Book Reviews of The Non-Orthodox
Reviewed by Father James Thornton
The Non-Orthodox: The
Orthodox Teaching on Christians Outside of the Church. By Patrick
Barnes. Salisbury, MA: Regina Orthodox Press, 1999. 173 pp.. Paperback. $19.95.
In past centuries, and especially before the nineteenth
century, the question posed by Patrick Barnes' superb study was not perhaps so
urgent as it has subsequently become, since prior to that time Orthodox
Christians did not live in large numbers outside of the regions traditionally
associated with the Orthodox Faith. Great numbers of Orthodox Christians
immigrating to the West, intermarriage between Orthodox and non-Orthodox, and
substantial numbers of conversions to Orthodoxy have changed that picture
considerably. Thus, it is common today for Orthodox pastors and other clergy to
be asked questions about the teaching of the Orthodox Church with regard to
non-Orthodox Christians. Such questions are a matter of pressing concern to many
of the Faithful, who often have non-Orthodox relatives and friends. No one would
deny that this is a perfectly understandable concern, since it concerns the love
of family, friends, and neighbors—a Christian concern par excellence. Indeed,
as the author himself puts it, the spiritual status of non-Orthodox Christians
has become "a burning question."
Unfortunately, insofar as answers are concerned, the Orthodox
Faithful are frequently misled through ignorance, and misapprehensions, or by
deliberate distortions that are intended to make Orthodoxy more congruous with
certain wholly unOrthodox concepts, such as political ecumenism, on the one
hand, or "super-correct" fanaticism, on the other. Whereas the Holy
Church Fathers are clear and consistent in their views, the purveyors of these
unOrthodox concepts are precisely the contrary. Those following the ecumenist
ideology generally adopt a position rooted in superficiality and
mealymouthedness, revealing the effete character of their schemes, while the
fanatics, on their part, seem intent on transforming Orthodoxy from a universal
Gospel of faith, hope, and love into something more closely akin to the
extremist sects on the fringes of Judaism or Islam. In both cases, the
"Golden Path of Moderation" taught by the Holy Fathers is obscured
beneath the debris of personal speculation, calculated obfuscation, simplistic
catchwords, hidden agenda, and, most painful of all, the abuse of Scriptural,
Canonical, and Patristic citations.
However, there does exist a body of authentic Orthodox
teaching on the subject of non-Orthodox Christians, embedded within Holy
Scripture, the Holy Canons, Church history, and the writings of the Holy Fathers
and accessible to honest scholars and researchers. As the author of the present
work demonstrates, that teaching is generally forthright and unambiguous,
although often expressed in accordance with spiritual reasoning, as opposed to
the cut-and-dry legalistic approach of much Western religious thought. Requisite
to a correct grasp of this teaching is an investigation that is serious, and not
selective or cursory, and an investigator who can escape the influence of
certain of the pervasive and disabling illusions of modern man. I will mention
three principles that assist one in escaping this influence: First, the Church
exists and acts not in some isolated realm of ivory-tower abstractions, but in a
fallen world. It functions, in other words, in human history and is therefore
frequently subjected, in an external sense, to the persecutions, rigors,
upheavals, and dilemmas imposed on it by the world. Consequently, certain
decisions, judgements, and practices of the Church in particular historical
periods can be understood properly only within their historical setting. To cite
such decisions, judgements, and practices outside of their historical context is
reckless, at best, and deceitful, at worst. Secondly, Church teaching, unlike
many secular philosophies, does not deal with mankind in the abstract. Rather,
it is ever cognizant of individual human failings and weaknesses, and so
strives, despite those failings and weaknesses, to lead men to Christ and
eternal salvation, all the while remaining faithful to itself, to its timeless
and unalterable truth, and to its mission. Thirdly, twentieth-century Orthodox
Christians are not brighter, more perceptive, more compassionate, better read or
educated, or more enlightened with respect to human nature than their spiritual
forebears, the Holy Fathers of the Church. Exactly the opposite is in fact the
case. We are mere epigonoi. It behooves us, therefore, to look upon the legacy
that the Fathers have imparted to us with awe. To imagine that we are at liberty
to dismiss that legacy as obsolete, or to imagine that we face unprecedented
circumstances that require the overturning of that legacy in whole or part, is
simply to fall to soul-destroying spiritual pride.
