Essential reference works

Is funny that you reference Globalsecurity (I just think is hilarious). Did not see that coming from you. 

I deliberately use a variety of sources so that forum users know I am not pushing a Catholic position/vocabulary but a broader position. Think of this choice as being in honor of my daughter-in-law who is a Lutheran pastor in Killeen, Tx (Fort Hood).

because that is the feeling that Catholic Charismatics have.

How many Charismatic priests have you taken to lunch? How much of the leadership of the state Charismatic Catholics organization have you managed in their role(s) of liturgical ministers? How much training in Catholic healing prayer do you have? (Think Jan Aikire and Leo Thomas's Healing Ministry: A Practical Guide. Yes, I have a sculpture by Fr. Leo Thomas.) See web excerpt on prayer for healing from a non-Dominican source.

I have shown to you what the core of Orthodox is by the link that Christopher posted:

MJ's note ends with a quote that sums up the Orthodox view on theology very nicely (and riffs of Evagrius of Pontus):

Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."

I am in all good will trying to point out the underneath key spiritual principles behind it all.

Please don't. It violates the no theology request of the guidelines and illustrates that your understanding is so different that you frequently misunderstand my posts. Your misrepresentation of the Catholic position verges on libelous - and again has no place in a thread on essential Orthodox reference works.

I have concerns with Fr. Paul Tarazi (see http://orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/fr-paul-tarazi-from-study-to-heresy.aspx).

Thanks for the link. Has there been a response? I was left with an uneasy feeling re:the author expressing concern: was he reading the text as the average intended reader would or was he reading with the intent to find fault? When I next find myself reading Tarazi, I will pay closer attention to the perceived issues.

I like the Douay-Rheims https://www.logos.com/product/5202/douay-rheims-bible if for no other reason than that it has all (or at least most) of the old testament intact.  

The Ecumenical canon NRSV includes the complete canon for both the Greek and the Slavic Orthodox. In Logos, using the NRSV as your highest priority Bible is the only way to get the entire ecumenical canon treated as canonical.

Ladder of Divine Ascent (And Hamilton, if you're looking for a systematic path to God, that's a great example) https://www.logos.com/product/120191/john-climacus-the-ladder-of-divine-ascent

This book has been requested/suggested as traditional Lenten reading plan multiple times. Thinking of Lent (or the Great Fast)? Traditional reading schedule for John Climacus; What do you read repeatedly ... or seasonally; . . . 

Do you think I feel not bad when scandals with the clergy in the Catholic Church happens, and the leaders seem to not act decisively? Do you know how much it has affected normal Catholics here?

I know how it effects all Catholics ... and the various ways they have found to deal with it ... and its harm ... and a number of Catholics who have sought shelter in other ACELO churches. I also know of other denominations in the US have have similar problems. However, true Christians do not allow their beliefs and worship to be destroyed by men who have to some degree succumbed to Satan.

I also can see in your post (a) nothing that relates to the topic of the thread - essential Orthodox Bible study resources; (b) nothing that relates to Logos, it's products, the use of its products; (c) nothing that shows a serious effort to understand responses to your questions. Therefore, I am reporting you for abuse. Whether or not Logos chooses to respond is irrelevant to me.

Are Orthodox systematic theologies included in the systematic theology section in the passage guide to your knowledge?

From the documentation:

[quote]

Group: Patristic

• Augustine of Hippo, Saint Augustine: Christian Instruction; Admonition and Grace; The Christian Combat; Faith, Hope and Charity

• John Damascene, Saint John of Damascus: Writings

• Roberts, Alexander; Donaldson, James; Coxe, A. Cleveland; Tertullian; Minucius Felix; Commodianus; Origen, Ante-Nicene Fathers 4: Fathers of the Third Century: Tertullian, Part Fourth; Minucius Felix; Commodian; Origen, Parts First and Second

• Roberts, Alexander; Donaldson, James; Coxe, A. Cleveland; Tertullian; Minucius Felix; Commodianus; Origen, Ante-Nicene Fathers 4: Fathers of the Third Century: Tertullian, Part Fourth; Minucius Felix; Commodian; Origen, Parts First and Second (Catholic Edition)

