Dancing Alone: The Quest for Orthodox Faith in the Age of False Religion
Author: Frank Schaeffer
List Price: $20.00
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ISBN: 0917651367
Publisher: Holy Cross Orthodox Press (December, 1994)
Sales Rank: 167,319
Average Customer Rating: 3.08 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 2 out of 5
Disappointed with Diatribe
I bought this book out of curiosity, having long ago read the author's father (Evangelical/Presbyterian/Fundamentalist/Dispensationalist Protestant minister Francis Schaeffer)'s books, and some of Franky's as well. Franky--or Frank--usually sounds bitter and sarcastic, but I did enjoy his novel Portofino. Twenty-some years ago, I was a Protestant, and was, as a youth, somewhat impressed with Francis Schaeffer's works. (I am not impressed now.) Anyway, I was interested in learning about Franky's pilgrimage to Orthodoxy, and was expecting a personal account. Instead, I find a bitter diatribe against Protestantism and Catholicism. Schaeffer's words are obviously those of a new and zealous convert. He warns us in his "Note of Acknowledgment" that he is not an historian nor a theologian, nor a scholar. Yet he proceeds to write as if he were all three. He is not convincing. He does, however, make some good points regarding Protestantism, and much of what he says concerning the Orthodox churches apply to the Catholic Church. He bitterly attacks the Papacy, having thoroughly absorbed the resentment towards the West of many Orthodox writers. (Of course I am admittedly biased, and consider "the Schismatic Church" an apt appellation for the Orthodox!)
Nevertheless, I think Shaeffer has moved in the right direction, and it is better to be "only" in schism rather than in heresy and schism. But for a good short introduction to Orthodoxy, I think Timothy Ware's The Orthodox Church is a better treatment of the subject. At least you will get the perspective of a longtime adherent, and more reliable historical information. Frank Schaeffer is much better at writing fiction (and I really do recommend Portofino, especially if you have ever been an Evangelical Protestant--it'll keep you laughing).
Rating: 5 out of 5
Excellent Introduction
Frank Schaeffer's book is an excellent introduction for those interested or curious about Eastern Orthodoxy. As the son of perhaps this country's most famous Protestant theologian, Francis Schaeffer, Mr. Schaeffer's book is instructive on a number of levels. The book is part testimonial, part explanation and defense of Orthodox theology, and part cultural critique of contemporary American culture. Mr. Schaeffer sets out to explain why our individualistic, feel-good social ethic has compromised many denominations and why Orthodoxy offers an organic, living form of worship and piety that is Christianity in its completest form. Mr. Schaeffer references Church Fathers and the Ecumenical Councils in his explanation of Orthodox doctrine in his defense of Orthodoxy's claim to being the living, True Church of Christ. This may upset or surpise some who accept today's ecumenical claim that all the denominations taken together are branches of the one true Church; but, as Mr. Schaeffer points out, you cannot have a number of Churches who all claim different things that contradict the claims of each other comprising the one True Church: this is a contradiction that makes no sense. Mr. Schaeffer's book will be of particular interest to anyone interested in Orthodoxy, whether he be Orthodox, Protestant, or Catholic. This is important since Mr. Schaeffer IS NOT saying (nor does the Orthodox Church teach as much) that you can only be saved or please God if you are Orthodox; the mystery of a man's salvation is something man cannot judge and is for God alone to know. However, Mr. Schaeffer is interested in establishing the historical and theological case that establishes Orthodoxy as the one True Church of Christ that possess the fullness of Christ's Truth that other churches that split from Her do not possess. In a world where many traditional forms of worship and piety have been forgotten or dismissed, where other liturgical churches have abandoned or gutted their liturgies, taking a serious look at Orthodoxy might be of value for those disaffected with modernist denominations and parishes.
Rating: 1 out of 5
If you're looking for information on the Orthodox church...
This is not the book for you. Mr. Schaeffer is an ARTIST who happens to have a famous evangelist for a daddy (Could it be why he published this book?) with no expertise in orthodoxy.Please understand that his 'expertise' is personal experience. If you're going to read this book, please read it as if you are reading a testimony of ones walk to orthodoxy. His unresolved anger with his former evangelist self clouds his arguements.
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