Mt. 6:7 by saying that it is not a vain repetition. I understand his thoughts regarding building up a habit of keeping prayer in the forefront of our minds. But again, the repetition takes away the freshness of a personal relationship. In the end, I cannot get away from my Western, Roman-thinking individualism in my desire to talk to God with my own words rather than quoting a set phrase – no matter how meaningful the words.
The essence of what I want to use from this book for future conversations is as follows:
1) Faith alone saves; works will come naturally as the fruit of salvation.
2) Each believer has direct communication with God Himself, as a priest. We can search the scripture for ourselves, going to priests or pastors for resource, but not for salvation through the church
3) Take the challenge to discern the difference between scripture and traditions.
This book is just one of many resources on Orthodoxy. I can tell it is not my favorite, but it has definitely challenged my thinking and spurred my questions. I have much to learn.