Way: What Every Protestant Should Know about the Orthodox Church

As someone who left evangelical/fundamentalist protestantism over ten years ago, and then explored the christian tradition as far as Catholicism while still remaining unsatisfied, I found this book inspiring me to take yet another look into the christian tradition for truth and community. I regret now that at that time I didn't know enough to look at the Orthodox Church (or the Coptic Church, for that matter) before giving up on the christian tradition. And having grown up attending both baptist churches and other protestant churches with strong similarities to the baptist denominations, it seems clear to me that Carlton writes with profound and clear insider insight. The readily predictable reactions of a number of baptist reviewers here certainly don't surprise me, but they strike me as being rooted in the process of psychological denial more than in a truly candid and truth-seeking evaluation of Carlton's prophetic message to their churches. To put it simply; Carlton seems to understand protestant doctrine and practice more clearly than your average baptist.

I think this is a very valuable book - well written and easy to read - for anyone interested in digging deep into the strong roots of the Christian faith, especially those who claim to be Protestants or Biblical Christians.

About a year and a half ago, I was happily Protestant, and then someone had the nerve to introduce me to the Orthodox Church. This strange church intrigued me. It definitely seemed to have been around a long time--much longer than my Protestant church. I felt the need to judge between the Orthodox Church and the Protestant churches to find out which was legitimate. This book gives an excellent comparison of the two and does so using many witnesses (i.e., Church Fathers) down through the Church's 2,000 year history. If you are Protestant, this book is a great one to read. I suggest following it with The Faith and then The Life. These help you to better understand Orthodox theology.

Carlton does an excellent job of tracing the outline of his thought processes in his conversion to Orthodoxy, though I would have striven to be less strident and connect the dots a little better. The "numerous factual errors" referred to by the previous reviewer are actually only disagreements between the author and the reviewer. The author's statement that for Baptists "truth is what each individual says it is, and any attempt to suggest otherwise is a violation of individual freedom." Is perhaps strident in its tone, but IS factual; this is basic to the radical reformation. While it is true that Baptists state that truth claims must be judged against scripture, the proliferation of Baptist denominations and "non-denominational" fellowships underscores the authors point. To say that "Carlton has no idea what Baptists really believe" is simply the reviewers way of attempting to out-polemicize the Baptist seminary trained author. The "numerous other deficiencies in this book" can be summed up by stating that the author is an Orthodox Christian and not a protestant like the reviewer. BTW, the buttons below reviews have to do with whether the review is helpful, not whether you agree with the review.