Father John Anthony McGuckin is a Stavrofor Priest of the Romanian Orthodox Church. He is the Nielsen Professor of Early Christian and Byzantine Church History at Union Theological Seminary, and Professor of Byzantine Christianity at New York's Columbia University. Professor McGuckin has published more than twenty books on religious and historical themes and is considered one of the most articulate spokespersons of the early Christian and Eastern Orthodox tradition writing in English today.
As a handbook for what would be considered the traditional Orthodox position on matters of Christian belief, thought, and praxis, it is reliable, with relatively few omissions, and well written. (CHURCH HISTORY, June 2009) ?The volume's detailed, comprehensive treatment will require and repay a careful reading. Summing Up: Essential.? (Choice, April 2009) Throughout he writes with passion, deep sensitivity, and a wonderful evocative clarity.? (Logos, May 2009) [The book] will help the Orthodox to a deeper understanding of the riches of their faith and will introduce the non-Orthodox to fresh ways of thinking about their faith, and both to a renewed engagement with the life of the church. (Ecclesiastical History, April 2009) McGuckin's hope that his book may contribute to the dialogue between East and West deserves to be realised. (Church Times, October 2008)