Throughout the history of the Church, Orthodox Christians have relied not
only upon Scripture, but on the contributions of educated and enlightened
individuals who interpreted the often difficult and ambiguous books of the
Bible. Also, realizing that the Bible does not speak about all topics that
concern Christians, and that it says little about the higher points of theology,
the Church has recognized the necessity of engaging in philosophical theology.
This led to a flourishing intellectual tradition in the Late Hellenistic and
Byzantine periods, as well as in Russia in the past couple of centuries, and
in many other places. Orthodox Christians take pride in their theological and philosophical heritage.
As Orthodox Christians, we should revel in our Tradition, and learn as
much from it as we can. Therefore, for the convenience of some of our
readers who might not be acquainted with the writings of the Fathers,
the editors have decided to include sections on selected Church Fathers,
with links to some of their works available on-line. In the case of a Father
whose works are not available on the Web, English translations available in
print format are cited.
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