42. Book Review: "The Twelve Words of the Gypsy" and "The King's Flute" by Kostas Palamas

 

THE TWELVE WORDS OF THE GYPSY 
By Kostas Palamas. Translated with an introduction by Frederic Will. 
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1964. xxi, 205 pp. 

THE KING’S FLUTE
By Kostas Palamas. Translated with an introduction by Frederic Will. 
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1967. xxxviii, 226 pp. 

Books Reviewed by: Theophanis G. Stavrou, University of Minnesota
(Published in "Slavic Review", Vol. 30, No. 2 (Jun., 1971), pp. 449-451)

“Kostas Palamas is today Europe’s greatest poet,” remarked Romain Rolland in 1930, the year the French author nominated Palamas for the Nobel Prize. Two years later Marcel Brion described The Twelve Words of the Gypsy as the most original and the most powerful creation in contemporary Greek poetry. French critics were among the first to appreciate the contributions of modern Greek literature, and therefore they could not have overlooked Palamas (1859–1943), who for nearly half a century exercised a “literary dictatorship” over his generation, a dictatorship unequaled in the history of national literatures. His Greek contemporaries called him the teacher, the student of Greece, the theologian, the philosopher, the mystic, the hesychast, the artist of the word, the destroyer and the builder, the rebel, and so forth. Yet in Europe his audience was rather selective and in the United States he remained relatively unknown despite translation of some of his works as early as 1919. The translation of The Twelve Words of the Gypsy and The King’s Flute by Frederic Will, an American classicist, is in a way the first serious introduction of this significant literary figure to American readers, and congratulations are in order.

41. Book Review: "The Symbol of Our Faith (Historical and Dogmatic Development)" by Petros Georgantzis

The Symbol of Our Faith 

(Historical and Dogmatic Development)

By Petros Georgantzis

Published by the Metropolis of Xanthi and Peritheorion, 2012, pp. 442. 

Book Reviewed (from the Greek text) by:
Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
(Published in "Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi", Issue 347, June 2025)

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

The year we are going through has been characterized as the anniversary year of 1700 years since the convening of the First Ecumenical Synod, which drafted the first seven articles of the Symbol of Faith (Creed), which was supplemented by the Second Ecumenical Synod, that was held in Constantinople in 381 AD.

40. Book Review: "That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation" by David Bentley Hart

That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation

By David Bentley Hart

Published by Yale University Press, 2019, pp. 232. 
Greek translation published by Akritas, 2023, pp. 282.

Book Reviewed (from the Greek text) by:
Fr. Nikolaos Loudovikos
(Published in "Synaxis", Issue 171, March 2025)

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Before I delve into the more profound theological aspects, I will begin by recounting a revelatory conversation, still vivid in my memory, with the venerable Elder Paisios during our very first meeting, decades ago. "The Fathers have concealed the love of God from us," he said to me. My ecclesiastical experience was merely a few months old, yet I had managed to read a couple of books. "But that is what they talk about," I stammered. "As soon as one encounters it, one feels the need to hide it; it is incomprehensibly vast, unbelievably compassionate, and indescribably humble and noble," he replied. "And why should it be hidden?" "Because its revelation would make people completely listless and indifferent," he replied. However, my own inquiry multiplied: could human indifference, listlessness, or audacity negate the goals of such a love? Therefore, did human, warm, or even merely elementary response matter, despite the absolute selflessness of God and the strength of His metaphysical imposition? This demolished a valuable remnant of my Platonizing, all-embracing, with the annihilating meaning that Levinas attributed to the term "metaphysics".

39 - Book Review: "Christ, Our Way and Our Life: A Presentation of the Theology of Archimandrite Sophrony" by Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou

 Christ, Our Way and Our Life: 

A Presentation of the Theology of Archimandrite Sophrony

By Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou

Published by Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist, 2012, pp. 368.

Book Reviewed (from the Greek text) by:
Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
(source)

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

 

Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou, with whom we have known each other for twenty-five years, with a strong and sincere friendship, who is a monk at the Honorable Forerunner Monastery in Essex, England, sent me some time ago his first book, which he published, titled "A Presentation of the Theology of Elder Sophrony", and which is an extension of the thesis he submitted to the Theological School of the University of Thessaloniki.

