John P. Burgess teaches at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. A Fulbright Scholar to Russia in 2011, he has travelled extensively within Russia, lived in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and made pilgrimage to some of Russian Orthodoxy's most important monasteries, parishes, and holy sites. He is the author of four other books on religious subjects and lives in Pittsburgh, PA.
A book full of surprises. It seems God refuses to let Orthodoxy die in Russia. We owe Burgess much for making this story known. -Stanley Hauerwas, author of The Work of Theology -- Stanley Hauerwas Burgess is a careful observer and his illuminating descriptions of places and people give this book a personal immediacy. Thoughtful, fresh, and judicious, Holy Rus' will be of interest to anyone invested in the fate of religion in developed, industrialized countries. - Nigel Biggar, University of Oxford -- Nigel Biggar This is an excellent, readable, deeply informed, and sympathetic but distanced account by a trusted scholar. For a decade, John Burgess has steeped himself in Russian Orthodox practice and has now written a timely and indispensable book for those wanting to understand modern Russia. - Iain R. Torrance, Princeton Theological Seminary -- Iain R. Torrance Holy Rus' is a vivid, detailed account of the institutions and personalities that shape Russian Orthodoxy today. Everyone who wants to understand Russia's past or to anticipate its future should read this book. -Robin W. Lovin, Southern Methodist University -- Robin W. Lovin