The Orthodox Study Bible's Audio Equivalent

First read the Ochlophobist's post about Ancient Faith Radio, then read Gabriel Sanchez's (of Going Along fame) first comment, which I take the liberty of reproducing here:

There’s a great failure at the center of Orthodox “outreach ministry” and AFR is but one example. Yet, in saying this, I confess to listening to AFR from time to time and I certainly find some of their podcasts to be very worthwhile. Between the emotive reading of basic prayers or Scripture, various series dedicated to pop theology, and the aesthetic tone deafness of the music selection, there’s a great deal to be desired. That is primarily operated by an individual who worked for Moody Radio is telling. The aesthetic is, by and large, the same and while I will be the first to prefer substance over form, I will also be the first to point out that form oftentimes dictates just how much substance will be delivered. If Evangelical Protestant radio is the model, i.e., if it supplies the form, then what is the likelihood that the substance of Orthodoxy will come through clearly, coherently, or, for that matter, fully? This is no less true of other “outreach” efforts, whether it be certain tracts published by Conciliar Press, Fr. Peter Gilquist’s various writings and sermons, or even individual Orthodox parishes which take American Protestantism as its primary point of departure for presenting a so-called “American” or “Western” Orthodoxy. Perhaps the intention is quite noble, but the final result can be quite vexing.

With that said, I will also admit that I have held back much public comment on ventures like AFR or the so-called Orthodox Study Bible for two distinct reasons. First, I know a number of the actors involved and, beyond that, a number of people who adhere strongly to both. Second—and maybe more importantly—I am tired of the false dichotomy between individuals who embrace an “American Orthodoxy” cut from Protestant cloth and those who adhere to an “ethnicized Orthodoxy” which retains as much “old world” feel as practicable. Both trends have serious flaws, but there is a false either/or which runs through the minds of many. I have seen people make meaningful critiques of the OSB or even some of the pop theology that comes from “outreach ministries” be castigated as “fringe,” or “insular,” or too bound up with the “trappings” of Orthodoxy rather than embracing its “true spirit.” Those are convenient dismissals, especially given the increased prejudice of converts within a certain jurisdiction that “ethnic” means “bad” and that if one’s Orthodoxy isn’t wholly “Americanized,” then it is nothing but the mere remnant of a dying ghetto. All of that makes for fine conversation fodder during coffee hour, but its distance from the far more complicated (and, oftentimes, depressing) truth of what pathological thinking has done to the Orthodox Church since it was established in the United States.

As a final comment, let me also say that the backdoor (or, nowadays, frontdoor) importation of Protestant models, trends, aesthetics, apologetics, etc. into American Orthodoxy will have long-term, detrimental, consequences for the Church. There seems to be a lack of awareness that importing “Americanism” (in its religious sense) is little distinct from importing “Protestantism” (in its Evangelical sense) and, from there, little distinct from embracing secularism (in its totalizing sense). Exacerbating this problem is the fact that many of its “movers and shakers” also appear to be clouded by no small amount of jingoism and that their socio-politico Weltanschauung is only a generation removed from the John Birch Society.

Huzzah! Now if someone could just find a way of doing Orthodox podcasting right.

UPDATE: The Orthodox Study Bible's YouTube Equivalent:

Behold and Tremble.

(Yes, I admit this is ever so slightly facetious, but I really couldn't help myself.)