The day I received the book, I immediately recognized it in the mass of mail, opened it, and read its prologue. I was deeply moved, because he referred to the theology of the late Father Sophrony, a great Elder of our time, whom I enjoyed for about twenty years, through his theological books, co-liturgizing with him at the Holy Altar, personal conversations and the unique live communication that I had with him in the Sacred Monastery of the Honorable Forerunner during the summer months. But I considered it "sacrilege" to study this book among the various activities I was involved in and immediately wrote a letter to announce its receipt. Among other things I wrote:

38 - Book Review: "The Asia Minor Catastrophe: 50 Questions and Answers" by Angelos Syrigos and Evanthi Hatzivasiliou

Μικρασιατική Καταστροφή, 50 ἐρωτήματα καί ἀπαντήσεις

 

The Asia Minor Catastrophe: 50 Questions and Answers

By Angelos Syrigos and Evanthi Hatzivasiliou

Published by Pataki, 2022, pp. 255.
(Currently only available in Greek.)

Book Reviewed by:
Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
(source)

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

 

We are passing through the hundredth year since the Asia Minor Catastrophe and many events are taking place commemorating those events, with a responsible evaluation, so that it turns out to be a positive event for all of us.

Already last year (2021) we celebrated the anniversary of two hundred years since the beginning of the 1821 revolution, which was full of victories and defeats, tensions and peace, sorrows and joys. However, the Asia Minor Campaign and Catastrophe offers us only sorrows, it is a trauma, not only in our historical memory, but also in our historical body itself.

37 - Book Review: "Patristic and Scholastic Theology and Their Environment" by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

Πατερική και Σχολαστική Θεολογία και το Περιβάλλον τους: 

Με βάση τις προφορικές παραδόσεις του π. Ιωάννου Ρωμανίδη

Patristic and Scholastic Theology and Their Environment: 

Based on the Oral Traditions of Fr. John Romanides

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Published by Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos (Pelagia), 2021, pp. 672.
(Currently only available in Greek.)

Book Reviewed by:
Petros Pitsiakkas
Philologist - M.Ed. - Director of the 2nd Lyceum of Nafpaktos
(source)

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

The new book of His Eminence the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou Mr. Hierotheos, Patristic and Scholastic Theology and Their Environment with the subtitle "Based on the Oral Traditions of Fr. John Romanides", offers an analysis of the meeting of Orthodox theology with modern religious and ideological movements. It is a book that presents, on the one hand, patristic theology, which is empirical and is based on the revelation of God to the Prophets, Apostles and Fathers, which highlights the great value of Orthodox theology and, on the other hand, the scholastic theology of the west, which deviates from prophetic, apostolic and patristic theology by relying on philosophy and tries to understand God by reason.

36 - Book Review: "The 'Model Kingdom' and the Great Idea: Aspects of the National Problem in Greece (1830-1880)"

 

Το "Πρότυπο Βασίλειο" και η Μεγάλη Ιδέα

The "Model Kingdom" and the Great Idea:
Aspects of the National Problem in Greece (1830-1880)

By Elli Skopetea

Published by Polytepo in Greece, 1988, pp. 456. 

(Currently only available in Greek.)

Book Reviewed by:
Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou 

(source)

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

With the title The "Model Kingdom" and the Great Idea and the subtitle Aspects of the National Problem in Greece (1830-1880), Elli Skopetea has written an amazing book, which is a mirror of the era after the liberation of Greece from the Turkish yoke.

This is the doctoral dissertation of the author, the purpose of which is "to record and, as far as possible, to codify the perceptions about the Greek nation and its 'destiny', as they were formed in Greece during the first decades of its independence" (p. 13). The author relied first on the press of the time, then on the periodical press and then on the eponymous major scholars "but with emphasis on those points that connect them to the minor ones, and not those that distinguish them" (p. 15).

35 - Book Review: "Eastern Christendom: A Study of the Origin and Development of the Eastern Orthodox Church" by Nicolas Zernov

 

Eastern Christendom: 

A Study of the Origin and Development of the Eastern Orthodox Church

Published by G.P. Putnam and Sons, New York, 1961, 326 pages.

By Nicolas Zernov

Reviewed by Georges Florovsky

Slavic Review, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Dec., 1965), p. 745-747.

 

Unless they are written by great masters, books of such wide scope and compass are seldom based on original research and scrutiny of primary sources. On  the other hand, authors of such comprehensive surveys in their dependence upon the critical assessment by others of source material must be well acquainted with the contemporary state of scholarship in the field. To write such a survey, especially for the ordinary reader, who is usually unable to check the reliability of what is presented to him, is a difficult and responsible task. The book of Dr. Zernov is no more than a compilation; nevertheless he often allows himself to pass judgment on controversial issues and to offer sweeping generalizations which call for resistance from scholars.