The author of The Non-Orthodox, Patrick Barnes, himself
a convert to Orthodoxy, has succeeded in his effort at setting forth the
Orthodox Church's approach to the non-Orthodox primarily because, in the opinion
of this writer, he has allowed the aforementioned principles to guide him
throughout this work. The result is a balanced, charitable, convincing, and
nearly exhaustive treatment of the subject which, though sober and scholarly, it
is written in a style easily read and grasped by the non-specialist.
Does Grace exist outside of the Orthodox Church? Where are the
boundaries of the Church? Are modern-day Protestantism and Roman Catholicism
heretical in the same sense that the great heresies of the first millennium were
heretical? Are all of the ordinary followers of these heterodox religious groups
heretics-or perhaps even pagans? Is baptism within non-Orthodox ecclesiastical
bodies valid? Does it possess the same spiritual power and carry the same
spiritual blessings as Orthodox Baptism? How should converts from Protestantism
and Roman Catholicism be received into Orthodoxy? What was the practice of the
Church, in this regard, in earlier ages? These are only a few of the
"burning questions" raised in Patrick Barnes' book, and all are
explored in depth. In each chapter, the author presents views of contemporary
Orthodox writers, modernist and traditionalist, examines these views in light of
the Holy Canons and various Patristic authorities, and then synopsizes genuine
Orthodox teaching in a highly useful conclusion to each chapter.
One hesitates to criticize so useful and important a work; and
so, I shall simply offer a few suggestions for future editions. A "pet
peeve" of mine with respect to many books now published, including this
book, is the failure to provide an index. An index is indispensable to a study
intended as reference work and not merely a book to be read through once or
twice and then set aside. This book is too valuable not to have an index. There
is also perhaps a certain excess of zeal in the multiplication of texts
upholding the true Orthodox teaching on the matters at hand, especially where
the author appears to anticipate objections from potential critics. The title,
too, is a bit crude for such an important work. Yet, let me emphasize that these
are minor faults in an otherwise powerful book that will doubtless be read with
great profit by Orthodox believers. The Non-Orthodox is a much needed
antidote to the theological and historical balderdash, if not brazen chicanery,
that passes for scholarship in our unhappy time on complex subjects like those
raised in this book.
Father James Thornton
Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies
From Orthodox Tradition, Vol. XVII, No. 1 (2000).
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Another Review of The Non-Orthodox
This work, subtitled "The Orthodox Teaching on Christians Outside of the Church" is an
invaluable addition to any library of Orthodox materials. It answers clearly and
concisely so many of the questions which occur to the Orthodox themselves and to
those making enquiries about Orthodoxy: Are the sacraments of the non-Orthodox
valid? Do those who are not Orthodox lack any hope of salvation? How should
non-Orthodox Christians be received into the Church? etc. And it answers them in
a considered and authoritative way, because it consistently refers to the
teachings of the Fathers and of the Church herself, and not to opinion or
"how it must be." Patrick Barnes goes further, and without being
contentious he demonstrates the fallacy of so many opinions that are current
today within the Orthodox world and which are often presented as teaching
although they are largely unfounded. He is not stinting in quoting even those
whose opinions he shows to be erroneous. Often in books that have a polemical
aspect, one finds that those who are being refuted are hardly given space to
express of develop their thought. Barnes avoids this injustice. He also explains
how it is that the Orthodox Church firmly believes herself to be the Ark of
salvation, but does not therefore assert that those outside her fold, who must
in any case be distinguished between those who are culpability [sic] so and
those who are not, are devoid of God's blessings and His love. So much confusion
has been caused in the past two or three generations by the spread of views
within the Orthodox world that are not the Church's, but are designed to make
her teachings more palatable to the ecumenistic world-view of the present age,
that this book comes as a strong and healthy, but compassionate, remedy to these
ills.
Hieromonk Alexis (now Ambrose) Young
From The Shepherd, April, 1999.
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