I just want to praise God for the way he used your book to open my heart to receive the baptism of the Holy spirit in a way i never dreamed possible. I used to think that people who spoke in tongues were really messed up; now i understand that they are people who are willing to let the Holy Spirit control them instead of vice versa. i know that the Lord himself played the largest role in changing my heart and perception of him in this matter, but i praise him for putting your book in my path to help me better understand the charismatic movement. Praise God for your willingness to adhere to his truth and for giving your time to share your illustrations w/others. This is now one of my favorite books!:) thank you!

In less than 240 pages Peter Gillquist eloquently shatters the commonly mistaken liturgies of conventional Christianity. His fresh approach to careful use of scripture not taken out of context, sheds little seen light on familiar passages of scripture often mis-interpreted by more than 90% of Christendom. He compares the commonly accepted practice of confessing one's sins in order to get right with God, to Papal Christianity. He shows, both from history, and from scripture how the Protestant Reformation was in fact a return to a relationship with the person of Jesus Christ rather than a return to outmoded & unscriptural "traditions of men". This book is a must-read for someone who is dog tired of the traditional liturgy existing among all religions. It skillfully opens the readers eyes and heart to a relationship with a real person who loves us with an unfailing love, no matter where he is in life.

Father Peter gives a very personal account of his and the Evengelic orthodox Church's conversion to Orthodoxy. It is not an introduction of Orthodoxy. However it is a very fascinating read, even though I personnally would have wished a more detailed account of how the liturgical and ecclesiastical life of the Evangelical Orthodox Church looked like.
I am a convert from the reformed (Zwinglian) Church myself. Even though the book did by no means reflect my own way to Orthodoxy it was worth reading. The most revealing thing for me was to rediscover the scriptural and historic foundations of my Church. We do of course celebrate and rejoice in the Apostolic Tradition of our Church, but I have never read such a well researched description. And the very personal stile of the book makes it an easy read. I imagine that for Protestants it is a bit harder to digest, as Father Peter makes to strong a point about which Church he considers "The Real One". For Orthodox however it is a very valuable reading because of it's in depth research of our scriptural and historic past.
So if you want to get to know Orthodoxy, there are better books (eg. "The Orthodox Way" or " The Orthodox Church" for the more historically minded by Bishop Kallistos). If you want to rediscover the Church from a new (and almost Evangelical) angle, go for it!

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!

This was one of the very first books I read on my journey to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I found it to be personal and introspective. Gillquist asks and answers the questions that every Christian should ask themselves on page 24.
After reading the negative reviews of this book I would like people to understand that Gillquists book is one of many that should be read before arriving at ANY conclusions about Christian Orthodoxy. Highly recommended also are "The Faith" and "The Way" by Clark Carlton. Along with "The Orthodox Church" by Tim Ware and "Common Ground: An Introduction to Eastern Christianity for the American Christian" by Jordan Bajis and Frank Schaeffers "Dancing Alone" and anything by Fredrica Matthews-Green. "Discovering the Rich Heritage of Orthodoxy" by Charles Bell is similar to Gillquists book. As for reviewer justleavemealones crack about Metropolitans (Bishops in the Othodox Church)
Read Matthew 12:38-39 & Matthew 16:4.

One of the reviewers stated of the Orthodox Church: "...the church that is still a driving force in Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Ethiopia and Albania." That reminds me of what the old Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock said about the classics professor who claimed Thucydides was responsible for "everything I am today." Said Leacock--"this is a serious charge, indeed."

This book, edited by Peter Gillquist, more or less accomnplishes what it sets out to do. Compiled stories of ex-protestants and their reasons for becoming orthodox. All of the contributers write in a very easy to understand and likeable style. All show great amounts of charity towards their evangelical brothers and sisters and believe God used those expierences to bring them up to orthodoxy.