• Schaff, Philip; Augustine of Hippo, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 1.3: St. Augustin: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises

• Schaff, Philip; Augustine of Hippo, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 1.3: St. Augustin: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises (Catholic Edition)

• Augustine of Hippo, Seventeen Short Treatises of S. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Translated, with Notes and Indices

• Schaff, Philip; Augustine of Hippo, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 1.2: St. Augustin’s City of God and Christian Doctrine

• Schaff, Philip; Augustine of Hippo, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 1.2: St. Augustin’s City of God and Christian Doctrine (Catholic Edition)

• Schaff, Philip; Wace, Henry; Hilary of Poitiers; John Damascene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 2.9: St. Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus

• Schaff, Philip; Wace, Henry; Hilary of Poitiers; John Damascene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 2.9: St. Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus (Catholic Edition)

Rick Brannan and Peter Venable, Systematic Theology Cross-References: Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2015).

[quote]

Group: Modern Orthodox

• Yannaras, Christos, Elements of Faith: An Introduction to Orthodox Theology

Rick Brannan and Peter Venable, Systematic Theology Cross-References: Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2015).

Are there any systematic theologies that you find compatible with the Orthodox faith?

Orthodox theology is highly apophatic. No matter how you word the question, Orthodoxy still does not have a tradition of systematic theology.  Look instead for dogmatic theology, apophatic theology, and liturgical theology.

• Dogmatic:
• Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky's Orthodox Dogmatic Theology has long been regarded as a standard source of Orthodox theology. Since its publication in Russian in 1963, it has been used as the main theology textbook at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, New York; and since the publication of the first English edition in 1983, it has come to be regarded throughout the English-speaking world as one of the best introductory books on Orthodox theology
• Vladmir Lossky's Dogmatic Theology: Creation, God’s Image in Man, & the Redeeming Work of the Trinity In this book, a revised, annotated, and expanded second edition of Théologie dogmatique, edited in the French by Olivier Clément and Michel Stavrou, readers encounter Lossky’s classroom lectures on dogmatic theology. Lossky confronts the great questions of theology: How can we know God? How is the Creator related to his creation? What is the vocation of human beings, created in God’s image?
• Vladmir Lossky's The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. In his classic exposition of the theology of the Church, Lossky states that the Eastern Tradition..."has never made a sharp distinction between mysticism and theology; between personal experience of the divine mysteries and the dogma affirmed bu the Church." The term "mystical theology" denotes that which is accessible yet inaccesible' those things understood yet surpassing all knowledge.
• Dumitru Staniloae's 3 volume Orthodox Dogmatic Theology The Experience of God (1) Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God (2) The World: Creation and Deification (3) The Person of Jesus Christ as God and Savior
• Apophatic:
• Carabine, Deirdre (2015), The Unknown God: Negative Theology in the Platonic Tradition: Plato to Eriugena, Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers
• https://orthodoxwiki.org/Apophatic_theology
• Pseudo-Dionysius. Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works. Edited by John Farina. Translated by Colm Luibheid and Paul Rorem. The Classics of Western Spirituality. New York; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1987.(Logos)
• Gregory of Nyssa. Gregory of Nyssa: The Life of Moses. Edited by Richard J. Payne. Translated by Abraham J. Malherbe and Everett Ferguson. The Classics of Western Spirituality. New York; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1978. [Logos]
• Liturgical:
  
• Alexander Schmemann's Introduction to Liturgical Theology is a masterful historical and critical introduction to the study of modern Orthodox liturgics and theology. There is scarcely a student of Christian worship who has not been stirred by the brilliant mind of the late Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann.
  Alexander Schmemann was deeply stimulated by modern movements and figures in Western Christian thought. He brings into the Western discussion of Christian unity, the relation of the Church to the world in revolution, the question of papal supremacy, and the effort to commend the gospel to a post-Christian world'a worldview at once Orthodox, patristic, and realistic. His sacramental realism and wholeness is exciting and refreshing for those, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, who have been reared on scholastic categories.

