Blackwell Reference Online

Recent political events in the Middle East and Eastern Europe have brought Eastern Christianity to global attention. The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity provides an unparalleled account of the history and development of these vital Christian traditions, at the same time placing contemporary events in their full context. The Companion provides authoritative and lively essays on the main Eastern Orthodox traditions, such as the Greek, Russian, and Georgian churches, as well as the Oriental Orthodox traditions, including the Armenian, Coptic, and Syrian churches.

The in-depth articles of the Companion, which are written by an international team of experts, offer a comprehensive survey of the history, theology, doctrine, worship, art, culture, and politics that make up the churches of Eastern Christianity.

“This latest addition to the Blackwell Companion series constitutes the most comprehensive, authoritative and elegant account of the Eastern Churches ever published. Its twenty-four chapters, each the work of a specialist, combine full accounts of the history and life of each church with a series of outstanding surveys of their liturgical, iconographical and hagiographical traditions. The surveys of Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox liturgies are a formidable achievement and will be invaluable to students of liturgy eastern and western. This work is a definitive synthesis which will stimulate interest in the Eastern Churches at a time when many of them are under threat because of political upheavals. It will also provide a starting-point for the further study of their fascinating traditions. Scholarship will long be in the debt of Ken Parry, the editor and organizing mind behind this wonderful collection.” John Healey, University of Manchester