So why the average rating? Well, it is becuase, these contributers barely touch on doctrinal matters. This not to say their reasons are not legitimate, but 18 different conversions stories all sounding pretty much the same, does get a little tiresome when presented in one book. They speak about the liberal incroachment in protestantism (true), lack of unity (ture), and so forth; however, they do not present much on the differences in apporaches in regards to doctrines, and therefore, much of the book feels incomplete.

Therefore, it is worth reading. But I think a book with less contributers, but more in-depth expierences would have been much better. Still, a very easy read and likable read.

I sympathize with you for the hurt caused by any clergy of the church. Alas, even though the Eastern Orthodox church gaurantees true worship, and true doctrine, it does not gaurantee perfect clergy. Anyone reading the review please do not judge the clergy of the Orthodox church as a whole, based on the actions of some in particular. There will always be sin, greed, legalism, and lack of care in this world. Sadly, this will even be seen in the body of Christ. Granted, people/clergy will act like a jerks, over glorify the priesthood, and abuse their leadership roles. A quote from John Chrysostom says "The road to hell will be lined with the skulls of bishops." As we know from the Bible, leaders will be judged more harshly for their actions. Please, do not dare to say that clergy from the Orthodox church will not lead you closer to God. Not only is that speaking rashly, but it is denying the grace that God has given these men for performing their specific roles. I know many clergy that have sacrficed everything in their lives to help others grow closer to God. I am truly sorry to hear how these men have treated another human being, created in the image of God. Let us pray for our clergy, that have "come home". For they are human too, and subject to greed and struggles with sin. Let us pray, not judge, and not dismiss the claims of the one, true apostolic church. The battle is spiritual, and precisely what the devil wants us to do is leave the truth, or have divisions among us. I pray that you and I, everyone, will trust the Lord, seek Him first, and not allow the actions of men to destroy our relationship with Him. God Bless!!

Many Orthodox scholars such as Fr. Jack Sparks, Bishop KALLISTOS Ware, & Fr. Constantine Nasr. It was overviewed by such Orthodox authorities as Fr. Thomas Hopko, Fr. Stanley Harakas, and bishops representing virtually every Orthodox diocese in North America. I find this Study Bible very useful in introducing people to Orthodoxy through the Holy Scriptures as well as a wonderful companion for every Orthodox Christian. I believe that any Orthodox family could benefit from having this Study Bible in their home.

There are wonderful notes on nearly all the verses of the New Testament, giving the interpretation of the Orthodox Church on the Holy Scriptures. It also includes a lectionary, chapters on "How to Read the Bible," and "Introducing the Orthodox Church," and wonderful articles are interspersed throughout the Bible on such topics as "Confession," "The Four 'Orders' in Church Government," and "The Transfiguration." The pages are also graced by the presence of beautiful icons.

I do have a few minor problems with this Bible. Some is left to be desired in the Book of Psalms, largely because the Septuagint, the Old Testament of the Orthodox Church, was not used. (Of course, this is about to be resolved because the same group of people is currently working on the Old Testament Orthodox Study Bible using the entire Septuagint text.) It was also disappointing to see that in the Morning and Evening prayers in the back, there is no mention of the Virgin Mary. However, the notes and articles throughout the Study Bible clearly explain the emphasis which is put on the Virgin Mary in the Orthodox Church.

I would highly recommend owning this Study Bible, and I don't feel that it deserves a lot of the harsh criticism it has gotten. They did an excellent job!

This book does a good job in providing commentary notes on Bibilcal passages with an Easern Orthodox viewpoint. The right amount of information is given. It assumes the reader has no or very little knowledge so as not to confuse potential readers, including new converts, curiosity seekers, or cradle Orthodox who have never really studied their faith.

It is filled with iconograpgy throughout and the end of the book has special sections in regards to Orthodox views, prayers, and doctrines. It is done in an easy fomat to spark one for further study and research.

This study Bible should be in any serious Bible students libarary regardless of religion. The views of the East have been often neglected by the West and the East has a rich tradition the West can learn and enjoy.

