Holy Rus': The Rebirth of Orthodoxy in the New Russia

Excellent work. I enjoyed this exploration of the character of present-day Russians for whom the Orthodox Church has become emblematic of who a Russia is, not his church affiliation. The Church in Russia has typically stood by the regime in power. Today under Putin, it is the same. But, we find in Burgess' work that the Church does do good in trying to develop a sense of community among Russians. My fear, however, is that this community fosters an adversarial relationship with all others who are not in the community, especially peoples from the West. The world view of Russia seems increasingly myopic and regressive. Does the Church offer an alternative to Putin? No.

This is a wonderful book for those with an interest in Orthodoxy in Russia. Burgess is a good scholar as Theology is concerned. More importantly he has and accute personal relationship with Orthodoxy from the Higherarchy to monks and priests to the practicing faithful. His perspective is both personal and academic and his writing is conversational and - not sure how - but he avoids any dryness in his approach. Very readable and enjoyable. Highly recommended.

I appreciate John Burgess's outlook, wealth of information, clear documentation (not an easy task due to his decision to transliterate), and his ability to lean back into his own heritage with questions for Orthodox Christians to consider. I am now visiting Russia myself and made a point of seeing paintings by Nesterov, to which Dr. Burgess made such strong references in his opening chapter.

At this point I don't know what else to say. I bought HOLY RUS' for a Russian Orthodox friend, and he praises it. The reader might want to know that this was written by a Protestant minister.

Very interesting description by a Presbyterian theologian of the demise of the Russian Orthodox Church and now its rebirth, despite obvious problems. As an Orthodox Christian, although not Russian, I found it to be an excellent read.

Excellent book. Burgess writes very well, and he is one of the few Western theologians who has really invested himself into Russian Orthodoxy.

Great

An enlightening and inspiring account by an American theologian that gives “born again “ new meaning in the religious context. A fascinating story of the remarkable rebound in progress by an institution that once permeated Russian culture and that may once again, and that for a thousand years has made Russia uniquely Russian. Well worth my time and money.

An enlightening and inspiring account by an American theologian that gives “born again “ new meaning in the religious context. A fascinating story of the remarkable rebound in progress by an institution that once permeated Russian culture and that may once again, and that for a thousand years has made Russia uniquely Russian. Well worth my time and money.

A very important and timely book. Very little has been written in the English-language about the current state of Christianity in Russia, and this book begins to rectify this. Easy to read, and yet in-depth. Look forward to seeing what the author writes next. I hope that the Orthodox Church can learn from this independent critique, and develop a more robust Christianity, worshipping Christ and serving men.

This book contains a lot of theological theoretical themes in Orthodoxy. It's one of the few that has everything anybody will need to know about Orthodoxy in Russia in one book. Personal anecdotes, conversations and general speculations ruin the nature of the book entirely. The efforts to incorporate 'national identity' and the brief mentions of contemporary Russian politics are extremely poor, especially since many events took place, which linked politics and the ROC, and national identity (of course) together for the past 6-7 years.