The Byzantine Legacy in the Orthodox Church

For more than a millennium the Byzantine Empire and its capital, Constantinople, guided the spiritual destinies of the Christian East. Even after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the influence of its culture, thought and institutions remained powerful, above all in the Orthodox Church. In this collection of essays, Fr John Meyendorff, one of the most prominent Orthodox historians and theologians of our day, delineates the many facets of this Byzantine legacy. After an initial survey of the Byzantine Church, he explores such varied subjects as Byzantine political ideology, spirituality and ecclesiology. He clearly demonstrates the significance of Byzantium not only for the history of Eastern Europe and the Near East, but for our own lives as well.

About the Author: Fr John Meyendorff, a longtime professor and dean of St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, died in 1992. Unanimously hailed at the time of its first publication in 1960, The Orthodox Church was reintroduced by him in the American edition of 1981. His corrections and additions are included in this most recent edition, which has been revised and expanded by Nicholas Lossky.