"Orthodox Synthesis is a collection of essays by eminent orthodox theologians offered to Metropolitan Philip of North America. Each is a useful contribution to the main areas of christian theology, and the book as a whole is a good introduction to the particular theological method of the Eastern Church." 
--from The Way: Contemporary Christian Spirituality, October 1982

Orthodox Synthesis: The Unity of Theological Thought

Joseph J. Allen

Religion & Spirituality

St Vladimirs Seminary Pr

The Orthodox Church prohibits widowed clergy to remarry. The author, a widowed priest, did remarry and was allowed by his bishop to continue as a priest. He recounts his spiritual journey through the dilemmas created: moral, pastoral and political as well as the gossip and accusations.

Widowed Priest

Light & Life Publishing Company

"Literature bearing witness to the state of life of the clergy during the first two centuries of Christianity is very scarce and, in spite of what can appear at first glance, leaves the field open to conjecture regarding marriage and priesthood. At all events we can find no trace of a consistent teaching singling out clergy with respect to their marital status." 
With these words, Abp Peter L'Huillier, who writes the first historical chapter in this study, well captures the earliest roots of a condition that has prevailed until our own age, in both the Eastern and Western Churches. The fact that questions regarding marriage and priesthood remain "open to conjecture," and continue to lack a "consistent teaching," is at once a problem for the Church and the creative cause for the present study. 
Here the hard questions about marriage and priesthood are asked and each contributor in his own field of specialization seeks to answer them honestly. This is not a study which can be reduced to pietistic formulations. Rather it takes the reader to the roots of the many issues which the Church must face, both now and in the future, in the area of marriage and priesthood. 
The contributors are: Joseph J. Allen, Peter L'Huillier, Patrick Viscuso, Michael Najim, and Nicholas Nagorny.

Vested in Grace: Priesthood and Marriage in the Christian East

Christian Books & Bibles

Holy Cross Pr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Joseph J. Allen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Joseph J. Allen

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Joseph J. Allen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Orthodox Synthesis: The Unity of Theological Thought

Widowed Priest

Vested in Grace: Priesthood and Marriage in the Christian East