Introductory Note
It is with
special joy and satisfaction that we are delivering to the reading
public the 6th edition of the present book.
The reception
that it enjoyed from the Orthodox Christian people was admirable, and
the critiques that were written and voiced on behalf of Orthodox
theological personalities were extremely positive. The reason for
this is that the book constitutes an incontestable "Orthodox Handbook"
which contains the basic dogmatic teaching of our Church, with a
multitude of Scriptural, liturgical and Patristic references. In this
perspective, it introduces the reader to the Orthodox faith and way of
life; it allows for an Orthodox placement within the modern world, and
most of all it offers him in print the unique, in-Christ Orthodox
experience, the way that the author himself had lived it within the
Church.
The
ever-memorable father Anthony Alevizopoulos (1931 -2/5/1996) was a truly
indefatigable Levite of our Church; one of the leading students of the
phenomenon of newly-appeared heresies in the European world, who had
served for many years in the neuralgic post of Secretary to the
Conciliar Committee on Heresies. Worthy of mention alone are the
words written by the (OODE note: now reposed) Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens
and All Greece: "We have come to know him well, and we can testify that
he bore within him the genuine characteristics of an Apostolic man, an
unashamed worker of the Gospel. He lived for Christ and the Church. A
decent man, replete with the Holy Spirit, modest, a proper overseer of
his house, untiring, unflagging, militant, uncompromising, ablaze with
divine zeal, an excellent pastor and a most loving father; methodical,
ever-toiling, a choice vessel of God and the sword of the Spirit against
soul-destroying organizations and movements."
The Apostolic
Ministry of the Church of Greece, aspiring to the best possible
educating of the faithful people of the Orthodox Church, has embarked on
the present, new edition, with impeccable typographical supervision and
an alphabetical index, so that the perusal of the book can be more
accessible and appealing. It is our hope that in the thorny times that
we are going though, this book will continue to edify and support
people's wavering souls, as a priceless "Handbook of Orthodoxy".
† His
Eminence Agathangelos of Fanarion
General Director of the Apostolic Ministry of the Church of Greece (APOSTOLIKI DIAKONIA)