34 - Three Scorching Reviews in One: Fr. George Florovsky Reviews Three Introductory Books on Orthodox Christianity

KONRAD ONASCH, Einfiihrung in die Konfessionskunde der orthodoxen Kirchen. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1962. Pages 291, 24.

GEORGE H. DEMETRAKOPOULOS, Dictionary of Orthodox Theology: A Summary of the Beliefs, Practices, and History of the Eastern Orthodox Church. With an introduction by John E. Rexine. New York: Philosophical Library, 1964. Pages xv, 187.

ALEXANDER SCHMEMANN, The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy. Translated by Lydia W. Kesich. New York, Chicago, and San Francisco: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963. Pages viii, 343.

All of these three books are intended for the ordinary reader seeking an introduction to a new and unfamiliar field. This is the most difficult kind of book to write. The exposition must be clear and well focused. One has to concentrate on the essentials and to delineate the distinctive features of the matter.

33 - Book Review: "Nicholas Berdyaev: An Introduction to His Thought" by George Seaver

 

Nicholas Berdyaev: An Introduction to His Thought

Published by Harper & Bros., New York, 1951, 122 pages.

By George Seaver

Reviewed by Georges Florovsky

The Journal of Religion, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Apr., 1951), p. 152.

 
Mr. Seaver's enthusiasm for Berdyaev admirably qualified him for the task of interpreter. His presentation is vigorous and concise. He added but few comments of his own. Criticism did not belong to the scope of his work, nor had he probably much to say against Berdyaev, except on some minor points. "It was the mission of Berdyaev to rescue the religious consciousness of Christendom from this alienation of spirit from Spirit, by establishing the faith on the rock of personal experience and not on the sands of dogma" (p. 14). And this "mission" is traced back to the tradition of the Eastern church of Europe. 

 

32 - Book Review: "The Orthodox Church. Its Past and Its Role in the World Today" by John Meyendorff

The Orthodox Church. Its Past and Its Role in the World Today

Published by Pantheon Books, 1962, 244 pages.

By John Meyendorff

Translated from the French by John Chapi

Reviewed by Georges Florovsky

The Russian Review, Vol. 22, No. 3 (July, 1963), pp. 322-324.

 

This book was first published in French (Editions du Seuil, Paris, 1960) and was addressed to the French reader. The English translation is welcome. The book is well written, in a quiet and sober manner, with a competent knowledge of facts and a true grasp of problems. But to write a popular book is a difficult task and a most demanding art. It is impossible, indeed, to say much on a few pages, and for that reason it is imperative not only to say just the important things, but also to say all important things. Since the author is a Church historian by profession, it was quite natural that he chose the historical way of presentation. It is proper that he began his survey from the beginning, from Apostolic times. The basic emphasis of the Orthodox is precisely on the continuity with the Early Church. As brief as the survey inevitably is, it is fairly done. And yet, for the sake of that general reader for whom the book is primarily intended, one should voice certain cautions.

31 - Book Review: "The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church" by Vladimir Lossky

 

The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church

Published by James Clark & Co., London, 1957, 252 pages.

By Vladimir Lossky

Reviewed by Georges Florovsky

The Journal of Religion, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Jul., 1958), pp. 207-208.

The author of this book died recently in Paris. One reads the book as a theological testament of the author. In fact, it is not a new book. It was first published in French in 1944 (Essai sur la thdologie mystique de l'eglise d'Orient [Paris: Aubier]) and at that time was reviewed and discussed. Yet it kept its urgency and freshness. It is a provocative and stimulating book. In a sense, it is an essay in what can be described as a "neo-patristic synthesis." The author expounds the thoughts of the Greek Fathers and wants to be faithful to their spirit, but he does it as a "modern man," who has passed through the school of modern philosophy and is well acquainted with the challenge of the "modern mind." He confines himself strictly to the Eastern tradition and probably exaggerates the tension between the East and the West even in the Patristic period. A "tension" there obviously existed, as there were "tensions" inside the "Eastern tradition" itself, e.g., between Alexandria and Antioch. But the author seems to assume that the tension between the East and the West, e.g., between the Trinitarian theology of the Cappadocians and that of Augustine, was of such a sharp and radical character as to exclude any kind of "reconciliation" and overarching synthesis. It would be more accurate to say that such a synthesis has never been accomplished or even has not been thoroughly attempted. Even if we admit, as we certainly must, that the Trinitarian theology of Augustine was not well known in the East, up to the late Middle Ages, Augustine's authority had never been seriously questioned in Byzantium even in the times of Patriarch Photius. It is therefore unsafe to exclude his contribution from the Patristic heritage of the "Undivided Church." One should be "ecumenical" rather than simply "oriental" in the field of Patristic studies. One has to take into account the whole wealth of the Patristic tradition and wrestle impartially with its intrinsic variety and tensions.

