Christianity or the Church?

How is our Christian faith properly lived? Is Christianity a series of abstract teachings to which we, as individuals, give our mental or emotional assent? Or, as Russian Archbishop and New Martyr Ilarion (Troitsky) argues, is the true aim of Christian life the transformation of our whole being as members of the Body of Christ, His Church? This classic translation is refreshed for the first time with fresh typesetting and interior design, as well as questions for either group discussion or personal reflection. AUTHOR: Saint Ilarion (Troitsky; 1886 - 1929) was a Russian Orthodox bishop and theologian, whose most lasting legacy is his writings on Ecclesiology. Finding himself at the center of the Russian Orthodox Church's administration as Patriarch Tikhon's intimate counselor and vicar bishop, the saint quickly met with the ire of the Bolshevik authorities. First arrested in 1919, he was sent into internal exile multiple times, including a stint on Solovki. He ultimately reposed of typhoid fever contracted during his imprisonment and is numbered among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.