In these essays, Palmer explores various aspects of the Eastern Orthodox Church, including its history, liturgy, and theology. This collection is a valuable resource for scholars of religious studies and anyone interested in the traditions of the Eastern Church. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The object of the present book is to set out in as simple and clear a form as may be possible the doctrines about the Holy Eucharist which have been current among Christians. It is not the aim of the author to enter into controversial arguments or theological reasonings to any extent beyond that which the intelligible treatment of facts necessarily involves. . . . But the purpose of the following pages is to provide an historical account of the actual forms in which Christian belief has been held. . . . History has its own ways of avenging itself on those who ignore its lessons. Candid investigation is not always the enemy of faith. And, if there is to be a way out of current controversies, and a lessening of discord, and a step towards that outward unity of Christendom for which true Christians long, it will be as facts are realised and the history of doctrine is grasped and understood. Those who live in the present and work for the future will build on but insecure foundations if they suffer themselves to be unmindful of the past. --from volume 1, chapter 1

"In 1576, as the Protestant Reformation continued to sweep across Western Europe and Catholic prelates tried to stem the tide through diligent application of Trent's reforming agenda, the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, Charles Borromeo (1538-84) penned a letter to his clergy. In order to restore the Church to its former glory, he enjoined his "beloved brethren" to "bring back good observances and holy customs which have grown cold and been abandoned over the course of time." Chief among them, he wrote, was the custom, which although ancient, had been "practically lost nearly everywhere in Italy . . . I mean the practice that ecclesiastical persons not grow, but rather shave the beard, . . .a custom of our Fathers, almost perpetually retained in the Church" that was "replete with mystical meanings.""--