30 - Book Review: "The Eastern Schism: A Study of the Papacy and the Eastern Churches During the XIth and XIIth Centuries" by Steven Runciman

 

 

The Eastern Schism:
A Study of the Papacy and the Eastern Churches During the XIth and XIIth Centuries

Published by Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1955, 190 pages.

By Steven Runciman

Reviewed by Georges Florovsky
Church History, Volume 26, Issue 2, June 1957, pp. 181-182.

The break between Byzantium and Rome was probably the major tragedy in the history of Christendom. It is inaccurate and misleading to speak of the Eastern Schism. The term suggests that there was "One Church," from which the East broke away, at a certain date, or rather was breaking away gradually and persistently. It is precisely what the West finally came to believe. It is natural that the East finally took the opposite view and came to believe that there was actually a "Western Schism." Strangely enough, both views are accurate and correct, from the historical point of view. What actually happened was the disruption of Unity, and both "separated" parts of Christendom are, in a certain sense, "schisms." In any case, it is so from the purely historical point of view. In spite of all tensions and divergences, conspicuous and provocative as they might have been, the Christian world in the XIth century was still "one world," and people both in the West and in the East, did firmly believe in this "unity." There was still "one universe of discourse," much as its scope and character might have been already obscured on both sides. Paradoxically, it was precisely this presupposition of "unity" that precipitated the "schism." The Western "Drang nach Osten," of which the Crusades were the most spectacular expression, was inspired precisely by this basic conviction that the "Christian World" was one, and consequently had to be "united" and "unified."

29 - Book Review: "Supernatural Horror in Literature" by H.P. Lovecraft

 

 

The Annotated Supernatural Horror in Literature

Published by Hippocampus Press, New York, 2000, 172 pages.

By H.P. Lovecraft
Edited with Introduction and Commentary by S.T. Joshi

 

H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), the most important American supernaturalist since Poe, has had an incalculable influence on all the horror-story writing of recent decades. Although his supernatural fiction has of late been enjoying an unprecedented fame, it is still not widely known that he wrote a critical history of supernatural horror in literature that has yet to be superseded as the finest historical discussion of the genre, titled Supernatural Horror in Literature. This extraordinary work is presented in this volume in its final, revised text, annotated with a helpful Introduction and Commentary and Bibliography.

28 - Book Review: "Christian Apology" by St. Athanasios Parios

 

Ἀπολογία Χριστιανική (Christian Apology)

Published by Γρηγόρη, Athens, 2015, 312 pages.

By Saint Athanasios Parios

Reviewed by John Sanidopoulos

 

First published in 1798, the Christian Apology of St. Athanasios Parios (+ 1813) is published with this translation for the first time in Modern Greek (which will hopefully be soon translated into English), with a helpful Introduction by the late Protopresbyter Fr. George Metallinos.

St. Athanasios was one of the leaders of the Kollyvades Movement, which originated on Mount Athos in the 18th century as an effort to restore traditional Orthodox practices and opposed unwarranted innovations. His books are mostly a patristic approach written to answer specific needs and challenges of his time, for the benefit and education of the Orthodox flock.

27 - Book Review: "Columbus & Cortez, Conquerors for Christ"

Columbus & Cortez, Conquerors for Christ

New Leaf Press, 1992, 304 pages.

By John Eidsmoe

Reviewed by John Sanidopoulos

Did Christopher Columbus exploit the people of America – or did he evangelize them? Did Hernando Cortez subjugate the people of Mexico – or did he liberate them?

These are two of the questions posed by John Eidsmoe, a U.S. Reserve Air Force Lt. Colonel, who serves as a law professor at Faulkner University. Columbus & Cortez, Conquerors for Christ counters what Eidsmoe terms “the assault on Western culture” by media elites and liberal scholars on American university campuses. Eidsmoe surmises that this attack on culture is in actuality an attack on values – the biblical values upon which our nation was founded.

26 - Book Review: "History of the Byzantine State"

History of the Byzantine State

New Brunswick, N. J.: Rutgers University Press, 1957. 543 pp.

By George Ostrogorsky

Reviewed by Georges Florovsky,
Harvard Divinity School

Church History: 
Studies in Christianity and Culture

(Volume 28, Issue 1 March 1959, pp. 96-97)

This book by Professor Ostrogorsky, of Belgrade University, needs no lengthy introduction. Since its first appearance in 1940, in German, it has been commonly acknowledged as a standard manual in the field. The text has been revised several times by the author, for edition in German, French, and English, and brought up to date. In the present American edition a fine selection of illustrations is added, arranged by Professor Charanis, in cooperation with Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, and also a new set of historical maps. The book is elegantly produced.

