Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful reading for those interested in Orthodoxy!
Review: This book tells the incredible story of roughly 2,000 former evangelical Protestants who find the New Testament faith in the historic Orthodox Church. I was a part of this group of 2,000 believers, and this is a wonderful account of our story, as well as some of the questions we had regarding Orthodoxy which many Protestant Christians ask. Highly Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Those looking for a book "Orthodoxy for Dummies" will not find it in this book. Although some stuff is explained in the book, it is because it is part of the story, and pertinent to it.
This, however, is the story of how a group of former "Campus Crusade for Christ" leaders came to find the Orthodox faith after being disillusioned with the many flavours of Protestantism. They were intent on trying to find the "original Church", and through scholarship, prayer, and setbacks, they, along with about 2000 people, came to be Orthodox.Not everything experienced was easy. First of all, these people were surprised at what they had found in their researching the early Church. Had this research not been done through many people, with the prevalent opinions on Orthodoxy in America, they probably would have thought that they had erred. Then, when it came down to a matter of logistics, it almost seemed that they had come down the path that they had for next to nil. However, sometimes when one experiences the deepest disappointments, one has to hold on just a bit longer to experience the joy. This is what happened here, and though they don't want to change the church, they are trying to help it be less misunderstood, especially in the American setting. I couldn't put this book down. You could say that I am biased, also being an Orthodox convert with an Evangelical background, but for me it was nice to read something about Orthodoxy in an American context, which goes into the reasons behind why other Americans have converted.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Those looking for a book "Orthodoxy for Dummies" will not find it in this book. Although some stuff is explained in the book, it is because it is part of the story, and pertinent to it.
This, however, is the story of how a group of former "Campus Crusade for Christ" leaders came to find the Orthodox faith after being disillusioned with the many flavours of Protestantism. They were intent on trying to find the "original Church", and through scholarship, prayer, and setbacks, they, along with about 2000 people, came to be Orthodox. Not everything experienced was easy. First of all, these people were surprised at what they had found in their researching the early Church. Had this research not been done through many people, with the prevalent opinions on Orthodoxy in America, they probably would have thought that they had erred. Then, when it came down to a matter of logistics, it almost seemed that they had come down the path that they had for next to nil. However, sometimes when one experiences the deepest disappointments, one has to hold on just a bit longer to experience the joy. This is what happened here, and though they don't want to change the church, they are trying to help it be less misunderstood, especially in the American setting. I couldn't put this book down. You could say that I am biased, also being an Orthodox convert with an Evangelical background, but for me it was nice to read something about Orthodoxy in an American context, which goes into the reasons behind why other Americans have converted.
Rating: 
Summary: Of mixed emotion...
Review: While the enthusiasm expressed in this work is encouraging, as is the energy witnessed in its expression, it is nonetheless wanting in the extent of its content. Written while the author and his colleagues were new to Orthodoxy, it expresses much more of the 'coming home' sentiment and excitement than it does a detailed description of Orthodox theology or the Church. It is the author's 'conversion experience,' and not so much a discussion of what he was converting to, that is the focus of the work. Yet this book will still find a strong readership in those who are from a Protestant/Evangelical background and are considering Orthodoxy, or are simply intrigued and interested in it. From that perspective, 'Becoming Orthodox' offers insights that will strike close to home, and address many of the issues that are encountered when viewing Orthodoxy from such a background.
Rating:
Summary: Story of a mass conversion of evangelicals to Orthodoxy
Review: _Becoming Orthodox_ by Peter Gillquist is a first-person account of the spiritual journey of a group of evangelical Christians over a period of fifteen years to their reception into the Antiochian Orthodox Church. Many of them had been involved in Campus Crusade for Christ during the sixties and had remained in contact with each other during the seventies as they founded churches around the US. They agreed to study Church history to find out what the original New Testament Churches practiced. They noted from early Christian documents such as the writings of the Church Fathers that the Church had Bishops (ordained by the Apostles themselves), a hierarchial structure, Tradition, liturgical worship, communion as the literal Body and Blood of Christ, inscense, icons, the use of "Father" in addressing Priests, the veneration of the Virgin Mary as Theotokos ("God-bearer") and the Sign of the Cross. In examining the Schism of the Church in 1054 between Rome and the East, Gillquist and his fellow pastors acknowledged that Rome had erred in its Papal claims of universal authority over the Church, and the Western alteration of the Creed which originally stated that the Holy Spirit only proceeded from the Father, when now the Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (known as the "Filioque"). Gillquist and his affiliated group of churches, which they had labeled the Evangelical Orthodox Church, sought to join one of the Orthodox Churches in America. They were unsuccessful in meeting with the Patriarch of Constantinople, but they were reviewed and accepted by the Patriarch of Antioch and the Antiochian Archdiocese in North America. The style of this book is remarkably easy and engaging, especially when it comes to the discussion of the "Filioque" in the Creed, and appears to be quite popular among both Orthodox and non-Orthodox readers, which is one of this book's strengths.
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