Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes

For over a thousand years Eastern Christendom had as its center the second capital of the Roman Empire―Constantinople the New Rome or Byzantium. The geographical division between the Eastern and Western Churches was only one manifestation of deeper rifts characterized by a long history of conflicts suspicions and misunderstandings. Although the art monasticism and spirituality of Byzantium have come to be recognized as inspirational and influential in the shaping of Eastern European civilization and of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance as well the West has been in the main ignorant of the historical evolution and the doctrinal significance of Byzantine theology. Here for the first time in English is presented a synthesis of Byzantine Christian thought. The reader is guided through its complexities to an understanding of Byzantium: its view of man and his destiny of deification; its ability to transcend the Western captivity; its survival under quite adverse historical circumstances. In the end he may well find himself receptive to the basic positions of Byzantine thought which have attained in this time of need for the reintegration of Christianity itself a surprising contemporary relevance.