The Orthodox Faith

Volume III - Church History

Volume 3, written by Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko and revised and expanded by Dr. David C. Ford, contains an in-depth look at church history through the centuries. Volume III is available for purchase from SVS Press.

Introduction

hopko
Volume 3 of The Orthodox Faith, entitled Church History, is a succinct overview of Christian history century by century. It presents the most important historical events, leading personalities, and significant doctrinal, liturgical, spiritual, and ecclesiastical developments in the Eastern Orthodox Church, giving the traditional Orthodox perspectives on the historical data. It also includes major events, personalities, and developments in the Christian West, both Roman Catholic and Reformed. The century by century format allows the reader to see what was happening at the same time in different places. The recent centuries that deal with Orthodoxy in North America, and especially with the pre-history and history of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), are treated at greater length because of their nearness to us in time and place, their complexity and importance, and the variety of interpretations that exist today about what occurred. As an OCA publication, this volume provides the OCA’s understanding and interpretation of the historical events.