Haddonfield Resident's Book Explores the Words That Splintered Christianity

"And the son."

These three words changed history, spurring crusades, schisms and intolerance, according to a new book by Haddonfield resident Edward A. Siecienski, assistant professor of philosophy and religion at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

The phrase, known in the world of theology as the filioque, are part of the Nicene, or Apostles’ Creed, recited during mass by Eastern Christians. The portion of the Nicene Creed that includes the controversial phrase is: "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son." Members of the Western Orthodox, or Byzantine, rite, do not include the three words when the creed is recited by the cantor.

Siecienski's The Filioque: History of a Doctrinal Controversy, published by Oxford University Press, has garnered praise from critics and readers. The professor, 42, describes the book as “one man’s effort to advance the reunion of the churches. Having been separated for over a thousand years by this issue, my hope was to try to move the churches of the West and East closer together.”

Siecienski’s book outlines the controversy surround the filioque (pronounced fillee-kwee) from historical and theological perspectives. He details how the division came about and how the separation evolved to today.

“I realized there wasn’t a history of this doctrine, even though it separated two halves of the Christian world. It’s the source of so much tension,” said Siecienski, who was raised in the Catholic Church but today is Orthodox.

“I tried to be as objective as possible while writing,” he said. Siecienski, a three-year borough resident, added that his objectivity goal must have succeeded because reader comments on the Web question his personal religious identification.

“I always had an interest in the ecumenical effort to reunite the Christians,” said Siecienski, who has undergraduate degrees in theology and international relations from Georgetown University. He also holds a master’s degree from St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore and a doctorate in historical theology from Fordham University.

Before joining the faculty at Stockton College in Galloway Township, Siecienski taught at Misericordia University in Dallas, PA. He and his wife, Kiev, whose ethnic background is Ukrainian, have a son, Alex, 5, and a daughter, Alana, 3. “Kielbasa is a favorite food in this family,” he joked.

Addition of the phrase that translates into “and the son” might seem trivial to laypersons, Siecienski said, but it led to two competing empires. Ultimately, it’s a theological issue, the author said.

“In an effort to discuss this,” he said of scholars who have studied animosity between the two religious sects, “there could have been an agreement.”

Siecienski, who teaches three undergraduate classes at Stockton, said he believes understanding religions is a core part of international peace. “You can’t understand what’s happening in the Middle East without understanding Judaism and Muslimism. There is something to be said for studying theology and understanding the role of the churches,” he said.

“Think about the first part of the 20th century in the United States. Italians, Poles, Slovaks, Jews. Religion was a factor in their integration into American society,” he said.

His religion classes are electives and Siecienski has found that most undergraduates have received very little religious education. “They may not know much coming into the class, but when they leave they have the concepts,” he said.

Siecienski spent 18 months writing the book. “My wife would say it took too long,” he said. He had a colleague, Allan Austin, read the book as he was working on it. “It asked him to point it out if it was overly technical. That’s why it’s readable,” he said.

“There are characters in this book, a lot of characters that make it interesting. There are emperors. There is Charlemagne. You’re dealing with very powerful historic figures,” he said.

Siecienski new writing focuses more on articles and chapters in books, but the professor is beginning to plot his next book.