Lately I find myself being asked, “what should I read?” and so here is my attempt at what I think Eastern Orthodox Christians living in North America should read. This list is not exhaustive, and if there is anything anyone reading this thinks should be added, please let me know.
Άλήθεια Έλληνική: The Authority of the Greek Old Testament by Catherine Brown Tkacz
An Altar in the Wilderness by Fr. Kaleeg Hainsworth
As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl: by John Colapinto
Becoming Orthodox: A Journey to the Ancient Christian Faith by Fr. Peter E. Gilquist
Beginning to Pray by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Catholics by Brian Moore
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution by Michael J. Behe
Early Christian Writers: The Apostolic Fathers trans. by Maxwell Staniforth
(Faith Series Book 2 of 4) The Way: What Every Protestant Should Know About the Orthodox Church by Clark Carlton
(Faith Series Book 3 of 4) Truth: What Every Roman Catholic Should Know About the Orthodox Church by Clark Carlton
Free Choice in St. Maximus the Confessor by Joseph P. Farrell
God’s Revelation to the Human Heart by Fr. Seraphim Rose
Great Lent: Journey to Pascha by Fr. Alexander Schmemann
Great Week and Pascha in the Greek Orthodox Church by Fr. Alkiviadis C. Calivas
His Life is Mine by St. Sophrony of Essex
Marriage: An Orthodox Perspective by Fr. John Meyendorff
Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age by Fr. Seraphim Rose
1984 by George Orwell
Of Water and Spirit: A Liturgical Study of Baptism by Fr. Alexander Schmemann
On Marriage and Family Life by St. John Chrysostom
On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ by St. Maximus the Confessor
On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius of Alexandria
On the Soul and the Resurrection by St. Gregory of Nyssa
Origen and the History of Justification: The Legacy of Origen’s Commentary on Romans by Thomas P. Scheck
Orthodox Theology: An Introduction by Vladimir Lossky
Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future by Fr. Seraphim Rose
Russia, Ritual, and Reform: The Liturgucal Reforms of Nikon in the 17th Century by Paul Meyendorff
Six Books on the Priesthood by St. John Chrysostom
The Book of Enoch the Prophet by R.H. Charles
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christuian Monks trans by Benedicta Ward
The Epistle of St. James: A Commentary by Archbishop Dimitri Royster
The Gurus, the Young Man, and Elder Paisios by Dionysios Farasiotis
The Missionary Origins of Modern Ecumenism: Milestones Leading Up to 1920 by Fr. Peter Heers
The Mountain of Silece: A Search for Orthodox Spirituality by Kyriacos C. Markides
The Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit by St. Photios, trans. by Joseph P. Farrell
The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church by Vladimir Lossky
The New Testament: A Translation by David Bentley Hart (paperback, 1st Edition)
The Orthodox Church by Metropoltan Kalistos Ware
The Orthodox Veneration of Mary the Birthgiver of God by St. John Maximovitch
The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church by Fr. Seraphim Rose
The Soul After Death by Fr. Seraphim Rose
The Triads by St. Gregory Palamas trans. by Nicholas Gendle
The Winter Pascha: Readings for the Christmas-Epiphany Season by Fr. Thomas Hopko
Unseen Warfare as edited by St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain and revised by St. Theophan the Recluse