What books should i stock?

[DavidH]

I have been thinking about having three or four copies of a book to hand out to serious people I share Orthodoxy with.

What would your recommendations be for the following two types of people, what book would you recommend and why?

1) Someone who knows nothing at all about the Faith but is a Christian who seems interested in learning more. Something to whet their appetite and want to have further discussions without overwhelming them with too much detail.

2) Something for someone a little more advanced who knows the basics through previous conversations and seems open to more. Something that is well foot-noted preferably.

[Sleeper]

I have been thinking about having three or four copies of a book to hand out to serious people I share Orthodoxy with.

What would your recommendations be for the following two types of people, what book would you recommend and why?

1) Someone who knows nothing at all about the Faith but is a Christian who seems interested in learning more. Something to whet their appetite and want to have further discussions without overwhelming them with too much detail.

The book that most solidified my desire to join the Orthodox Church was The Mystery of Faith by Abp. HILARION Alfeyev. This is the book I was catechized with and it remains one of my favorites to this day. Perfect for any newcomer.

2) Something for someone a little more advanced who knows the basics through previous conversations and seems open to more. Something that is well foot-noted preferably.

I'm not sure about this one, what kind of footnotes did you have in mind?

[Shiranui117]

I have been thinking about having three or four copies of a book to hand out to serious people I share Orthodoxy with.

What would your recommendations be for the following two types of people, what book would you recommend and why?

1) Someone who knows nothing at all about the Faith but is a Christian who seems interested in learning more. Something to whet their appetite and want to have further discussions without overwhelming them with too much detail.

2) Something for someone a little more advanced who knows the basics through previous conversations and seems open to more. Something that is well foot-noted preferably.

I would recommend Metr. Kallistos Ware for those who are curious, and Vladimir Lossky for people who are more advanced.

[JamesRottnek]

For the curious, I think The Orthodox Way or The Orthodox Church (I read them in succession and it's been a while, so I don't recall which one would be better for inquirers).  As for the informed, I would recommend Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, personally.  I found it fairly easy to understand, and very well foot-noted.

[DavidH]

I have been thinking about having three or four copies of a book to hand out to serious people I share Orthodoxy with.

What would your recommendations be for the following two types of people, what book would you recommend and why?

1) Someone who knows nothing at all about the Faith but is a Christian who seems interested in learning more. Something to whet their appetite and want to have further discussions without overwhelming them with too much detail.

The book that most solidified my desire to join the Orthodox Church was The Mystery of Faith by Abp. HILARION Alfeyev. This is the book I was catechized with and it remains one of my favorites to this day. Perfect for any newcomer.

2) Something for someone a little more advanced who knows the basics through previous conversations and seems open to more. Something that is well foot-noted preferably.

I'm not sure about this one, what kind of footnotes did you have in mind?

I was thinking of footnotes to back up patristic quotes for example so if the inquirer wanted to read further they could.

[DavidH]

I like the suggestions so far. The only one I don't have is the Metropolitan's book, I will have to look it up.

[bogdan]

Another good option would be Fr. Stephen Freeman's new book "Every Where Present." Originally a blog series called "the One Storey Universe", it was mind-blowing for me and did a lot for my conversion.

It is a basic introduction to the Orthodox view of the universe and eternity, and touches on lots of things like icons, the sacraments, the saints, death, heaven, etc. It would be a good, "light" introduction without getting into heavy patristics and so forth. Most importantly, it starts from the "two storey" perspective that will be familiar to both Christians and non-Christians. It's very accessible and assumes relatively little on the reader's part.

[Thankful]

One book I want to get with this same thought in mind is Light from the Christian East by James Payton.  Mr. Payton is actually a protestant in the reformed tradition who teaches classes on Orthodoxy at a Christian college.  In this book, he writes positively about our faith, comparing it objectively throughout to the western approach to Christianity (showing how the paradigm is different, and valid).  It's somewhat surprising (to me) that with how positively he writes about Orthodoxy that he has not converted.  It would be a good book to give to protestants since they can go into it knowing it's written by someone of their own faith background and as such does not come across as triumphalistic.

Here's what Frederica Mathewes-Green wrote for the cover jacket: "James Payton has combined his thorough familiarity with Eastern Orthodoxy with a gracious and respectful sensibility, and produced a book that is inviting, accessible, and more content-rich than an introductory work is expected to be. Light from the Christian East is an excellent book."

Along those same lines, I might also recommend Jordan Bajis' Common Ground.  

[Tikhon.of.Colorado]

For both, a book of the catechism of the Church would be good.  

1.  for this person, I thing "The Orthodox Church" would be good.  Or Fr. Arseney or the way of a Pilgrim.

2.  Holy Fathers on modern issues, to get Orthodox stance on things.  And the OSB, gotta have a good Orthodox translation of the Bible.

[DavidH]

More good suggestions from everyone- especially for the #2 person in the OP would be "Common Ground". I have that but have not thought of it in a while. Thanks, Thankful.

Ware's Orthodox Church is also good- that and Fr. Peter Gillquist's Becoming Orthodox were the first two books I read.

[Agabus]

I will offer you a "liberal" perspective: Alexander Schmemann's "The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy." In terms of reading challenge, it falls between Ware and Lossky.

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