The Orthodox Way

The most ancient name for Christianity, Metropolitan Kallistos reminds us, is 'the Way' (cf. Acts 19.23;24.22), and it is precisely as the journey that this word implies that he presents the tradition of Orthodox Christianity, its teachings and its practices. The result is not an abstract presentation of 'Orthodoxy,' an outside look at, or description of, its dogmatics, rituals, and ascetic disciplines, compared to and contrasted with others, but an invitation to enter into the way, to begin the journey—and to do so always, into eternity—into the mystery of God through the living experience of the Orthodox Church. As Metropolitan Kallistos often points out, just as undertaking a journey into an unfamiliar land or climbing a mountain requires an experienced and knowledgeable guide, so also an experienced and trusted spiritual guide, a mystagogue, is needed for the spiritual journey, to ascend Mount Sinai and encounter the mysterious God in its darkness, and to climb Mount Tabor and beh