At the Corner of East and Now

When this book succeeds, it does so beautifully: Mathewes-Green (Facing East) has crafted a stirring tribute to Eastern Orthodoxy, geared for the beginner. She patiently explains Orthodoxy's emphasis on tradition and conciliar decision making, rigid fasting requirements, use of icons and commitment to transcendent liturgy. (The book also closes with a helpful appendix about what to expect in an Orthodox service.) Her discussion of hell is probably the most lucid since C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce. Moreover, she accomplishes this in a well-balanced tone that is personal and often hilarious but never embarrassingly confessional or cheap. Why, then, are parts of this book so disappointing? Mathewes-Green approaches Orthodoxy with a convert's enthusiasm, sometimes making theological comparisons based on negative stereotypes of other religious traditions. She chastises Evangelicalism, which she claims debases authentic faith with its trinkets, trendy bands and weepy teens. Roman Catholicism does not fare much better, with what she deems its overreliance on papal authority and its ""helpless... vapid"" Virgin Mary. Eastern Christianity is superior, Mathewes-Green contends, because it is strong, rigorous and masculine (her term); Western Christianity is accommodating, consumer-oriented and therefore feminine. Her gender stereotypes go downhill from there: when she finally addresses Orthodoxy's unwillingness to ordain women, she insists it is not a problem because men's special church leadership responsibilities counterbalance women's clear, vital roles as mothers. Mathewes-Green's reliance on this hackneyed and feeble argument is disappointing in a book that, at other times, shows tremendous promise and theological depth. (Sept.)