"For the Life of the World" by Alexander Schmemann. A Review
For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy by Alexander Schmemann My rating: 5 of 5 stars In many ways, this little 151 page paperback is too big to rightly review. In a nutshell Fr. Alexander Schmemann, an Eastern Orthodox priest, writer and teacher, was gunning for secularism, which is both a Christian heresy - Christian truths that went mad (111) - and a negation of worship (118). Secularism has birthed a deep polarization, even spawning a disincarnate and dualistic spirituality (7-8). Schmemann has much to say and much to give that will help correct our myopic perspective, from an Eastern Orthodox position. Though the book was originally written in 1963, and then expanded and revised in 1973, it speaks into our moment with great clarity! Not only does Schmemann gun for secularism, he supplies us with the antidote: Christ has come "for the life of the world," both restoring and transforming nature. Now, those who believe the Gospel "live in the world se...