Back to the issue of the primacy of liturgy, this is an Eastern Rite Catholic's take on the topic - applied to Orthodoxy (from https://frted.wordpress.com/tag/liturgical-theology/) It should be self-evident that when worship is participation in the heavenly worship, it has enormous theological import.:

[quote]

The late great liturgical scholar Robert Taft summarized the Orthodox Liturgy this way:“In the cosmic or hierarchical scheme, church and ritual are an image of the present age of the Church, in which divine grace is mediated to those in the world (nave) from the divine abode (sanctuary) and its heavenly worship (the liturgy enacted there), which in turn images forth its future consummation (eschatological), when we shall enter that abode in Glory.  Symeon of Thessalonika (d. 1429), last of the classic Byzantine mystagogues, has synthesized this vision in chapter 131 of his treatise ON THE HOLY TEMPLE:

The church, is the house of God, is an image of the whole world, for God is every where and above everything.   .  .  .  The sanctuary is a symbol of the higher and super-celestial spheres, where the throne of God and his dwelling place are said to be.  it is this throne which the altar represents. … The bishop represents Christ, the church [nave] represents the visible world.  .  .  .

I mention the apostles with the angels, bishops and priests, because there is only one Church, above and below, since God came down and lived among us, doing  what he was sent to do on our behalf.  And it is a work which is one, as is our Lord’s sacrifice, communion, and contemplation.  And it is carried out both above and here below, but with this difference: above it is done without any veils or symbols, butt here it is accomplished through symbols. . . .

In the economic on anamnetic scheme, the sanctuary with its altar is at once: the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle decreed by Moses; the Cenacle of the Last Supper; Golgotha of the crucifixion; and the Holy Sepulchre of the resurrection, from which the sacred gifts of the Risen Lord — His Word and His body and blood — issue forth to illumine the sin-darkened world.     . . .

In the iconography and liturgy of the church, this twofold vision assumes visible and dynamic form.  From the central dome the image of the Pantocrator dominates the whole scheme, giving unity to the hierarchical and economic themes.  The movement of the hierarchical theme is vertical: ascending from the present, worshiping community assembled in the nave, up through the ranks of the saints, prophets, patriarchs, and apostles, to the Lord in the heavens attended by the angelic choirs.  The economic or ‘salvation-history’ system, extending outwards and upwards from the sanctuary, is united both artistically and theologically with the hierarchical. ”  (THE BYZANTINE RITE: A SHORT HISTORY, pp 69-70)

There is no "Biblical theology" because that distinction would make no sense in the Orthodox understanding of Scripture. From the Orthodox Church in America web site:

[quote]

Question

We have not talked much about the Church itself. For example, what about the Bible? Do the Orthodox use the Bible as other Christians do?

Answer

For the Orthodox, the Bible is the book of the Church, written by and for those who believe in God and constitute His People. The Four Gospels are the center of the Bible, just as Christ is the center of the Church. For this reason the Four Gospels are always enthroned on the altar in the Orthodox Church building.

The Orthodox generally interpret the Bible in terms of Christ. In this sense, the Old Testament is partial in that it prepares for the time of Christ, the Messiah, who fulfills its message and history.

The New Testament writings are also centered around Christ and tell of His action in the world and in the Church through the Holy Spirit.

Thus the Orthodox position about the Bible, would be that the New Testament is prefigured in the Old, and the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New.

The Bible is central in the life of the Church and gives both form and content to the Church’s liturgical and sacramental worship, just as to its theology and spiritual life. Nothing in the Orthodox Church can be opposed to what is revealed in the Bible. Everything in the Church must be biblical.

The Bible itself, however, not only determines and judges the life of the Church, but is itself judged by the Church since it “comes alive” and receives its proper interpretation and significance only within the life of the Church as actually lived and experienced by the People of God.

This would be the basic Orthodox approach to the Bible. Very sadly however, it must be mentioned that the knowledge of the Bible among Orthodox is not very great. There is a conscious attempt being made today to renew the reading and meditation of the scriptures by the faithful of the Church.