Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy: Finding the Way to Christ in a Complicated Religious Landscape

By: Andrew Stephen Damick

Narrated by: Andrew Stephen Damick

Length: 14 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Are you an Orthodox Christian who wonders how to explain to your Baptist grandmother, your Buddhist neighbor, or the Jehovah’s Witness at your door how your faith differs from theirs? Or are you a member of another faith who is curious what Orthodoxy is all about? Look no further. In Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick covers the gamut of ancient heresies, modern Christian denominations, fringe groups, and major world religions, highlighting the main points of each faith. This audiobook is an invaluable reference for anyone who wants to understand the faiths of those they come in contact with - as well as their own.

This edition of the best-selling Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy is fully revised and significantly expanded. Major new features include a full section on Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movements, an expanded epilogue, and a new appendix (“How and Why I Became an Orthodox Christian”). More detail and more religions and movements have been included, and the audiobook is now addressed broadly to both Orthodox and non-Orthodox, making it even more shareable than before.

©2017 Andrew Stephen Damick (P)2021 Andrew Stephen Damick

Recommended for those trying to follow the way in the wilderness.

Very helpful, interesting and enjoyable. A solid canvas of the world's myriad faiths from an Eastern Orthodox perspective. I thought the book might be rather dry but it wasn't.

Thank you, father Andrew

There is a wealth of meaningful information here. For those who do not understand why there are distinctions between religious views, or why those distinctions should be important, this is a must listen

simply wonderful book

a very thoughtful and well factual book. It is without opinions just stating truth. Thank you.

Good overview

This was an excellent overview of the religious landscape, both Christian and not. The author did very well at separating his perspective from details on each religion.

A Must Read for All Orthodox Christians

Where has this book been in my life? Truly, this book is a fantastic Orthodox apologetic--both a primer on multiple other Christian and pseudo-Christian denominations as well as a clear and concise explanation as to how and why those doctrines differ from the Orthodox teachings.
To be fair, I was a little hesitant when I first started to listen (Audible version) to this book. The title was interesting, but seemed very academic--I feared that this would be beyond my understanding as a lay person and not a seminarian! However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book was accessible to both the lay person, as well as providing the depth of intellectual and spiritual analysis that would attract and interest a more learned scholar. Fr. Damick works through a number of prominent, and less prominent, denominations, and proceeds to give a historical context of the religion, an overview of the main tenets and belief, followed by a concise explanation as to how the faith differs (or in some cases is similar to) Orthodoxy and the teachings of the Apostles and the Church Fathers. I wish that I had found this book sooner, during the time period when we were living away from a large Orthodox community and we attended many children' events at other churches--I would have loved to have been able to better explain our faith in the context others. Similarly, my children attended a Roman Catholic elementary school and my husband and I spent countless hours trying to figure out a way to explain, both to our children as well as our friends from the school, our faith and how we are similar, yet wholly separate from Roman Catholicism. This book, in particular, did a fantastic job of laying out the key distinctions between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism in a clear format--easy to understand as well as providing the ability to explain to others.
Additionally, and as a pleasant surprise, I was delighted to find that Fr. Damick's "shout out" to the "Mikes" in the forward included one of the "Mikes" who is a dear friend of our family!
I highly recommend this book, in the Audible version, and I plan to purchase this book in print as well.

Confused? Read this!

If you are trying to figure out what church to attend and are confused by the myriad possibilities, this is a great resource. Written from the perspective of a member of the Orthodox Church, this book does a good job a contrasting and comparing the differing views, beliefs and perspectives of various religions which claim to all (or mostly) be THE WAY. This book is not written from a “holier than thou” perspective, and is great at clearing up the confusion one might have when deciding how to worship God. Methodist? Baptist? Evangelical? Anglican? Church of God? Dispensationalist? Calvinist?

These things can be confusing for someone who hasn’t been to seminary school and just wants to understand the beliefs held by the different religions they may have around them.

A great resource and highly recommended.

A must-hear for anyone interested in religion.

