In Eastern Orthodoxy through Western Eyes, Donald Fairbairn gives us a relatively easy to understand look at Orthodoxy, both at its best, and also when it is distorted in certain, common ways. His outsiders view is certainly useful to those who are interested in things Orthodox.

Overall, I liked Fairbairn’s book. It was informative, and was willing to do some very fair comparative work between Eastern and Western approaches (while admitting the entire time that such is, in fact, an over simplification to a great degree). However, I fear that his intended audience and the level of theological understanding required to read the book may be somewhat at odds. The book appears (though in all fairness does not claim) to be a lay person’s introduction to Orthodox theology. This, however, is not the case at all. One must already be somewhat informed about Western theology’s terminology and approach for this book to make much sense, as Fairbairn does not shy away from using theological jargon rather freely throughout. So, if you are not already familiar with theological vocabulary, this is probably a book left set aside for now. That said, if you are familiar with theological terminology, then this is a great book for understanding, from a fair comparative standpoint, the major differences between Eastern and Western theological thought and spirituality.

In short, if you’re looking for a good (though largely academic) comparison between Eastern and Western theology and an evaluation of what each can learn from the other, then this is a good choice. If you’re looking for an exposition of Eastern Orthodoxy that a Western, theologically-uninformed layman can understand, you should look elsewhere. ( )