History and Doctrine

Selected links for further reading:

A helpful diagram of Church history, with date-specific notes, can be found here:

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• History of the Orthodox Church: excerpts from The Orthodox Church, by Bishop Kallistos (Ware).

   

• Doctrine of the Orthodox Church:  excerpts from The Orthodox Church, by Bishop Kallistos (Ware).
   

• The Orthodox Church: A brief overview of the Eastern Orthodox Church's history and teaching. Some contemporary moral questions are also addressed, as well as the subject of the church building.
   

• I Believe A Short Exposition of Orthodox Christian Theology from the St. Nectarios Press wall calendar.

   

• The Truth of Our Faith: A Discourse from Holy Scripture on the Teachings of True Christianity, By Elder Cleopa of Romania. Chapter excerpts on a variety of topics.

   

• The Law of God, by the Ever-Memorable Metropolitan Philaret.

   

• Exposition of the Orthodox Faith: Book I,  Book II, Book III, Book IV

   

• Concerning Faith and Baptism by St. John of Damascus. [St. John of Damascus is one of the greatest Saints and theologians of the Orthodox Church. He lived during the eighth century. This book is considered to be one of the Church's most important dogmatic texts, summarizing and synthesizing the major tenets of Orthodox theology.]

   

• A Short Orthodox Catechism from The Orthodox Page in America run by Michael Vezie

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• The Synod of Constantinople (879-880), concerning the Filioque. 
   

• The Acts and Decrees of the Synod of Jerusalem, a Synod held in 1672 concerning a work entitled The Eastern Confession of the Christian Faith, which attempted to express Orthodox beliefs in Protestant terms, specifically Calvinism. It was allegedly written by the former Patriarch of Constantinople, Cyril (Loukaris). The "Confession of Dositheos" starts at the bottom of p. 110, and remains an excellent expression of Orthodox theology vis-à-vis Calvinism. Protopresbyter James Thornton offers further historical insights in this excerpt from his book, The Oecumenical Synods of the Orthodox Church.

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Recommended Books

• The Law of God, compiled by Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy. This text has become a twentieth-century classic, serving as the chief catechetical text in most Russian Orthodox parishes. It provides basic instruction in all essential matters of the Orthodox Faith, as well as commentary on all key passages of the Old and New Testaments.

   

• Orthodox Dogmatic Theology by Fr. Michael Pomazansky. It is indispensable. For a highly favorable and scholarly review of this exceptional work see The Greek Orthodox Theological Review, 32, 1-2, 1986.
   

The information contained herein belongs to the Orthodox Christian Information Center.