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As booklovers know from oft-repeated experience, acquiring a long out-of-print classic can be a chore. Old copies, if they are not prohibitively costly, are beaten up and even malodorous; and newer "reprint" companies seem to take no pains either with their facsimiles or with their OCR'd products.
I was therefore delighted when Peter Day-Milne, one of the best writers at Adoremus (see his archive of articles here), suggested to me that it was high time to bring out a newly typeset edition of Adrian Fortescue's superb work The Orthodox Eastern Church. This is now available from Os Justi Press (here) and from every Amazon site in the world (paperback, hardcover, ebook). (Just a word of warning: there are many crummy editions of this work in all media, so if you want to find the new Os Justi edition in particular, use the above links, visit the OJP site, or search by ISBNs, which you will find below.)
First published in 1907 and revised in 1911, The Orthodox Eastern Church quickly established itself as a classic in the field, thanks to Fr. Fortescue’s masterful grasp of the doctrinal disputes that divide East and West, his narration of the intricate historical factors that played an outsized role, and his identification of attitudes and conditionings that block the reunion of the Churches so ardently desired by all Christians of good will.
At a time when rose-colored portraits of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy are flourishing thanks to tribalist internet apologetics, Fortescue—not sparing East or West in his portrait of their disintegration—offers us a more realistic account of what happened. Fortescue’s is not the last word on this topic, by any means; but his analysis remains compelling, and his lively wit gives pleasure to readers. The first hundred pages of the work contain so many testimonies of the Church Fathers to the necessity for union with the bishop of Rome, and the remainder of the work so many illustrations of Eastern misgovernance and error, that any modern-day Roman Catholic tempted to swim the Bosphorus in search of greener fields will quickly be cured of his temptation.
Traditionalist readers will enjoy the author's erudite (and often quite entertaining) descriptions of Eastern liturgical rites, chants, vestments, implements, and clerical titles.
This newly typeset edition does aesthetic justice to the quality of the content. Peter Day-Milne, in particular, outdid himself by reviewing every line of the page proofs, ensuring that the many words and phrases in Greek were exactly right, and revamping all internal references and the index to ensure accuracy. The ebook, based on the printed edition, reflects this quality as well. All the original illustrations are present, such as the charming diagrams below.
Here is the table of contents together with a sample page:
Endorsements of this new edition:
Fr. Aidan Nichols, author of The Latin Clerk (a biography of Fortescue) and Rome and the Eastern Churches:
“Adrian Fortescue brought to the subject of this book not only a wealth of knowledge but an unusual combination of attitudes: waspish wit along with deep religious feeling. The present-day reader will find here colourful vignettes of the churches of the Orthodox world before the massive changes of twentieth-century politics transformed them utterly. But they will also have the benefit of a broad historical panorama, an in-depth encounter with some theological dividing issues, and an account of the liturgical life which—typical of the man—waxes eloquent on such matters as music and vesture. Though there is fun here, there is also deadly seriousness. Fortescue knew the weaknesses, as well as the strengths, of the Latin church of his day. He saw the wisdom of Unionist endeavours, if also, alas, the improbability of their success.”
Erick Ybarra, author of The Papacy: Revisiting the Debate Between Catholics and Orthodox:
“At a time when the powers of this age are working within the bounds of the visible Church to attack her foundations to the core, more and more Catholics are reconsidering their belief in the truth claims of the Catholic Church and are inquiring into Eastern Orthodoxy. Many have taken up the task of investigating Byzantine claims against Catholicism; yet how many have traveled far-distant lands, learned Oriental languages, spent their entire lives studying the Eastern Churches? Fr. Fortescue did just these things, making him a scholar on whom we can rely. For Catholics curiously gazing to the East, Fortescue’s The Orthodox Eastern Church will be a welcome accompaniment.”
Joshua Charles, President of Eternal Christendom:
“The republication of this classic work by a great scholar comes at an auspicious time. As some are allured by the East under the pretext of problems in the West, Fr. Fortescue’s book will provide a learned, joyful, and direct reminder of inconvenient facts. As much as there is to admire among our separated brethren in the East, this book is a reminder of why we embrace the Catholic communion of our shared Fathers, and urge them to return to the same—without prejudice to the liturgy, spirituality, and theological culture that is their legitimate boast.”
If you are looking for an invigorating study of the Eastern Orthodox, this is a book not to be missed.
Adrian Fortescue, Ph.D., D.D. The Orthodox Eastern Church. Based on the third edition from 1911, with a new Publisher's Note. xx + 427 pp. Os Justi Press, 2024. ISBN 978-1-960711-92-2 (paperback); ISBN 978-1-960711-93-9 (hardcover); ISBN 978-1-960711-94-6 (ebook).