25 - Book Review: "The Life of General Makriyannis: Memoir and History"

Ο Bίος του στρατηγού Μακρυγιάννη: Αποµνηµόνευµα και Ιστορία
("The Life of General Makriyannis: Memoir and History")

Athens: Vivliorama, 2012. 549 pp.

By Νikos Theotokas

Reviewed by Eleni Andriakaina

Historein

(2014, Vol. 14)

The publication of Nikos Theotokas’ study comes at a critical juncture in contemporary Greece. Neither the book’s modest title, nor the pastness of its object, seem to have much relevance for the fierce urgencies of the present or even for the challenges – methodological, theoretical or institutional problems – now facing Greek scholars within the humanities and the social sciences. How then can we explain the appeal of the book to a wide readership within and beyond academia? And why the numerous and enthusiastic reviews it has received? One explanation lies in the long-lasting and enduring significance of Makriyannis’ writings for modern constructions of Greek identity. Makriyannis’ name evokes a past still present and still contested: the foundational event for modern Greece – the 1821 revolution. But the specific contribution of Theotokas’ book is also significant, since it powerfully challenges a range of current orthodoxies.

24 - Book Review: "From Monastery to Hospital: Christian Monasticism and the Transformation of Health Care in Late Antiquity"

From Monastery to Hospital:
Christian Monasticism and the Transformation of Health Care in Late Antiquity

University of Michigan Press, 2005, pp. 235.

By Andrew T Crislip

Reviewed by P E Pormann

Cambridge Journals of Medical History

(2007 Jan 1; 51(1): 130–131)

The quest for the first hospital in history has occupied the minds of many scholars, especially since Timothy S Miller published his controversial book The Birth of the Hospital in the Byzantine Empire in 1985 (reprinted 1997). Crislip's present monograph, based on his doctoral dissertation, contributes to this debate. His main argument runs approximately as follows.

23 - Book Review: "The Life of Saint Basil the Younger: Critical Edition and Annotated Translation of the Moscow Version"

The Life of Saint Basil the Younger:

Critical Edition and Annotated Translation of the Moscow Version

By Denis F. Sullivan, Alice-Mary Talbot and Stamatina McGrath

Dumbarton Oaks Studies, 45

Reviewed by Andrew Louth

(Durham University)

The Journal of Ecclesiastical History

(Volume 67, Issue 3, July 2016 , pp. 629-630)

The Life of Saint Basil the Younger (or the New) is a probably tenth-century vita that became enormously popular in Eastern Orthodox circles in the Middle Ages: twenty-two Greek manuscripts are known to survive, plus a further thirteen in demotic Greek; there are also medieval translations into Slavonic languages. Its popularity is not connected with any cult of the saint (indeed it is not clear if he was a historical figure at all), but rather the result of two visions, disclosed to and related by the author of the vita (who himself may be fictional), which take up nearly two-thirds of the text. It is the first vision that is particularly important, especially for popular Orthodox beliefs about the afterlife: it contains the most detailed account of the so-called aerial "tollhouses" (telonia), twenty-one in number, through which the departed soul has to pass after death. At each tollhouse, the soul is examined in respect of a series of sins, beginning with slander and ending with heartlessness and cruelty, demons accusing, angels defending. The vision concerns Theodora, a slave woman who looked after the saint, which she relates in the vision to reassure Gregory, the author, as to her fate. In her case, it is evident from the beginning that she will make it through the tollhouses, assisted not only by her acts of kindness, but by "spiritual gold" provided by the saint from his abundant virtue. Once the soul has passed the tollhouses, it is introduced to the other world, passing through the gates of heaven and visiting the abodes of the saints and the patriarchs, as well as making a visit to Hades. The soul then settles in the "place of repose": it is remarked that this takes place forty days after the soul has been separated from the body in death. This period of time, therefore, corresponds to the period during which services of prayer (Trisagion, Pannykhida) for the deceased take place - on the third, ninth and fortieth day - though in the vita it is only the fortieth day that is remarked. The notions set forth in colourful detail in the vision can be traced back to the fourth or fifth century, the treatise corresponding most closely to the account of the Life of St Basil immediately after the Mother of God, seems to me to reflect the anaphora of the Byzantine rite. These are, however, scarcely even blemishes in a painstakingly careful edition.