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Christian History Magazine—Issue 54: Eastern Orthodoxy is unavailable, but you can change that!

Orthodoxy rarely gets positive press in the West—and it’s not hard to see why. Themes of victory and theosis (divinization) take the place of Western theological strongholds like justification. Beliefs crystallize into images rather than ideas, into stories rather than statements. The incomprehensibility of God causes Easterners to celebrate while Westerners grow anxious. This issue of Christian...

Orthodoxy believes that the Spirit of God speaks to his people through apostolic tradition. This tradition is expressed through Scripture, to be sure, but also through the seven ecumenical councils, and to a lesser degree, the church fathers, liturgy, canon law, and icons. Furthermore, contrary to Calvin, the Orthodox note that the church existed some 300 years before the ecumenical councils and the formation of the scriptural canon. The Reformed idea of “Scripture alone” seems privatistic (allowing