An almost encyclopedic introduction to the world’s Christian denominations and non-Christian faith traditions in their relation to Orthodoxy.
It is increasingly popular in the post-secular age for one to wonder aloud whether all religions are simply culturally distinct ways of organizing under a higher power to explain for the persistence of religious belief in a world where mystery seems in short supply. American Christians have a complicated history in terms of communicating a unified vision of what Christianity means in a world plagued with political agendas, church splintering, and articulating some of the finer distinctions or justifications for their faith against other belief systems. More to the point, a person raised in the Orthodox faith may look out at the religious landscape of the world in bewilderment – wondering how and where certain expressions of belief in the divine diverged from their own encounter with God. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick approaches this question with renewed care and attentiveness – articulating a vision of the ancient Christian faith that is historically identifiable, logically consistent, and intellectually coherent. Said another way, it can be easy to sign off religious belief as a matter of personal conviction and an intimate experience paired with a general sense of virtue, but that would rob one from a truer understanding of how Orthodoxy impacts its believers in ways distinct from other Christian denominations or non-Christian religions. More than mere opinion, the commitment to understanding religion as a legitimate study in “Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy” helps the reader accessibly understand how different faith traditions guide the believer – and ultimately where those paths were forged in history.
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick’s book operates from the Eastern Orthodox tradition, which regularly makes a claim that it practically and theologically teaches Christianity in the ways those might have understood and experienced it if they were taught from the original twelve apostles, nearly two thousand years ago. “Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy” unfolds in a natural way that coheres those claims by walking through the religious debates that unified and divided Christians from themselves, each other, and the world. It begins with stating the importance of sound religious doctrine and then precedes into explaining what the early Church councils determined what was and was not a justified belief about the teachings and reality of Jesus Christ and His immediate followers. In a sense, Fr. Damick sets the stage by echoing to the earliest agreed upon discussions by the then global Church in their determination of what is Christian (Orthodox) and what is heresy (Heterodox). From this point in time, the book dedicates chapters to major eras of time in which the global Church divided from Orthodoxy, including the emergence of Roman Catholicism, the Magisterial Reformation, the Radical Reformation, Evangelicalism and Revivalism, and (in what is interestingly prescribed as the fourth wave and current age of Protestantism) Pentecostalism. In doing so, the reader can consider the many debates and questions (as well as quite a few answers) about the faith between Orthodoxy and other iterations of Christianity. By explaining how Orthodoxy agrees and disagrees with the varying traditions and denominations of Christianity, the Christian reader is given new tools to understand their own beliefs, as well as new ways to lovingly affirm their religious neighbors.
Fr. Damick then dedicates four chapters to non-Christian religious belief systems to conclude the book, divided into two sections each for Non-Mainstream Christians and Non-Christian Religions. It is clear that the author dedicates more time, both orally and from a written standpoint to help the reader delineate between Orthodox Christian beliefs and various other traditions or denominations due to their seeming similarity, but some of the most interesting work comes in the Orthodox engagement with distinctly non-Christian religious systems. Speaking to the shared traits and vast differences between Orthodoxy and, say, Buddhism or Islam might seem like easier work (for example – all three emphasize altruistic behavior but only Orthodoxy states that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh), “Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy” goes on to give historical and anthropological context for the emergence of some religious traditions, and applies as much nuance as possible in rendering a generous reading of the actual goals and practices of non-Orthodox belief systems. The book ends with an epilogue that offers instruction on Orthodox relations with their global (and religiously vast) neighbors, as well as two appendices that address the recent emergence of atheism and agnosticism, as well as a personal account on how the author himself came to Orthodoxy. The final words are an appreciated touch of vulnerability – it reminds the reader that the search for the divine, whether obvious due to years of careful thought and research or curious due to a lack of available information, all starts with the humble drive to better understand one’s place in the cosmos.
The audiobook is narrated by the author, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick, and runs for approximately 15 hours. That timestamp should not be seen as daunting because this audiobook is not unlike a good podcast, where the “reader” can have the content speaking for hours and still crave more. Fr. Andrew is no stranger to formats such as this – as his hosting of four podcasts, and co-leading of two more, allow for a rhetorically engaging speaking voice that fits the content naturally. For those of us that have an ear and ability to retain the spoken word at higher speeds, I found listening to this audiobook at 1.25x speed to still sound well-paced, natural, and inoffensive.
A book like no other, “Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy” is thorough without losing the reader whilst simultaneously discussing dozens of what could be seen as sensitive details about many religious traditions and Christian denominations. I would heavily recommend this book for all newcomers to religion, whatsoever; while Fr. Damick is clear that this is not an exhaustive account of the source material, it provides a healthy introduction to both the content, as well as the matter, of the religious persons interaction with other religious matters and content. For the tenured religious person (specifically Orthodox persons), this book helps in understanding the relationships, agreements, and disagreements with other religious traditions from across the world. For Christians (and speaking as someone that has come to Eastern Orthodoxy from a non-Orthodox Christian background) this audiobook might be considered required reading for being faithful to the ancient words of Jesus Christ. This book does not judge, but it is clear and helpful in pointing out where and why certain practices of came to be known as “Christian” considering their relationship (or non-relation) to the ancient Christian world.
How we may encounter the divine may been pushed upon us to seem like a private matter, but if Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick’s “Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy” has anything to say on the topic it’s that, not only is it not a private matter, but it may be the only way to experience, understand, and walk the narrow path to the one true God in a world with many roads.

amazing!

Loved this book! Father Stephen is wonderful to listen to and the book was so informative and interesting.

Christian Denominations in a Nutshell

I believe that this book holds an invaluable place in every Christian's library. In today's 'religious landscape' as the title states, it can be very confusing as to why the church we personally attend states belief(doctrine) in one way and other Christians believe something completely different. Most Christians I know all profess belief in the same Bible, yet that sometimes seems to be the only commonality we have. It is equally difficult to find the basic history of different denominations of Christianity without too much additional information or lots of digging.
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick begins by introducing why our Christian doctrine matters and what the Orthodox Church teaches beginning at the time of the apostles. I felt like Fr. Andrew does a fantastic job of being sensitive to not offend non-Orthodox Christians, while at the same time upholding the truths that the Bible and Orthodox tradition teach. He humbly acknowledges that no one can truly be unbias in their perspective, but notes that he makes an effort to make this book factual and when he is generalizing he makes a point to say so. After discussing history and Orthodoxy, the book discusses the schism between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, then it moves into the reformations and different branches of Evangelicalism. There were so many different denominations listed, I will definitely be listening again to pick up more details that I'm sure I missed. Fr. Andrew included many definitions of terms that I hear defining Christian groups without having understood fully what they meant. The last few sections of the book included Non-Christian Religions and finally Atheism and Agnosticism.
This book is read aloud by Fr. Andrew and he reads clearly and articulately. I found the pace to be pleasant. The book is long, but I already want to relisten to it and plan to do so several times more. I very much enjoyed the content of this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone seeking to understand how the Christian faith ended up where we are today with over 40,000 different denominations.

Must read for all Protestants

This is a book that should be read by all Protestants and Evangelicals - it will open your eyes to the failures of Sola Scriptura.