What do Orthodox Christians believe, and what does that faith mean for the way we live?

What Orthodox Christians Believe: A Contemporary Orthodox Catechism offers a clear and accessible introduction to the foundations of the Orthodox Christian faith, written for the realities of life in the twenty-first century.

Drawing on Holy Scripture, Holy Tradition, and the spiritual experience of the Orthodox Church, Archpriest Alexander Torik approaches the great questions of Christianity in straightforward, pastoral language. What is faith? Who is God? What does the Church teach about the Holy Trinity, sin, Christ, salvation, and the Kingdom of Heaven? What happens in the Sacraments? Why do Christians pray, fast, confess their sins, and follow the commandments of God? What does Orthodoxy teach about death, judgment, and eternal life?

Presented largely in an engaging question-and-answer format, the book moves from the foundations of Christian belief into the practical realities of spiritual life, exploring such subjects as repentance and confession, prayer and fasting, divine worship, Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, the commandments and Beatitudes, eschatology, and the lifelong struggle to restore the image of God within the human person.

The Russian Orthodox Church has traditionally made use of The Longer Christian Catechism of the Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church, compiled in 1823 by Saint Philaret (Drozdov), Metropolitan of Moscow. This contemporary catechism is not intended to replace that classic work, but to complement it by speaking to Orthodox Christians, catechumens, and inquirers in concepts and language readily understandable today.

Whether you are discovering Orthodoxy for the first time, preparing to enter the Church, returning to the faith, or simply seeking a deeper understanding of what you believe and why, What Orthodox Christians Believe offers a pastoral guide to the faith of the Orthodox Church and to the Christian life that flows from it.