On the Reception of the Heterodox into the Orthodox Church is a book whose importance to the life of the church is without question. The last three years of world events have seen an explosion of sincere and informed interest about Orthodoxy that is unprecedented in the West. With this movement of numerous souls knocking on the doors of the ancient church, in the hopes of walking the ancient paths (Jeremiah 6:16), what many are discovering is that the ancient and Christ ordained path to entering into the Church is often obscured and seemingly lost.
Unfortunately inquirers and the faithful laity that would serve as their Godparents are all too often left confused and frustrated as to how the basic process of reception into the Orthodox Church is to be conducted. This frustration is compounded by both the inability to access the patristic consensus on the subject and the complete absence of resources to do so. On the Reception of the Heterodox into the Orthodox Church not only solves this dire issue, it will inspire the faithful (both clergy and laity) to dig deeper into the fathers and to reaffirm the necessity of entering into the mind of the Church through holy tradition.
It is incredibly thorough in its presentation of the issues and arguments surrounding the reception of the heterodox. It provides the witness of all the key patristic commentators (both ancient and modern) who spoke on the issue in a concise and systematic way. The book is well formatted with a succinct summary at the end of each section, which is quite helpful in helping the reader really understand what is at stake and why.
As a priest who is in the thick of missionary work, having a resource that provides the authoritative and Spirit inspired teachings of the fathers is indispensable. It is especially helpful to read irrefutable exhortations from modern Saints such as St Luke (the Surgeon) of Crimea and St Iakovos of Evia. It is in their holy witness that we who are striving in fear and love to fulfill our priestly obligations can find comfort.
from Fr. Turbo Qualls
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