"This book, showing the mature and lively work of Vigen Guroian, invites readers to contend with the reality of Orthodoxy in its breadth and depth. Gathering the fruit of his scholarship in culture, theology, and ethics, Guroian develops a 'theology of culture, ' with special attention given to the family, parenthood, and childhood. Here he gleans insights from thinkers as varied as John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nazianzus, John Henry Newman, Fr. Alexander Schmemann, and George MacDonald, and makes his own theological and interpretive forays into fraught issues of the faith. In doing so, he provides potent antidotes to today's 'feckless brew of expressive individualism, moral relativism, and godless utilitarianism, ' inviting us to think deeply about what Orthodoxy offers to societal structures, ecumenical debates, and discussion about the family. Guroian juxtaposes cheerful optimism and sober realism as he encourages North American professors of religion to engage with what has too often become in their classrooms 'the lost tribe' of Christianity. His own interventions and suggestions go a long way in closing this gap: the general silence concerning Orthodox Christianity after the time of the Cappadocians."--Edith M. Humphrey, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; Secretary of the Orthodox Theological Society in America"Few contemporary writers are more trustworthy than Vigen Guroian on Orthodox Christianity. Here Guroian traverses familiar themes: the church as constituted through the act of worship, the centrality of the Holy Spirit, divine transcendence in a secular age. He also discusses papal primacy, marriage, parenthood, and childhood, all supported by references to the church fathers and contemporary Orthodox theologians."--Robert Louis Wilken, University of Virginia"The author laments the lack of Orthodox thinkers in university departments of theology and in seminaries in this country. These sophisticated and eminently readable essays indicate how necessary the Orthodox voice is. Like the good householder of the gospel, Guroian brings forth things old and new."--Lawrence S. Cunningham, University of Notre Dame