Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh: A Introduction to Eastern Christian Spirituality.

In the Christian East there is not only a theology of icons but a theological tradition which can be expressed in icons. Father Maloney, a prolific writer on the Christian East, gives us a popular overview of that distinctive spirituality. This is not a book on how to say the Jesus Prayer or how to pray before icons or how to comport oneself at the liturgy. Rather, it sets out the main thematic lines of Eastern theology. Eastern theology, spirituality, and liturgy are far more interconnected than they are in the modern and contemporary West.

Although the breakdown of the book is not done in a mechanical fashion, there is a kind of Trinitarian character to the twelve chapters. Maloney begins with the Trinity as a source of both community and creation and then follows with chapters on apophatic and logos mysticism, the ascetic life, and separate chapters on Christ, Mary, and icons. The book ends with a fine discussion of the Holy Spirit which avoids parsing controversial issues too finely (for example, on the divine energies). A glossary of terms is provided.

Maloney's work is straightforward enough and makes a good introduction to Eastern spirituality, although it is not as comprehensive as Tomas Spidlik's The Spirituality of the Christian East (Cistercian Publications, 1986). One curious thing about Maloney's volume is that his footnotes and bibliography make no reference to recent translations of some of the classic authors he discusses. After all, Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, John Cassian, John Climacus, et al are now available in the Paulist Press's Classics of Western Spirituality series, and many fine books have appeared to which Maloney never averts. In a book billed as an introduction to such resources, a greater effort should have been made to alert readers to the wealth of material available. This is a serious flaw in an otherwise serviceable volume and makes one wonder whether the author is recycling some older material.