Missionaries, Monks, and Martyrs: Making Disciples of All Nations

By Luke Alexander Veronis

This book attempts to offer a small taste of the rich missionary tradition of the Orthodox Church. It includes missionaries from the Apostle Paul to the 20th century missionary bishop Anastasios... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1880971003
• ISBN13: 9781880971000
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Light & Life Publishing Company
• Length: 153 Pages

Customer Reviews

Wonderful guide to missiology through examples of the saints

Fr. Luke Veronis does an excellent job of explaining the mission theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church through the examples of the lives of its greatest missionary saints. Focusing on such missionary heroes of the Church as the Apostle Paul, St. Stephen of Perm, and St. Innocent of Alaska, Fr. Veronis highlights the key methods of Eastern Orthodox mission work which have been practiced by Orthodox missionaries from the time of Christ until today. He writes: "...Many of the characteristics and methods which Protestant missions have used since the Reformation (vernacular translations, indigenous leadership), had already been introduced centuries before in Orthodox missions." (p. 16) The saints depicted in this book each hold several common characteristics relating to the mission field: 1) They all lived holy lives which radiated the presence of Jesus Christ. 2) They each made it one of their first priorities to translate the Scriptures into the vernacular of the people they were evangelizing. 3) They each had the utmost respect for the native people and their culture. Fr. Veronis writes, "They looked upon the indigenous people as children of God who deserved dignity and love because all people were created in the divine image. Many examples exist of such love-from Paul's sensitivity to the Athenians at the Areopagus, to the desire of Cyril and Methodius to support and solidify the Slavic culture, to [Saint] Herman's defense of the Alaskan natives' right against the Russian traders." (pp. 141-142) 4) A final similarity in the missionaries depicted by the author is their perseverance in the face of many struggles and persecutions.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the mission theology of the Orthodox Church and the methods of mission incorporated by the Church throughout the centuries.