Up until this century it was taboo to put commentary into a Bible for fear that folk would take the notes and interpretations as if they were part of the Bible itself. Well, they were right! However, now everyone and his brother puts footnotes and explanations in their texts of the Scriptures, so now the Orthodox do as well. This is not THE Orthodox Study Bible (as reviewer Matt asserts above - and, yes Matt, you are nit-picking!), nor does it pretend to be. The articles and notes are intended to help elucidate the Scriptures and provide some introductory articles on Orthodox topics, but this is not a full-blown Bible commentary, nor a course in New Testament theology. The complaints of the critics tend to be essentially that it isn't enough. Well, then they need to write a multi-volume commentary to suit their needs. However, for the average layperson who's lucky to crack open the Bible occasionally, this fits the bill just fine. Remember, there is no "official" Orthodox translation of the Bible except for the original Greek. Thus, the NKJV is one of the better texts and the footnotes are there to make occasional comments as to translation problems and errors. No, they don't cover all the issues, but as I said before, to do that you would need a multi-volume Orthodox commentary that takes up half your bookshelf. Hopefully, at some future date, such a work will be undertaken. For now, this is a modest and well-needed starting point. +Fr. William Christ

The strong thrust placed on evangelism did seem to leave the Church as a whole, sickly. We as believers should be holy, righteous, and live blameless lives before the world. Traditions can be good & they can be bad as the book has stated. The book does not bring out how God works in the hearts of his people to bring them into holiness & righteousness. I agree with Peter Gillguist that God does call His people to finish the race, which I believe, was the best part of the book!

This great book, written for evangelicals, encourages Christians to do more than proclaim Jesus as their Savior and evangelize. He emphasizes that the Lord calls each of us to live holy lives. According to St. Paul, all Christians are to run with endurance the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1) Gillquist says that Christians should put less emphasis on starting this race, and much more emphasis on finishing the race, living holy lives which imitate Christ's life on earth. We are to look to the cloud of witnesses, the Saints of the Church who have already completed the race, for inspiration and intercession. As St. Ignatius of Antioch says, we should not merely "be called Christians", but rather by our works "be found to be Christians." Instead of having a "once saved, always saved" attitude, we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12) I found this book to be very inspirational in our struggle for salvation. However, it is incomplete. This book was written when Peter Gillquist was on a journey, along with 2000 other believers, searching for the New Testament Church. They have found that the very Church which is spoken of in the Book of Acts and the letters of the Bible is still alive today in the Holy Orthodox Church, which traces its very beginning back to the Day of Pentecost. Peter Gillquist (now Fr. Peter, and Eastern Orthodox priest), has come to the realization, along with so many others, that the ideal place to live holy lives and to work out our salvation in fear and trembling is in Christ's Church, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. (Matthew 16:18) I would recommend, in addition to reading this book, reading BECOMING ORTHODOX, also by Gillquist, to find out what Gillquist discovered about the importance of Christians living holy lives IN THE CHURCH which Christ and His Apostles founded. BECOMING ORTHODOX is also available from Amazon.com, although I'm not sure of the price.

I only gave this a three star rating as nowhere in this book are the pitfalls of falling into superioriority complexes get addressed. The ideals are polished and his personal faith explained-- Michael Harper has definitely lived his life doing as God had bade him and given his heart to Him.

But Orthodoxy is more than a set of ideals and philosophies based on God's Word. It's a bunch of people. Once you get in or even part way in, it is just like college when you started talking like a liberal, only with Orthodoxy your language gets peppered with word phrases like, "The One True Way", "The Truth", "Obedience to Father" (who is an emmisary of God and well-- they are human, too)"The One Church" "The One True Church"-- Orthodox Christian Churches can get pretty exclusionary to visitors and don't tolerate struggling parents with fussy babies or any potential struggles very well, and this is the reason that I feel that it started to take off in the US and then pettered out. England needs to watch herself that they become a light on a Hill that people seek, as opposed to a light that only shines on her own members.